Hips to save time and money
May 14, 2007 by admin
Filed under News, News-Mortgages
The introduction of Home Information Packs (Hips) will “revolutionise” the home-buying process by providing “greater certainty” for everyone involved.
That is according to the Association of Home Information Pack Providers (AHIPP) which claims that the new laws on Hips will save time and money for prospective mortgage-holders.
From June 2007, the provision of Hips will be mandatory in the process of selling a home and the AHIPP claims that this will make things easier for everyone, particularly when it comes to duplication of information.
The organisation says that at present, it is possible that a number of prospective buyers will pay for the same information on a property as there is no central source.
When the new laws are introduced, it argues, this will no longer be a problem and buyers will end up saving money.
“Home Information Packs will strip out a lot of the wasted cost and effort involved in the home buying and selling process, particularly in those cases where sellers opt to include the voluntary Home Condition Report (HCR) in their pack,” commented Mike Ockenden, director general of the AHIPP.
In addition, the AHIPP says that Hips will speed up the buying and selling process, offering added security for both parties.
“Providing a Hip at the time of viewing can significantly reduce the time between offer and exchange of contracts, but also minimise the window for gazumping, giving greater certainty for buyers and sellers alike,” added Mr Ockenden.
Critics of Hips argue that sellers will be less likely to put their house on the market as they will have to pay for the packs before doing so.
