MLegg

Published at 01:00, Friday, 25 May 2007

A TRIAL of the government’s new Home Information Packs (HIPs) by a Carlisle firm has found the process makes no difference to the speed of a house sale.

HIPs will become compulsory on August 1 after a two-month delay and mean home sellers must supply information packs telling prospective buyers how energy efficient their house is, as well as facts such as local searches and legal documents.

The scheme is intended to speed up the home buying process, but solicitors at Bell Park Kerridge said a test run failed to prove that.

Duncan Carter, property partner with the firm, carried out a trial with a buyer using a HIP in a sale involving a chain of four.

He said: “The hope was that by providing my clients’ buyers’ solicitors with a HIP at the outset we would be able to proceed to exchange of contracts sooner.

“The buyers’ solicitors did not need to raise inquiries before contract, as they had all the information they needed in the package we supplied.

“My clients had an initial target date for completion of March 16. The transaction completed on April 5. The delays in the transaction were caused by a delay in the availability of finance lower down the chain, which was outside my clients’ control.

“Unfortunately, in this case, providing the HIP to the buyers’ solicitors made no difference to the speed of the transaction, and did not hasten exchange of contracts.”

Property: Section Three

Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk