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CHARTERED BUILDING SURVEYORS |
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HOME CONDITION REPORTS
The Government has announced that Home Information Packs (HIPs) will become mandatory from 1 August 2007. Their aim is to improve the home buying and selling process across England and Wales. A ‘dry run’ for HIPs will start in November 2006. Simply Surveys are in the process of qualifying to become Home Inspectors through the SAVA Assessment Centre.
Home Information Packs will be a set of documents which will provide home buyers and sellers with key information about the property that they may wish to buy, such as Land Registry searches, copies of the deeds to a property and a Home Condition Report (HCR). Currently this information is not available until after an offer has been negotiated. This often causes sales to be renegotiated or collapse altogether. The Home Information Pack will be provided by sellers to enable people to make informed decisions about what they intend to buy, based on reliable information.
The HIP will contain all the documents usually required when buying and selling a home. A Home Condition Report (HCR) can be provided but at the moment is voluntary; however if you choose to include one then it will speed up the conveyance process.
The pack will include: · A sale statement – describing the property being sold. · Forms the seller can use to give more information about the property, fixtures and fittings. · Evidence of title – from the Land Registry or copies of the deeds to the property. · Replies to standard searches – such as planning permissions, water and drainage. · Warranties and guarantees – for building work. · An energy performance certificate.
For leaseholders, the pack will also include: · The lease. · Details of the Landlord or managing company. · Regulations made by the Landlord or the management company. · Details of service charges, recent requests for payments of ground rent and insurance. · Information about current or planned works.
The HCR will have to be completed by a qualified, certified Home Inspector who will carry out an on-site assessment. The report is based on a ‘level 2’ inspection which gives similar volume of detail to that provided in the RICS Homebuyer Survey and Valuation, known as the HSV. This is between a mortgage valuation (‘level 1’ inspection) and a building survey (‘level 3’ inspection). As previously mentioned Simply Surveys are in the process of qualifying to become Home Inspectors through the SAVA Assessment Centre.
The HCR will be an objective report on the condition of the property with a condition rating for each element. There will also be an energy rating for the property as a whole. Buyers, sellers and lenders will have a legal right to rely on the HCR.
PLEASE CALL 01308 423377 or e-mail simply.surveys@virgin.net |
