Latest News

Tories to promote Energy Assessments

24 November 2009

Shadow housing minister wants home owners to be able to ask for help on domestic energy certificates to improve energy ratings.

Shadow housing minister Grant Shapps announced that an incoming Conservative government would help turn domestic energy certificates (DECs) into a trigger for improving the energy efficiency of homes rather than just measuring it.

Speaking at Building's Making Sustainability Happen conference He said that consumers who had their homes audited would be able to tick a box saying they were happy being contacted by companies who could help them get a better rating.

"The owner should be able to opt in rather than forced to go on some compulsory database", Shapps said. “It wouldn’t be a in big brother way but when someone wants to make the difference.”

He added that an incoming Tory government would also define “zero carbon” within weeks if there was any remaining confusion about what the term meant when the party took power. However, Shapps said offering a definition of zero carbon before the election would further confuse an already confused housebuilding industry.

The shadow minster also refused to say he would introduce consequential improvements – which involves making homeowners increase the energy efficiency of their homes when they added to their floor areas - which has been dropped from two previous consultations on Part L of the building regulations.

Shapps said that refurbishment should be about “taking people with” them.

“The great thing about retrofitting is it really gives benefits to the person who is doing it,” he said. “This ought not to be an issue of people feeling put upon. The key part of this is how we make that cost-neutral upfront.”

By Michael Willoughby

FPIP – Representing Home Inspectors

23 November 2009

Dear qualified or partly qualified Home Inspector

We are writing to inform you about a new representative body that is being established by the Federation of Property Information Providers (FPIP) to represent Home Inspectors be they qualified or partly qualified (regardless of when they may have commenced or discontinued training).

FPIP is made up of the Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO), the Association of Home Information Pack Providers (AHIPP) and the Property and Energy Professionals Association (PEPA). The Federation is now an established body with a well resourced and very competent secretariat.

The decision to form a body to represent Home Inspectors follows a number of developments that have taken place in the market and between stakeholders that make the timing right.

First of all the shameful treatment of Home Inspectors by this Government cannot be allowed to go unchallenged. Following the outrageous decision to make Home Condition Reports (HCRs) a voluntary part of a Home Information Pack (HIP) on 18th July 2006, CLG Ministers repeatedly stated that if the voluntary take up of HCRs was unsuccessful it remained on the table to make them mandatory. It is now clear that Ministers were at best misleading or at worst lying to Home Inspectors in order to try and defer any action against the Government. The passage of time has shown that voluntary take up of HCRs is simply non-existent and Ministers have gone silent on their stated intention to re-mandate the product as part of a HIP. One of the first objectives for the new representative body is to establish the recourse that is available to the Home Inspector community against the Government. It is believed that the provisions of the recently passed European Human Rights Act may be relevant to the matter.

The second and perhaps much more important subject for the new body will be the long term creation of meaningful and attractive career opportunities for Home Inspectors, particularly in respect of condition reports for buyers. For over a year work has been progressing as part of the Government’s Condition Working Group and this will shortly culminate in a report to Ministers. Outside of this group a lot of work has also been undertaken by a number of stakeholders, including the RICS, SAVA and FPIP which has resulted in the creation of a new generation of condition products for buyers to be undertaken by appropriately skilled property professionals, including Home Inspectors, with clear paths for future career opportunities.

The formation of the new representative body will be launched at four regional meetings to be held during the week commencing 7th December at the locations and on the dates and times shown below:

Leeds
Tuesday 8th December at 10.00am in the International Room at 3, Albion Place, Leeds LS1 6JL

Nottingham
Tuesday 8th December at 2.00pm in the Derek Randall Suite at Nottinghamshire County Cricket Ground, Trent Bridge, Nottingham NG2 6AG

London
Thursday 10th December at 2.00pm in the Old Library Room at the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, 12, Bloomsbury Square London WC1A 2LP

Bristol
Friday 11th December at 10.00am in the Hammond Room, Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, Nevil Road, Bristol BS7 9EJ

At the meeting FPIP, SAVA and the RICS will present on the two important issues that are outlined above to a degree of detail that should enable you to decide if you wish to belong to this new representative body.

Attendance at the meetings is free of charge and places will be allocated on a first come first served basis. If all places are taken up and there is a clear demand to set up further meetings these will be arranged as soon as possible.

If you would like to attend please e-mail, as soon as possible, registration@fpip.org.uk with your details, clearly indicating which venue you would like to attend. We would be grateful if you would provide us contact details for any HI (qualified or part qualified) that you know has not had an invitation to these events so that we can send one to them.

We very much hope that you decide to attend and look forward to meeting you next month.

Yours faithfully

The Secretariat

Federation of Property Information Providers

Quidos produce Commercial EPC Compliance Report

23 October 2009

Quidos’s report was initially distributed to over 4000 contacts on Monday, including commercial property agents, Trading Standards offices, commercial energy assessors, accreditation schemes, Government departments (CLG and DECC) and industry press.

• Survey highlights compliance rates of just 22% with recent commercial energy legislation
• Landlords show reluctance to commission surveys amidst depressed market conditions
• Trading standards officers to use report to target property without an EPC

South West ‘EPC’ Compliance Report published

Quidos Limited, experts in property energy assessment and compliance matters have published the results of an autumn study into commercial energy efficiency certification across several South West regions, conducted with assistance from local Trading Standards officers.

The report shows that Landlord compliance with the 1-year-old Energy Performance Certificate legislation for commercial property (currently for sale or let) was still very low, with only 22% of commercial property appearing to carry a valid energy certificate.

Areas surveyed with their compliance ratings:

Area	Sample size	With EPC	No EPC	Not found
Bristol	200	44 (22%)	103 (52%)	53 (26%)
BANES	228	61 (26%)	54 (23%)	113 (49%)
Dorset	55	10 (18%)	29 (52%)	16 (30%)
Cornwall	125	22 (18%)	73 (58%)	30 (24%)
Wiltshire	115	20 (17%)	39 (34%)	56 (49%)
	723	157 (22%)	298 (41%)	268 (37%)

Although these results must be qualified by the methodology used (explained below), they have surprised many industry professionals who had considered EPC compliance to be over 80%. Whilst Quidos have stressed that the figures are at best illustrative and focussed only on the South West, they do highlight a lack of industry compliance which is likely to be repeated across the UK.

Speaking after publication, Quidos Operations Director Nick Branch spoke in favour of moves to improve awareness of energy efficiency; “These certificates provide a valuable asset rating of the energy performance of buildings. This data can and is being used by forward thinking landlords to improve the energy efficiency, and value of their property portfolio. With low cost loans available from the Carbon Trust, these energy saving improvements can be capital neutral in the short term and revenue generating in the longer term.”

Trading Standards officials across the region are now taking an active interest in the findings of the report, and have requested monthly updates to monitor progress. With EPC prices at an all time low, Landlords are now advised to have their available property surveyed to avoid on-the-spot fines of up to £5000.

Nick Branch later continued, “We are extremely pleased with this outcome, and predict that as word gets out, more TSOs will follow suit. The 5 offices included in the survey to date are now working with Quidos to obtain monthly updates which suggests that monitoring of compliance will improve.”

“As well as conducting additional surveys around the UK, Quidos is now contacting commercial property agents to publicise the report and the potential consequences for their clients should they fail to comply. Agents have been on the whole very interested, and although not ultimately liable to ensure EPCs are produced, still have an important role to play in the process.”

Report Methodology Explained

Quidos used market data on ‘available’ commercial property supplied by CoStar during August and September. This data was then cross referenced with the Government-sponsored, Landmark central register of valid EPC reports to gauge compliance. The survey returns 3 results:

Property found, EPC found – the property address matched an existing Landmark entry, and a valid EPC was present.

Property found, EPC not found – the property address matched an existing Landmark entry, but a valid EPC report was not present.

Property not found – the exact property address could not be matched against the Landmark database.

Where property is not found, there are two potential explanations: Either the property has not been surveyed, and no EPC exists, or, the property has been surveyed, but registered under a different address to that supplied by CoStar.

Quidos’s research further underlines previous non compliance studies in the commercial EPC field by NHER which included comparable figures.

ABBE Diploma in Air Conditioning Energy Assessment not available yet.

11 September 2009

Despite some other training providers advertising the ABBE Diploma in Air Conditioning Energy Assessment the situation is that the qualification and ABBE Handbook has still not been released and the Course content cannot therefore be finalised and training provided.

Anyone trained in the qualification cannot practice or join an Accreditation Scheme until they have passed the qualification. As such, until the qualification is finalised and released, there is no route to work for trainees enrolled on Air Conditioning Energy Assessment training courses.

The only route currently available is APL (Accreditation of Prior Learning). This route is only available to experienced building services practitioners or related professionals such as surveyors or facilities managers with a strong building services background. A practitioner must have at least two years experience within the last 5 years to qualify for this route.

The moment ABBE release the Handbook and qualification Property Professionals will then finalise the Course content to match the requirements and make training available.

The government's greenprint

24 July 2009

By Thomas Davies, Safe Style UK

Or, at least that was the case until last week, when it published its carbon transition plan: practical proposals to make just about everything more energy-efficient. The aim is to reduce carbon emission in 2020 to 34% of their level in 1990. A large proportion of this target set by the government will be met by promoting eco-friendly building materials such as double glazing.

The plan should be broadly welcomed, largely because it contains achievable targets backed up by more detail than usual, and there is plenty in there to help the construction industry. For example, it proposes that 15% of the target should be met by improving existing homes including whole-house energy-efficiency makeovers for seven million of them by 2020.These makeovers will also be an opportunity to promote the use of energy saving building materials like double glazing or eco-friendly wall insulation.

Meanwhile, we had another piece of good news with the announcement that a definition of zero carbon has finally been agreed, and that it dovetails neatly with the carbon transition plan. Ever since the Code for Sustainable Homes was published, the industry has been complaining about the difficulty and expense of making homes self-sufficient in energy. Therefore, there was plenty to celebrate when John Healey, the housing minister, announced that only 70% of a new home’s energy needs had to be met onsite. This would be achieved by using materials such as double glazing and eco-friendly wall insulation.

The remaining 30% of energy for new housing will come from “allowable solutions”. Housebuilders will be required to invest in low carbon heat infrastructure or export spare heat to other developments, invest in energy-efficient appliances or possibly fund offsite wind farms. On the policy level, this fits well with the carbon transition plan that aims at drastically reducing the UK’s carbonfootprint. This will be achieved by launching plans such as “green mortgages” which aim at encouraging homeowners to carry out energy efficient home improvements such fit double glazing or solar panels to their homes.

UK to Miss Carbon Targets in the Building Sector by 1 Billion Tonnes by 2030
– Equivalent to 25 Years of UK Aviation Emissions

26 June 2009

By Journalism.co.uk

Energy Efficiency industries are coming together on an invitation from Lord Rupert Redesdale, who is the Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Climate Change Group. They will be presenting information to highlight the need for much stronger policy in order to achieve the government’s Climate Change targets. The meeting called The Domestic Carbon Time bomb is taking place on Monday 29th at 2.00pm in the Committee Room 14, House of Commons.

Carbon from the built environment is responsible for approximately a third of carbon emitted in Britain. Programmes to improve energy efficiency in existing buildings must be fast tracked if government wants to achieve the low carbon economic recovery it claims to support. The industries are also driving for the better use of the EPCs to help achieve more improvement to homes. Measures such as making it impossible to rent a house or flat that are not as energy efficient as they could be, indicated by the energy performance certificate, and should be introduced as a matter of urgency in both the business and private sector.

The group will also argue that a holistic approach to the refurbishment of the housing stock needs to be introduced as quickly as possible. As each year passes and the policies do not get off the ground then this will add millions of tonnes of carbon to the atmosphere and increase the rate of climate change.

It is a frightening fact that by 2030 the amount of carbon that needs to be saved will certainly not happen under the current system. Lord Redesdale said: "A billion tonnes will have failed to be saved from domestic carbon emissions and this is equivalent to the CO2 pollution from Britain’s aviation sector over the next twenty five years. We can either heat our homes and have hot baths, or fly but not both. There really does need to be much tougher policies on reducing carbon emissions from the homes."

Each of the energy efficiency industries will present actions that need to be taken and a website www.G2Action.org will be launched at the meeting.

BACKLOG OF EPC’s FOR COMMERCIAL PROPERTIES INCREASES

05 June 2009

Landlords face huge fines for non-compliance.

Today National Energy Services (NES) released a research report highlighting an 81% level of EPC non-compliance within the commercial property industry. Government have consistently stated that the task of policing compliance is down to Trading Standards but have not issued specific guidance procedures.

Energy Assessor Panel along with NES, PSG Energy and ERS has been lobbying Government for months on the issue of non-compliance that has resulted in it promising to do so. This means that an estimated massive 1.6 million properties that currently do not comply either have to have an EPC produced or face huge fines of 12.5% of their rateable value up to £5,000.

NEW RESEARCH REVEALS EXTENT OF NON-COMPLIANCE WITH ENERGY REGULATIONS IN UK COMMERCIAL PROPERTY SECTOR

Even the greenest of businesses are unlikely to be able to make informed choices about the energy efficiency of the premises they buy or rent right now, according to new research published today by National Energy Services (NES).

In a mystery shopping exercise to check on compliance with European and UK law relating to the energy efficiency of buildings in the commercial property sector, NES discovered that more than 80% of agents it spoke to were unable to provide the mandatory Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for the offices or shops they were marketing for sale or rent. These certificates are a critical part of the Government‟s efforts to reduce carbon emissions and energy bills for businesses.

88 out of 108 agents (81%) failed to provide an EPC. Almost half of these agents (47%, or 41 agents) said they believed the certificate was not necessary, or just could not give an explanation about why no EPC was available.

National Energy Services, which runs the NHER accreditation scheme, the UK‟s largest accreditation scheme for EPCs, is calling for Government to get rid of the anomalies between the commercial property sector and the residential sector where EPCs are much more readily available.

Austin Baggett, deputy managing director of National Energy Services said: “The EPC is not just any piece of paper. It‟s now required by law to inform potential buyers or tenants about the energy performance of a building, so that they can consider energy efficiency as part of their investment or business decision to buy or occupy that building."

“EPCs are a great vehicle to deliver the UK‟s carbon reduction plans. We have all the infrastructure in place, including thousands of qualified energy assessors ready to provide these certificates at short notice. But with 80% of commercial buildings not complying with the regulations, the potential for carbon and financial savings by business is seriously undermined.

“The display of the EPC rating should be mandatory on all commercial building particulars used by agents to market the building. This is already in place for the sale of homes, and it brings real transparency and help to consumers. In this way, the industry can almost police itself. But this does not reduce the importance of Trading Standard Officers actually going out and checking on compliance and taking action where necessary– something that they are clearly not doing at the moment."

“The energy assessor community is ready and waiting to work with Government and business to overcome the current problems with non-compliance. We would like to see a pan-industry working group that involves our members working on boosting understanding within the commercial property market. NHER energy assessors‟ skills, contacts and enthusiasm could and should be harnessed to communicate information at a local level.”

The NES research points out that, as a result of implementation of the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive in the UK, it is a legal requirement that all commercial buildings being marketed for sale or rent should now have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) available to inform prospective buyers and tenants about the energy performance of the building.

This requirement was phased in throughout last year and took full effect on 4 January 2009. It applies equally to all „non-domestic‟ buildings – from large city-centre offices to the typical High Street shops and offices that make up the vast majority of our commercial property stock.

Following anecdotal reports that compliance is very patchy, National Energy Services decided to investigate by undertaking a mystery shopper exercise among the leading commercial property agents in five regions in England and Wales who were offering commercial buildings for sale or rent.

Between 27 April and 22 May 2009, NES researchers telephoned 108 commercial property agents across five English regions on the pretext of acting for clients interested in renting or purchasing the freehold for a typical High Street office or shop. All agents were given until 1 June 2009 to contact the surveyor should an EPC have become available.

NES‟s experience was that the EPC either appeared within 48 hours of the conversation with the agent or not at all. Indeed, 88 of the agents (81%) failed to provide an EPC. When asked why not:

• Almost half (47% - 41 agents) said they believed an EPC was not necessary, or that they just didn‟t know.
• A further third (36% - 32 agents) said that they would only get an EPC at the point of sale. (This is in breach of the regulations which require the EPC to be provided well before entering into any contract to sell or let).
• 17% (15 agents) said that they believed the EPC was in the process of being undertaken.

NES is making four major recommendations as a result of the research:

1. Make the display of the EPC rating mandatory on all commercial building particulars used by agents to market the building. This measure could be achieved for commercial buildings quickly and at little or no cost.
2. Place the legal responsibility of providing an EPC on the actual entity marketing the commercial building (e.g. the commercial property agent). Currently, it is the responsibility of the seller or landlord offering the building for sale or let to make an EPC available for their building. This is unlike the dwellings sector, where the legal liability rests with the seller‟s estate agent.
3. Make the implications of non-compliance more acute by increasing the penalties. The current levels of penalties range between £500 and £5,000 depending upon a building‟s rateable value. Clearly this is not providing a deterrent to non compliance and therefore there is an argument that the penalties and enforcement are inadequate.
4. The Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) should reinvigorate their communication programme with the property industry (particularly in the segment of smaller commercial buildings) and with trading standards departments.

To read a full copy of the report, go to: http://tinyurl.com/nhernews

On behalf of National Energy Services by Liz Male Consulting Ltd.

EPCs for schools reveal performance shortfall

02 June 2009

Over half of new schools obliged to report their energy performance via an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) are falling into the lower bands for asset efficiency.

BSD, by Roderic Bunn

As reported by BSRIA, in response to a parliamentary question tabled by shadow climate change minister Gregory Barker, the schools minister Jim Knight revealed that 28 secondary schools and 64 primary schools had EPCs at the end of 2008. Of those 92 schools only 43 have performed in bands A-C (see table).

Since October 2008 all public buildings with a floor area greater than 1000m2 are required to have an annual Display Energy Certificate (DEC) showing their energy performance. This obliges new schools built under Building Schools for the Future programme to have an EPC. This has to be followed by a DEC once 12 months energy data is available.

The certificate has to be publicly visible. Existing schools which are refurbished will also need to publicise their DEC ratings. School buildings will require an Advisory Report providing recommendations for energy improvements each seven years.

In January, Jim Knight promised that efficiency band percentage splits for DECs will be made available "in the next two weeks". However, at the time of writing the data were not available.

Both DECs and EPCs are recorded on a national register available at www.ndepcregister.com. An EPC or DEC certificate can only be retrieved if the unique Report Retrieval Number (RRN) is known. The database cannot be accessed by building name.

"Individual school energy data are kept confidential, and Communities and Local Government only receive aggregated data from the register," explained Jim Knight.

"There are no plans to publish individual school energy data although many local authorities and schools hold these data themselves," adding: "We do not keep records of whether schools have incurred penalties for non-compliance."

Council to clash with MEPs over efficient buildings

02 June 2009

EU states look set to clash with the European Parliament over plans to revise the energy performance of buildings directive. Several amendments adopted by MEPs in April are "overly ambitious and unrealistic", according to a council report issued on Friday.

ENDS Europe

The report outlines progress in council discussions on a package of draft energy efficiency legislation covering buildings' energy performance (EE 23/04/09), energy labelling (EE 13/11/08) and tyre labelling (EE 22/04/09). Talks on all three proposals will continue under the Swedish EU presidency in the second half of the year.

The most substantive discussions in the Council of Ministers have so far centred on efficient buildings, according to the report. A number of governments have expressed concern with several of the amendments proposed by MEPs in their first reading of the plans.

Many delegations have also called for the revised rules to put more of an emphasis on improving efficiency in new buildings, rather than existing ones. One suggestion is to reduce a current 1,000 square metre threshold above which existing buildings undergoing major refurbishment must meet minimum national efficiency standards to 250 m3, rather than scrap it altogether as proposed by the European Commission.

On tyre labelling, some governments want to adopt a new environmental performance label "as soon as feasible". Many also support the parliament's call for a regulation on tyres rather than a directive as proposed by the commission. The EU executive will table an amended proposal in the form of a regulation shortly, according to the report.

Several governments have expressed doubts over the inclusion of construction products in draft revised EU energy labelling rules. Some are also sceptical of the commission's plan to set minimum efficiency standards for green public procurement and public incentive schemes through product-specific implementing measures. MEPs adopted their first reading position on the plans in May.

Changes to home information packs HIPs to include new property info questionnaire

04 April 2009

From 6 April, you'll be able to get a copy of a home information pack (HIP) for any property you are interested in as soon as it comes on to the market.

By Which?

In addition, the HIP will now contain a new property information questionnaire (PIQ).

The PIQ will contain useful information on structural changes / damage, flood risk, gas and electrical safety, parking arrangements and, for leasehold properties, additional information such as the current service charge.

First time buyers

The government says it will ensure that common questions are answered at the beginning of the process and before prospective buyers incur any costs, and hence avoid surprises later on.

It's hoped the questionnaire will be particularly helpful to first-time buyers with little experience of buying a home.

Which? welcomes these changes as a step in the right direction by the government.

HIP guide

Although it's unclear whether or not HIPs have made the home-buying process easier or less stressful, the HIP can help inform your decision and make the home buying process more transparent.

As a buyer, you can get a copy of the HIP free on any property you're interested in although you may be asked to pay copying and postage costs.

New hips process will speed up selling process

23 March 2009

New changes to Home Information Pack (Hip) delivery will speed the process up, it has been claimed.

Previously Hips have been seen as a burden to some homeowners, although new changes that are due to take place on April 9th will hopefully change people's views, it has been claimed.

Lesley Sorridimi, from independent provider of Hips, Hiphiphooray.com said that a lack of activity currently makes it a good time to implement changes.

"What it won't do is slow down the whole buying and selling process, it will actually speed it up at the other end," she said.

The new process will mean that packs have to be ready when a property goes on the market rather than when the property is sold.

"If this was a very buoyant market where houses were flying off as soon as they came on you would be challenged. However in the current market this is a perfect time for having the information up front," she added.

As of April 6th, documents required in a Hip include an Index, Property Information Questionnaire, Energy Performance Certificate, a sale statement and evidence of title, among others.

Written by Richard Macauley

A HIP must be in place, not just ordered, before houses can be put up for sale

23 March 2009

According to new legislation, from 6 April all houses must have a Home Information Pack or HIP in place, not just ordered, before they can be put up for sale.

By MoneyhighStreet Staff

Sellers can currently commission and pay for a HIP and market their house for up to 28 days before the HIP is completed.

From 6 April, the HIP must be available at the time the property comes on the market.

In addition, vendors will have to complete a Property Information Questionnaire (PIQ) which will provide summary information about the property.

Details included in the PIQ are designed to help a buyer decide whether to view a property and indeed whether to make an offer.

PIQ information will include such as

• flood risk details
• gas and electricity safety
• service charges
• which council tax band the house falls in
• parking arrangements
• any structural damage or alterations that have been made.

A HIP has to include a variety of documents, in addtion to the PIQ, including

• Energy Perfomance Certicifate or Predicted Energy Assessment
• Sale statement
• Local Authority searches
• Lease, if applicable

The Local Authority searches and Lease can still follow up to 28 days later if not available from the start.

In addition to the above, new houses also require a Sustainability Certificate.

According to the government website, as a result of HIPs, over a million homes now have energy ratings.

Agents should be talking to HIP providers: AHIPP

23 March 2009

The Association of Home Information Pack Providers (AHIPP) has warned agents should be speaking with their home information pack (HIP) providers ahead of the changes that take place early next month.

Mortgage Solutions, Breaking News

From 6 April, vendors will be required to complete a new Property Information Questionnaire (PIQ) detailing important pre-sale information and the body has warned agents should be speaking with their pack providers and putting systems in place to ensure the new document does not slow down the marketing of any homes.

Mike Ockenden, director general of AHIPP, said its members were turning HIPs round in an average of five days. He explained: “As a result, this new legislation is unlikely to delay consumers looking to sell their home. However, with vendors playing an increasingly important role in the HIP compilation process it is essential that agents provide them with the necessary information and make them aware that their PIQ must be completed before their home can be marketed.”

“With agents subject to fines under the Property Misdescriptions Act should they complete the PIQ incorrectly on behalf of their vendor, I would advise that the safest and most efficient route to getting the form completed and submitted will be to pass on this responsibility to your chosen pack provider. The majority of our members are offering a PIQ completion service to assist vendors with the form - this will not only avoid any delays, but it will mitigate any responsibility from the agent.”

Ockenden, added: “There is no denying that the new legislation will put increasing pressure on the pack providing industry. However, our members are more than prepared for the changes ahead.”

New legislation will put hips firmly in the hands of consumers - says AHIPP

19 March 2009

From 6th April this year, every home must have a HIP in place - not just ordered - before it can be put on the market.

Mortgage Introducer

Vendors will also now be required to complete a new Property Information Questionnaire (PIQ) detailing important pre-sale information such as the home's council tax band, parking arrangements, utilities and any structural alterations - vital when deciding to make an offer.

Not only will the new PIQ provide buyers with further, upfront information about their possible new home, but it will significantly increase the number of consumers viewing the HIP, according to the Association of Home Information Pack Providers (AHIPP).

Mike Ockenden, Director General, AHIPP comments: "Finally we will see HIPs getting into buyers' hands. There is already evidence that HIPs have helped to speed up the conveyancing process. However, one of the key challenges we have faced as an industry is consumer apathy. While every home on the market has had a HIP since December 2007, a recent CLG report has indicated that so far, only 40% of buyers even saw the HIP for the home they eventually purchased, and this needs to change.

"HIPs provide buyers with a great deal of important information that should be taken into consideration before making an offer, from the home's energy efficiency to local search information. Following the launch of the PIQ, the level of upfront information available in the HIP will increase and we expect to see more buyers asking to see a home's HIP. The reality is that most of those selling a home will be buying a home too and if they have competed a PIQ for their own property, they are more likely to ask to see the PIQ for any properties they plan to purchase."

As vendors play an increasingly involved role in the HIP process, AHIPP warns consumers that they need to act quickly and efficiently to ensure they do not delay the marketing of their own home. Completing the required PIQ and allowing Domestic Energy Assessors (DEAs) into the property to conduct the necessary Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) as quickly as possible will be essential to ensure smooth and seamless process.

Ockenden, adds: "Our members are turning HIPs round in an average of five days. As a result, this new legislation is unlikely to delay consumers looking to sell their home. However, with vendors playing an increasingly important role in the HIP compilation process it is essential that they are provided with the necessary information and are made aware that their PIQ must be completed before their home can be marketed.

"The majority of our members are offering a PIQ completion service to assist vendors with the form. To avoid any delays, anyone planning to put their home on the market post 6th April should ensure their agent is offering access to such a service."

A sample of the PIQ can be found at:

www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/doc/propertyinfoquestionnaire.doc

The HIP must include:

• Index
• Property Information Questionnaire (PIQ)
• Energy Performance Certificate or Predicted Energy Assessment
• Sustainability Certificate (new homes only)
• Sale Statement
• Local Authority searches (can follow in up to 28 days if not immediately available)
• Lease (as applicable - can follow in up to 28 days if not immediately available)