Doubts grow over home information packs

According to mortgage lenders Home Information Packs contain information that is not reliable enough to satisfy banks and solicitors & lawyers.

Law Society said that property searches in the packs may not be comprehensive and homebuyers could end up paying to have them redone because lenders or solicitors would not accept them.

Their fears were echoed by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), which said that there were issues over whether those carrying out the service would have access to full information. "Some lenders will accept the searches, others will not,"

The Home Information Packs, which become compulsory on June 1 for anyone selling a home, are already expected to cost at least £600 in many areas.

Searches are compulsory when a property changes hands, so that the new owner knows about any future developments that could affect the property.

Traditionally, these were carried out by the local authority and paid for by the buyer. But it is now possible to rely on a "personal search", where a solicitor or company has been allowed to view local authority records.

However, the CML spokesman said that personal searches, which will be contained in Home Information Packs (HIPs), are less comprehensive than those done by a local authority.

In some cases, they will not throw up vital information about compulsory purchase orders, tree preservation orders or informal planning notices.

Home Information Packs were meant to speed up homebuying and make it cheaper for first-time buyers by shifting the cost from buyer to seller. However, the Government has since removed the key Home Condition Report from the pack, meaning that buyers will still have to commission a survey, while anyone selling a home will still have to pay for an energy performance certificate, searches and other information.

The packs have been criticised by the National Association of Estate Agents, CML, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Law Society.

Source:Telegraph.co.uk