The idea of developing the Home Information Pack into a more comprehensive pack of legal documents has over the past month or so picked up pace. We saw the Association of Home Information Pack Providers invest heavily in a stand at the Conservative Party Conference where there was engagement with Party members on the premise that the HIP lends itself well to the evolution of the pack into a ‘ready to exchange’ offering. We have also seen recently the launch of an organisation known as BOLD (bundle of legal documents) that is primarily directed at the legal profession and which advocates the delivery of upfront legal documents and information but without the property searches.
There is no doubt that the idea of adding more to the HIP and making this available upfront has a great deal of appeal mainly due to the indisputable fact it will speed up the time it takes to proceed from offer to exchange as well as making sure we do not return to the dark ages where millions and millions of pounds were lost in countless aborted sale transactions.
In this article I look at who would be the winners and losers if as is proposed the HIP evolves or is replaced by some form of ‘ready to exchange’ offering.
There idea would clearly benefit the legal profession who would be best placed to offer the ‘ready to exchange’ pack either separately or as part of a conveyancing package. Given the HIP is nothing more than a bundle of legal documents plus an energy performance certificate it is surprising that not more legal firms have embraced the HIP and used this as an effective marketing tool to preserve and expand conveyancing practices. This leads me to question that even if a ‘ready to exchange’ pack emerged there would be as many lawyers entering the arena as one might otherwise expect. Lawyers are slow to react to opportunities hence the reason many high street firms are likely to close over the next couple of years particularly when the Legal Services Act comes into full force giving non-legal entities such as supermarkets the option to offer legal services.
I also believe that the energy assessor is in a strong position to benefit. Not only would such an offering also include the energy performance certificate but it would also require quite a large amount of administrative work undertaken upfront. The ‘ready to exchange’ idea could perhaps require a seller to order a ready to exchange pack before marketing and place an obligation on the seller to deliver this pack within 28 days. This would therefore mean that quite a substantial amount of ‘data’ collecting would be required at an early stage in terms of helping the seller complete the fixture and fitting form and the Property Information form. The energy assessor in visiting the home to carry out the inspection would be in an ideal position to offer this service as well as helping the pack compiler to obtain from the vendor documents such as guarantees and planning permissions.
I recently read an article written by conveyancing solicitors in which it was stated that the main reason for delay was not necessarily the property searches but rather the time to it took the seller to complete forms and produce documents. The engagement of the energy assessors to fulfil this role would clearly ensure that the benefit of speed would not be lost.
This would also free up the lawyers time and allow the lawyer to focus on what it does best and that is to advise on the legal issues rather than spend time running around collecting data and documents.
The energy advisors role as an agent of the lawyer could also include the physical checking of land boundaries as this is often a major reason for delay and abortive transactions. This again would help to reduce time and ultimately the cost of the whole process.
Other beneficiaries of this idea are estate agents, in terms of being able to offer property as ‘ready to exchange’ and gain quicker access to their commission, as well as the consumer. In fact the consumer would be the ultimate beneficiary. By getting the majority of the legal work undertaken upfront issues that could turn into ‘deal breakers’ can be easily identified and remedied, and with providing full transparency the stress and length of the whole selling and buying process can be reduced substantially.
Upfront delivery of information and documents would also benefit the first time buyer as there would be very little if any cost to meet.
So this leaves me with the question of who will be the losers if this were to happen. Well despite giving this a great deal of thought I find it difficult to see who would actually lose from this as it seems to be a ‘win, win’ situation for all. So much so one really has to ask the question why would Grant Shapps and the Conservative Party not wish to adopt and run with what is quite clearly a workable solution to the problems that currently exist within the home selling and buying process.
There is no doubt that the idea of adding more to the HIP and making this available upfront has a great deal of appeal mainly due to the indisputable fact it will speed up the time it takes to proceed from offer to exchange as well as making sure we do not return to the dark ages where millions and millions of pounds were lost in countless aborted sale transactions.
In this article I look at who would be the winners and losers if as is proposed the HIP evolves or is replaced by some form of ‘ready to exchange’ offering.
There idea would clearly benefit the legal profession who would be best placed to offer the ‘ready to exchange’ pack either separately or as part of a conveyancing package. Given the HIP is nothing more than a bundle of legal documents plus an energy performance certificate it is surprising that not more legal firms have embraced the HIP and used this as an effective marketing tool to preserve and expand conveyancing practices. This leads me to question that even if a ‘ready to exchange’ pack emerged there would be as many lawyers entering the arena as one might otherwise expect. Lawyers are slow to react to opportunities hence the reason many high street firms are likely to close over the next couple of years particularly when the Legal Services Act comes into full force giving non-legal entities such as supermarkets the option to offer legal services.
I also believe that the energy assessor is in a strong position to benefit. Not only would such an offering also include the energy performance certificate but it would also require quite a large amount of administrative work undertaken upfront. The ‘ready to exchange’ idea could perhaps require a seller to order a ready to exchange pack before marketing and place an obligation on the seller to deliver this pack within 28 days. This would therefore mean that quite a substantial amount of ‘data’ collecting would be required at an early stage in terms of helping the seller complete the fixture and fitting form and the Property Information form. The energy assessor in visiting the home to carry out the inspection would be in an ideal position to offer this service as well as helping the pack compiler to obtain from the vendor documents such as guarantees and planning permissions.
I recently read an article written by conveyancing solicitors in which it was stated that the main reason for delay was not necessarily the property searches but rather the time to it took the seller to complete forms and produce documents. The engagement of the energy assessors to fulfil this role would clearly ensure that the benefit of speed would not be lost.
This would also free up the lawyers time and allow the lawyer to focus on what it does best and that is to advise on the legal issues rather than spend time running around collecting data and documents.
The energy advisors role as an agent of the lawyer could also include the physical checking of land boundaries as this is often a major reason for delay and abortive transactions. This again would help to reduce time and ultimately the cost of the whole process.
Other beneficiaries of this idea are estate agents, in terms of being able to offer property as ‘ready to exchange’ and gain quicker access to their commission, as well as the consumer. In fact the consumer would be the ultimate beneficiary. By getting the majority of the legal work undertaken upfront issues that could turn into ‘deal breakers’ can be easily identified and remedied, and with providing full transparency the stress and length of the whole selling and buying process can be reduced substantially.
Upfront delivery of information and documents would also benefit the first time buyer as there would be very little if any cost to meet.
So this leaves me with the question of who will be the losers if this were to happen. Well despite giving this a great deal of thought I find it difficult to see who would actually lose from this as it seems to be a ‘win, win’ situation for all. So much so one really has to ask the question why would Grant Shapps and the Conservative Party not wish to adopt and run with what is quite clearly a workable solution to the problems that currently exist within the home selling and buying process.
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