Article for Harrogate Advertiser

9 July 2008

By Michelle Crowhurst, conveyancing manager, Barber Titleys

AMONG the UK’s most trusted economic barometers is the housing market.

The economic gloom created by the ‘credit-crunch’ and fears of a recession are being exacerbated by significant increases in household energy, petrol and food costs.

Harder economic times usually lead to enforced cut backs through greater efficiency and a crackdown on waste whether it is food, money, gas or petrol.

The first Home Information Packs (HIPs) became a legal requirement in August last year. Now they apply to all homes and can be supplied by lawyers, estate agents or `HIP providers’.

The government introduced HIPs to accelerate house conveyancing and make the whole process more transparent although whether this has been the result is hotly contested by the professionals who handle different aspects of residential sales.

Barber Titleys has always believed that, to stand any chance of delivering the government’s anticipated benefits, HIPs require the same degree of professional scrutiny as conveyancing.

With this in mind, Barber Titleys became a HIPs provider with two offers: Basic HIPs, which comply with the legislation and Advanced HIPs, a more pro-active, comprehensive professional appraisal than the law requires which, among other factors, anticipates legal questions from buyers’ solicitors to make the system as fool proof as possible.
During the last year Barber Titleys has prepared more than 100 HIPS but received many from other providers which highlight flaws in the system. The title of one of the properties we were dealing with was part registered and part unregistered. The HIPs Provider included only the registered element in the HIP which, therefore, missed off a chunk of the garden.

Fortunately our conveyancing team has more than 21 years’ experience of dealing with unregistered titles - as well as any problems which may arise during a transaction - and so we were able to spot the error and put matters right. Even so, this mistake, obtuse through it may seem to the lay person, caused very real, unnecessary cost and delay at an already fraught time.

Another difficulty is that many HIPs providers include only personal searches in their HIPs. Unfortunately these are not accepted by all mortgage lenders and have to be re-done by the buyer once a sale is agreed. This, of course, means that the work and cost is duplicated. Barber Titleys’ policy is to only include official searches in our HIPs which are accepted by all solicitors and mortgage lenders.

There tend to be two stages to any market downturn. First comes the hand-wringing over what is to be endured and second comes, at least for the astute, a timely planning for the upturn.

The lesson from the first year of HIPs is that, if you want to avoid delays or unforeseen costs, ensure that you obtain your HIP from experienced conveyancing professionals rather than those who do not understand the legal process but offer them as an add-on service.

In a tougher housing market it is crucial to eliminate wasted time and costs. After all, unnecessary delays could lose a sale.

It is hard to say when the upturn in the housing market will come but it surely will do. When your opportunity comes to selling your home, make sure your HIP does not hold you back.

And, if you need a HIP replacement - get one!

Ends

Press contact: Mike Clarke, Media Giants PR Ltd, 01423-568847.