HIPs contain mandatory document content to which data from a pre-approved list of voluntary authorized documents, such as warranties, consents, etc., can be added. Guess what the vast majority have to do? Yes, the basic minimum because they are not aware of the options available to them and because they mistakenly consider that the additional costs are increased by the additional content. So, when you need information that gives you confidence to proceed with a purchase, what data sources are available to you?

Below are PROinspect Consultancy’s opinions based on Surveyor’s experiences since the new selling rules were introduced a couple of years ago.

We start at the point where a potential buyer asks us to conduct a survey inspection. We recommend a product at an agreed fee rate and confirm everything in writing (or email) and send our Terms of Business, including payment terms and practicalities. We then launch into our pre-inspection profiling mode to find out what we can about the property. This starts by looking at our own databases to find out if this Company has ever inspected the particular house.

We basically scour the internet for data (and also check some commercial data sites we subscribe to that aren’t open to the public). The information collected typically produces the following type of data:-

• Prices paid for the dwelling in question and/or similar dwellings nearby.
• If any of the above is seriously out of date, we update it by applying indexing rates taken from other sites.
• Environmental risk analysis sites that warn of locations’ susceptibility to radon gas, landslide, (adverse) historic land use, subsidence, flooding, contaminated soil (and proximity), etc.
• Planning history documents publicly available for viewing.
• For dwellings registered under the Defective Premises Act (1972), general information on what is collectively wrong with them, how it can be rectified, etc…
• Verification of whether the house is Cataloged or within a Conservation Area.
• Plans and Maps – Viewing these can provide a lot of data (especially if you can find previous County Series OS plans). The site of former farms, wells, boundary positions, sites of past industrial use, contour lines (comparison with modern maps can tell you how man has reshaped the land), etc.
• If the home has had a previous Energy Efficiency Certificate (a rate lower than the current rating will indicate that changes have been made to the property).
• By Googling the address of the house, photographic representations of the house can be seen and this tells the surveyor its likely construction type, key location features and much more.

We then move on to Real Estate Agent Data. These often include a sketch of the accommodation. This is very helpful to any inspector as it allows them to compare those plans to the lease plan within the HIP and therefore the inspector can act as the eyes of the attorney in determining whether modifications have been completed, allowing Have the legal team request consent checks. of the Department of Ownership and Control of Buildings.

Finally, we turn to perhaps the most valuable data source: the HIP. In summary, a HIP can provide:-

• Plans showing the location of the water and sewage network.
• Specify details of known problems such as low water pressure, poor water quality, potential for flooding, distances to treatment works (which can smell bad if the wind is blowing in the wrong direction), distances to high voltage electrical substations , etc. …
• A copy of the lease – this will define the owners’ repair agreements, any unusual obligations or responsibilities, and should contain a boundary plan and may have a room layout plan. The lease term and details of the land rent will be included and all this data will affect the value of the premises, especially if we decide that, during the occupation of the house, you may have to exercise your right (with other apartment owners) to lease franchise in to protect your investment.
• A complete HIP should also contain details obtained from the Managing Agents about past repairs and any that are scheduled for soon or in the future (who pays for them, does they pay their prorated share, and does the price offered reflect that responsibility?).
• The last type of information, the gold nugget, comes from the PIQ – Property Information Questionnaire.

The PIQ must be prepared with data provided by the occupants/owners and can be very revealing. On the one hand, the short and minimalistic comments say a lot about the attitude of the sellers, and on the other hand, you might see some interesting data.

The PIQ has a variety of set questions about the household. These include lease issues, details of the reforms carried out, if there are guarantees, if all the required permits and consents were obtained, etc.

The PIQ separates the men from the boys. The informed Agent and/or Seller will scan, upload and deposit matters such as:

• FENSA/Other certificates for replacement double glazing.
• Approved Electrical Works Contractor Certificates.
• Gas/Heating Approved Contractor Work Certificates.
• Certificates of completed asbestos risk assessments.
• Planning Permit documents/drawings and/or Construction Consent Approval.
• Certification/Guarantees and plans for Wood, Humidity and Coupling works.
• Permission documentation from conservation officer/listed building to authorize modifications.
• Annual heating boiler service records.
• Private sewer service/empty logs.
• Pick up the semi-annual service history.
• History of Thermal Improvements carried out (with guarantees).
• They could even give potential buyers the confidence to insert an earlier survey report (although this probably wouldn’t waive the right to sue if it’s a negligent report, it would provide a wealth of condition information for the buyer to consider before they commit). make an offer).

Now some of you will say, come on, this just doesn’t happen, data like this just doesn’t exist in real life. Well, I respectfully differ. I believe that the educated and serious seller should spend time researching and obtaining all of these types of documents. How much does it cost to spend a few hours preparing these papers? Your time, but without real costs.

The benefits can be significant. I personally once inspected a local period home where the local agent had just said that our commission charges include a free HIP. Yes, the sellers got a free HIP but without any significant additional data. When he came to me as a prospective buyers inspector, he did not tell me if alterations had been authorised, if the work had warranties, the extent of the structural work completed, if the local listed building control officer had ever visited, who did the work recent. and precisely when…

The effect of the above was that my Building Inspection was lengthy and complex because I had to include additional advice based on WITH Consents and then WITHOUT Consents PLUS the potential adverse effect of non-compliance on property value (on a sliding scale in line with the scale of compliance with the Regulation). This materially delayed the transaction and the chain of property exchanges while asking the sellers question after question, through their Attorneys. Without mine, and the close cooperation of the buyers, the Agent and Seller could not have sold this house (we got some thanks, you know the answer!).

So, in summary: HIPs can be a real advantage and positively help a sale to proceed to the exchange of contracts. However, such success is highly dependent on multiple and variable factors including Sellers’ willingness to cooperate, Agents’ attitude and their ability to ask Sellers to research installation history and provide documentation.

What about the future?

HIPs should evolve. They should…

• Include a mandatory Seller Survey (the only decision to be made is whether to include a Market Appraisal; my opinion is that an appraisal should not be included unless it is in the form of a “property mortgage certificate” – basically providing an appraisal that all lenders would agree to no matter who prepared it, as long as they were qualified/registered Appraisers).
• The works carried out in the home that are not accompanied by documentation must be considered of doubtful quality and doubtful compliance with the Regulations.
• Attorneys to demystify legal jargon and insert a general description of the title, tenure and main features of the home.
• Agent details must include a room layout plan and full details must be inserted into the HIP.
• Better Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) that include the Availability of Subsidies for suggested Thermal and Energy improvements. This is essential, which is why we increasingly correlate valuation opinion with good or bad energy/thermal performance.
• All previous EPC charts will be inserted into the HIP so the public can see how energy and thermal improvements have evolved in any particular home.
• Much more stringent HIP compliance audits and realtor penalty fines (I’m currently seeing many serious violations of the regulations).

Additionally, all real estate agents must complete re-education seminars on how to be positive about HIPs (with the added benefit of producing a HIP that actually helps the mortgage appraiser and/or buyers’ private adjuster, further oiling the wheels of a rapid exchange of contracts to the benefit of all parties).