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Firsthips Review - May 2008 - For Agents


Agents' Review Welcome to the May 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.

 

First Day Marketing Postponed

A statement from the Housing Minister, Caroline Flint:
The Minister for Housing and Planning (Caroline Flint): I am today laying amendments to the Home Information Pack Regulations to extend the temporary first day marketing provision, and to extend the temporary provision requiring HIPs to include the "Lease" only and to "authorise" other leasehold documents, from 1 June to 31 December 2008.

The temporary first day marketing provision allows a property to be marketed without a HIP where the documents required for inclusion in the HIP have been commissioned and paid for, or arrangement for payment been made and are expected to arrive within 28 days.

A reminder about new-builds

ALL new-build homes must now have a Home Information Pack (HIP), including an energy performance certificate, when they are completed.

These are broadly similar to the standard HIP reports for all other properties, which comprise a sale statement, evidence of title, standard searches, energy performance certificate (EPC) and, where appropriate, additional information for leasehold and commonhold sales.

The point of the EPC is to make all potential buyers and tenants aware of the energy efficiency of a property and how it can be improved.

For new-build homes - the new regulations for which came into force on April 6 - some of the requirements are challenging, as not all the information that would be contained in the full search will necessarily be available when marketing starts.

Tesco estate agency rebounds

Rumours abound that Tesco is about to announce its next foray into estate agency. After its troubled involvement with its website that ultimately resulted in the OFT advising that it was acting as an estate agent, it appears that its next venture is likely to involve a possible deal with a high profile estate agency with an active presence in the supermarket stores. The Tesco website has ceased listing properties. Asda has now abandoned its attempts to become an estate agent with a new model that will enable estate agents to advertise on the Asda web site and in its stores.

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.


Legal Questions?

Please remember that we have a free legal helpline available to our clients through legal@firsthips.com

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


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