Home Information Pack Solution (HIPs) Firsthips

News

Firsthips Review - April 2008 - For Lawyers


Lawyers' Review Welcome to the April 2008 issue of the Firsthips Review. Each month we will include news, advice and articles from the HIP industry front-line. We welcome comments and suggestions for additional content.

 

Market Slowdown

Just about all estate agents across the country are reporting an overall slowdown in the market. Recent surveys have indicated that the level of sales agreed is down by more than thirty per cent and Nationwide has just announced that property prices have fallen again for another consecutive month. Tougher conditions in the mortgage market are forcing lenders to tighten their lending policies with indications that borrowers who might pose a risk to lenders will be forced out of the market.

HIPs for New Homes

Newbuild Homes on the market from the 6th April onwards will require a HIP. It is understood that the provisions of the Consumer Estate Agent and Redress bill will not now take effect until sometime in June at the earliest.

Law Society Introduces New Enquiry Forms

The Law Society has introduced a new set of Transaction Property Information Forms designed for use by conveyancers in Home Information Packs. Form TA6 is the basic Property Information Form that contains most of the information a buyer would expect such as the ownership of boundaries, details of existing guarantees and changes to the property etc. Form TA11 - the Additional Property Information Form - goes on to ask further questions including a specific question to indicate whether a HIP is available along with a request for a copy of the most recent HIP. This question goes a stage further in asking whether there have been any changes to the information given in the HIP. The form provides more detailed information about the property even going as far as to asking whether any central heating system is in good working order. Not content with producing two new forms in place of the original one, the Law Society has introduced a further form. Form TA12 - the Buyer Information Form also includes a further question about the date of the HIP along with a request for a copy. This form goes on to ask more detailed information covering items such as security systems and parking.

Form TA7 is the new Leasehold Information Form and the existing Fittings and Contents Form is replaced with a more comprehensive Form TA10 that runs into eight pages. There is reference to the forms being completed in accordance with separately available explanatory notes but the Law Society does not yet seem to have produced these. Finally form TA8 has been introduced for new properties and will presumably be adopted by the developers' conveyancers as the standard form supplied on the sale of a new home.

The controversial "Part 2 Enquiries" that many conveyancers refused to answer for fear of incurring personal liability is missing from the new forms and this will inevitably lead to confusion following the suggestion that mortgage lenders insist that this information is provided before the conveyancer can provide a clear title certificate.

The additional questions covered by the three new forms will be helpful to buyers and their conveyancers, but the introduction of three separate forms in place of the original one will inevitably lead to confusion. The Law Society had always recommended that conveyancing preliminary enquiries should not cover simple questions about the property that buyers could find out for themselves, nor any concerning the actual state of the property for fear of making a representation that the buyer could ultimately rely upon. The new forms appear to ignore this policy.

A seller of a leasehold property will now be expected to complete a total of 42 pages of enquiries.

Getting the most from Hips
Did you know?

You can now easily alert a Firsthips supervisor with reference to a specific property. In the property's message centre simply tick "Firsthips Supervisor" and enter your message. The supervisor receiving your message will know which property your message refers to.

Did you know?

Improved payment monitoring for fast tracking of unpaid and deferred payment cases. This is particularly useful to track deferred payment cases.


Any Feedback?

If you have any feedback regarding this newsletter, the firsthips system, HIPs in general or any stories you think are relevant and would like us to publish in the next newsletter, then please contact us.

Help and Advice?

We regularly update our FAQ section with useful and relevant information for our clients. Recent entries include some of the latest government clarifications regarding market concerns such as:

Go to firsthips FAQ


Success stories

Key Features