subject: The Aftermath of HIPs - Solution Based Conveyancers Remain a Must [print this page] The Aftermath of HIPs - Solution Based Conveyancers Remain a Must
A Home Information Pack was essentially a way to impose an Auction Pack on every house being sold. Comprising upfront information with conveyancing searches - everything a Buyer is given when buying an auction property. A good idea. However, even the Government did not anticipate the property crash, with properties remaining unsold and HIP searches becoming out of date. And with that, HIPs became unpopular as money was seen as wasted.
So with effect from 21 May 2010, HIPs for properties not yet on the market were suspended. Only properties already on the market remain liable to have one. (That said, all properties still need EPCs and Estate Agents must put the EPC graph on their particulars.) Good news? Not altogether. Conveyancing law firms now have to be on the ball to avoid delay in the chain.
How so?
Sellers - if they used their eventual conveyancing solicitor for the HIP, that solicitor would know all about the Seller's deeds very early on in the transaction, and could suggest to their clients where Buyers may have issues, and early attention could be spent to solve them. Time saving later on. Now many selling lawyers will only be instructed at the point of sale, and so no early examination of the deeds will result, and issues will only surface late on.
Solution - In reality Sellers must be encouraged to choose their lawyer early on, so deeds can be examined, client questionnaires completed, and issues identified and solved - ready once an offer is accepted.
Buyers - the HIP came with the two critical conveyancing searches. The Local Authority and the Water and Drainage searches. Not only a financial saving for a Buyer, but if they were no more than 6 months old at the date of Completion, the searches could mean that a Buyer's lawyer could be ready to exchange within days. Now, such lawyers are on the back foot, and searches have to be commissioned usually a several days after an offer is accepted rather than by the Seller weeks before. Some Council are short on staff and so these can take several weeks to arrive, and so delay the chain accordingly.
Solution - not much to speed up Council's but Buying lawyers have to up their game and be slick and efficient at all steps of the transaction, so that search time need be the only culprit for a delay. Keep enquiries focused to essential information. Keep communicating with the Agent, your client and the other lawyer. We all want a prompt exchange!
