Independant Estate Agents Attend HIPs Seminar

Seventeen independent estate agents attended a seminar on 28th June 2006, outling the legal and practical implications of the forthcoming introduction of Home Information Packs, HIPs.

This follows publication of the final HIPs Regulations by the Department for Communities and Local Government earlier this month.

The seminar, organised by legal firm Pengillys and located at the Sailing Academy in Osprey Quay is the first of its kind in this area and attracted a great deal of interest.  'It provided a useful opportunity to ease some of the concerns held by many agents in the area, particularly as to how HIPs would be prepared and made available when a property was first put on the market for sale' said Geoff Meakins, Head of Pengillys Residential and Commercial Property team.

'Many were surprised by the sheer volume of the Packs, likely to include well over 100 pages, and others were concerned about making sure Sellers did not suffer delays in marketing their properties whilst the Pack was prepared' he added.

'We have tracked the Governments proposal from the start and a confident we can provide a responsive , timely and accurate answer to agents and Sellers needs.'

Despite HIPs being introduced in June next year a recent survey by independent research group ICA has revealed that almost two-thirds of respondents questioned remained unaware of the changes.

The same survey has shown that 57% of people revealed they would be most likely to trust their solicitor to prepare their HIP and 70% would rely on them to interpret the information contained in it.

The Seller will meet the cost of preparing the HIP but this might be offset by the potential speed of completion and the reduction in failed sales so benefitting both the Buyers and the Sellers in the long term.