HIPs and Energy Performance Certificates
Estate agents believe that Home Information Packs are discouraging homeowners from putting their property up for sale and stunting market recovery. A survey of members by the National Association of Estate Agents revealed that one in ten agents believed that the number of people selling would double, if HIPs were taken off the market.
A fifth of all agents believed that the number of sellers would increase by 20-25 percent. And an astonishing 91 per cent of agents were adamant that customers paid little or no attention to the controversial packs anyway. In April, the average estate agent had 67 properties available to sell, in comparison with 84 in April 2008 and 100 in December.
Chief executive of the National Association of Estate Agents, Peter Bolton King, said “The housing market has seen a number of positive signs in 2009, especially an increased demand for property and more sales being completed.”
However, without a steady supply of housing, this will be unsustainable. That is bad enough, but these figures suggest that professional agents believe that they are actively harming the market.
Because of fears that housing market recovery is being stunted, the figures are significant. More over, increased demand for property among buyers is not being matched by a supply of houses for sale. At the very last until the market has recovered, the Government should look at scrapping these HIPs. At that degree they should be reviewed. The National Association of Estate Agents would be happy to offer its professional opinion as to the best way forward.
The Home Information Packs comprises title deeds, energy performance certificate, a property information questionnaire, the sale statement and relevant local authority information. The energy performance certificate is basically an energy efficiency audit that is carried out to rate the energy efficiency of a property and was introduced as part of a directive to reduce carbon emissions in Europe.
A house needs to be assessed by a qualified domestic energy assessor, to obtain an Energy Performance Certificate. The market value set on assets includes identifying the presence of key energy saving compounds such as loft insulation, double glazing, efficient central heating and any appliances that are powered by energy from sustainable sources. This can be from photovoltaic solar panels, geothermal energy and wind tribunes.
It is expected that this information will encourage home owners to adopt more energy efficient ways of powering a home and to be more aware of the impact certain energy consumption has on the environment.