Home Improvement Packs - good or bad?

[wommie31]

Home information packs are going to be mandatory in the UK in June

2007. They are intended to make the home-buying and selling process more transparent, faster and consumer friendly. The packs will include a home condition and energy efficiency report.

The Government have argued that HIPs will: =B7 Enable buyers and sellers to negotiate from an informed position; =B7 Increase openness and transparency, helping to make the process less adversarial and stressful; =B7 Help the parties commit more quickly to the transaction, shortening the period of uncertainty between acceptance of an offer and contract exchange; =B7 Increase certainty by avoiding unwelcome surprises which may otherwise cause renegotiation and transaction failures after terms have been agreed; =B7 Reduce wasted costs resulting from high rates of failed transactions; =B7 Help shorten the overall transaction timescale. However, it means that if you want to sell your house you will have to pay for a pack up front =A3700 - =A31000 and some to the elements will have to be renewed every 3 months. What happens if you don't sell, what happens if you the survey is inaccurate and you don't agree with it, what's to stop the buyer simply dropping their offer at a later date any way just because they think they can?

I'm just not sure that this system isn't just creating jobs for the boys and loads of additional expense for the seller. If any one out there sees it differently or can allay my fears let me know.

Any thoughts?

[Peter]

2007. They are intended to make the home-buying and selling process more transparent, faster and consumer friendly. The packs will include a home condition and energy efficiency report.

The Government have argued that HIPs will: · Enable buyers and sellers to negotiate from an informed position; · Increase openness and transparency, helping to make the process less adversarial and stressful; · Help the parties commit more quickly to the transaction, shortening the period of uncertainty between acceptance of an offer and contract exchange; · Increase certainty by avoiding unwelcome surprises which may otherwise cause renegotiation and transaction failures after terms have been agreed; · Reduce wasted costs resulting from high rates of failed transactions; · Help shorten the overall transaction timescale. However, it means that if you want to sell your house you will have to pay for a pack up front £700 - £1000 and some to the elements will have to be renewed every 3 months. What happens if you don't sell, what happens if you the survey is inaccurate and you don't agree with it, what's to stop the buyer simply dropping their offer at a later date any way just because they think they can?

I'm just not sure that this system isn't just creating jobs for the boys and loads of additional expense for the seller. If any one out there sees it differently or can allay my fears let me know.

Any thoughts?

I was once asked for a surveyors report. Not much liking its conclusions, I rang around for someone to write a report that omitted a small detail. It took 10 minutes. Continuing in a cycnical vein, it is government inspired and so therefor will fail. (isnt that a mathematical certainty rather like the discussions re. identity cards totally missing an overridingly important point. ie. no govt inspired large scale computer system has ever worked why should this one?) Ask yourself, you offer on a house, will you trust the pack or have your own report commissioned? If the latter, moving just gets more expensive.

P

[EricP]

Just a load of rubbish to make house sales even more complicated and traumatic.

[wommie31]

think I'm probably with you but...what about when you agree a price with a seller and they go and get a survey which in your oppinion is far worse than you think the real situation is and probably is deliberately as bad as possible so that they can come back and drop their price by =A310k. And usually they've taken so long to do this that you are stuck between a rock and a hard place as you can either accept their offer or put the house back on the marke, but now it looks like your house has a problem as the sale didn't go through and if therefore devalued anyway. Wouldn't it stop all of that mucking about

[marble]

This will reduce supply and so push up prices. Good for Blair with his

4 million pound investment property.