On 3 Mar 2006 14:16:08 -0800, "
wrote:

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:
· 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?

Your last comment is quite correct. It's jobs for the boys, jobs for
the unemployable and jobs for the jobsworths to run it all.

It's bad for two reasons that immediately spring to mind:

- Government interference in a private transaction between
individuals.

- Pack is paid for by vendor. This is fundamentally unsound as a
business practice from the buyer's perspective.


As a buyer, I would want to commission my own survey and evaluation of
the property anyway. If there is something wrong with the property
that I feel should reduce the price, then I ask the vendor to do so,
negotiate or walk away. It's really not difficult and doesn't need
the intervention of the nanny state.



--

..andy