Homeowners prepare to ‘hide’ bedroom

Now that the advent of home information packs (Hips) has become a reality, many homeowners in Britain are preparing to exploit a loophole in the scheme.

Because Hips only applies to houses with three bedrooms or more, many homeowners plan to call their third bedroom an office or something else in order to get out of having to buy a pack, Abbey has discovered.

A full 8.5 million people with houses that have three or more bedrooms admitted that they would utilise this loophole.

Nici Audhlam-Gardiner, head of mortgages at Abbey, said: “While Hips might seem a hassle we think it would pay in the long run to play it a straight rather than going through this loophole.

“By remarketing your home as a two-bedroom house with a study, you’ll become invisible to thousands of potential buyers that are searching online.”

Many of those looking to buy may see the price advertised for a supposed two-bedroom house and think it overpriced, said Ms Audhlam-Gardiner.

Hips became compulsory for houses with three bedrooms at the beginning of this month.

Tags: Foreclosure, pack, house, Home Information Pack, head of mortgages, Audhlam, hips, Non-profit organization