RUGBY Offices

Private Client Department, Address: 16 Church Street, RUGBY, CV21 3PW, Telephone: + 44 (0) 1788 579 579, Fax: +44 (0) 1788 570 949

Conveyancing Department, Address: 26 Regent Street, RUGBY, CV21 2PS, Telephone: + 44 (0) 1788 551 611, Fax: + 44 (0) 1788 551 597

Commercial/ Wills, Trusts & Probate Departments, Address: The Robbins Building, 25 Albert Street, RUGBY, CV21 2SD, Telephone: + 44 (0) 1788 579 579, Fax: + 44 (0) 1788 552 888

LONDON Offices

2nd Floor Berkeley Square House, Berkeley Square, London, W1J 6BD, Telephone enquiries: +44 (0) 2078876590, Fax number: +44 (0) 207 8876001

BANBURY Offices

Strathmore House, Waterperry Court, Middleton Road, BANBURY, OX16 4QD, General Telephone enquires: + 44 (0) 1295 270999

HIPs Scrapped

On 21 May 2010 the Government announced the abolition of Home Information Packs with immediate effect.  Describing HIPs as 'needless red tape' Housing Minister Grant Schapps said that home sellers will now be able to get on with marketing their home without having to shell out hundreds of pounds upfront.  The only remaining requirement is the provision of an Energy Performance Certificate, but this can now be done at any time up to exchange of contracts.

Mike Dibben of Brethertons LLP Solicitors commented:  'The Government has taken a sensible and pragmatic line.  Since the previous Government introduced HIPs millions of pounds have been spent on the provision of packs of documents that were of little advantage to anyone.  The original intention was two-fold - to provide information to prospective buyers about the legal and physical condition of a property before they made an offer, and to speed up the conveyancing process.  In reality prospective buyers rarely read the pack before making an offer, and the requirement for sellers to get the pack before they started marketing often slowed down the sale process.  Moreover the previous Government had decided that the inclusion of any form of survey in the pack was too controversial and dropped what for buyers would have been the only document of real interest.

‘Many estate agents believe that the cost of the HIP deterred speculative sellers from putting their houses on the market to see what interest they might get.  While that had a positive effect of reducing cases of half-hearted sellers marketing their houses and later changing their minds, it did mean that there were fewer homes for sale.  The abolition of HIPs is likely to boost the estate agents’ books, which will have two effects.  First it will provide more choice for buyers, and secondly it should reduce the risk of prices increasing too quickly owing to shortage of supply.  Both should have a healthy impact on the residential property market.'