Home Information Packs (HIPs) and e-conveyancing
Sources of Information on the Web
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Last updated April 12th.
Latest news and events.....
Not just HIPs but conveyancing generally...
Shaping the Future of Conveyancing 2008 is Northumbria University's third annual conveyancing conference
and is designed for property solicitors, licensed conveyancers, surveyors and estate agents.
With a range of experienced, high profile speakers, the conference will cover a number of topical issues,
including e-conveyancing, redemption statements, searches, common insurance problems and related Code of
Conduct issues. It will also be supported by an exhibition of related products and services.
The conference will take place at the Centre for Life, Newcastle Upon Tyne, on Thursday 3rd April 2008
and the delegate rate is £250. The conference qualifies for 6 hours CPD.
Those booking prior to 1st March 2008 will pay a reduced early booking rate of £225.00.
The Law Society is launching a media campaign aimed at
consumers to reinforce the message that it is best to use a solicitor to create a HIP. This is aimed to
coincide with a major press advertising push later this month by the Communities and Local Government
(CLG) on sellers' legal obligations to provide HIPs.
There is a marketing toolkit and HIPs packages available to be downloaded from the site.
The Government site on HIPs provides a press release
with the information that all homes marketed for sale from 14 December 2007 in England and Wales will need a
Home Information Pack (HIP). The HIP must be commissioned before the marketing of the property
can begin. According to the site:
HIPs are taking on average 7 to 10 days to prepare
The majority of property, and drainage and water searches, are being delivered within 5 days
Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) are being prepared on average within 2 to 4 days
On average, a HIP costs between £300 and £350.
Additional information from major HIP provider
The Partnership indicates that
the requirement to actually deliver a complete HIP before a property can marketed has been delayed
until June 1st 2008 and that, for leasehold properties, only the lease will be required to be included by then.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)
also covers this latest news. According to the Law Society's news service, the RICS
believes that up to 300,000 properties
will be taken off the market in advance of the extension of Home Information Packs to all properties on December 14.
An RICS survey in October indicated that the supply of larger homes, already affected by HIPs, had fallen
by 75% in the southwest and 72% in the West Midlands.
Another indication of a flagging housing market is that the number of new mortgages approved by banks fell
from 54,000 in September to 44,000 in October – the October figure being 37% less than a year earlier.
Are many individual firms offering HIPs? Please let me know.
Berwins LLP have been providing a Home Information Pack since 1st August.
As they say on their site "Because the Berwins' Home Information Pack is prepared by qualified legal staff who
work every day with the technical legal information that feeds into the pack and the I.T. behind it we believe
that we are better placed than anyone to assemble and deliver the pack.
We are working in partnership with only accredited fully insured domestic energy assessors and all
the top local estate agents." The cost of providing a Home Information Pack on a freehold property
is £450 inclusive of VAT and Berwins are offering 10% off residential sale conveyancing charges when the
client buys a Berwins' HIP.
Overall information resources and industry bodies
Interesting example of a public interest web site
ExploreHomeInformationPacks is a non profit-making
site designed to provide overall information on HIPs for the ordinary person.
There are sections on Benefits of HIPs, How Useful is a HIP, What Will HIPs Change about the House Buying Process?,
Buying a Home, Important Things to Look Out For, Questions a Homebuyer Should ask, & Receiving a HIP.
There are over 40 articles on these and related HIPs topics written by property experts.
There is a section on
Features of HIPs
with more technical (legal) information.
HIPAG is an Independent HIP Group of solicitors,
estate agents and future home inspectors.
Several hundred firms of solicitors are already signed up as members.
The group is led by Rob Hailstone, an acknowledged authority in the buying and selling process and an
expert on legislation surrounding HIPs. HIPAG's partner is OyezStraker and Stat Plus, part of the OyezStaker group -
the country's leading independent supplier of office products and services to the legal and professional
customer. The group provides HIPAG with the infrastructure, finance, digital printing and distribution services
to enable it to produce HIPs quickly and efficiently.
HIPAG has developed a unique system of working with Estate Agents, Solicitors and Home Inspectors,
which will ensure that not only will a HIP be produced quickly but that the HIP will be comprehensive and
will deliver the government's objectives of speed, transparency and certainty.
Per Pro is a new organisation for estate agents surveyors and lawyers
to promote and protect the interests of small independent property professionals in an environment increasingly
geared to swell the profitability and success of large firms, threatening the very survival of small ones.
The Chairman, Michael Garson is a solicitor and estate agent and currently training as Home Inspector.
He served four years as the Law Society Council Member for Residential Conveyancing and is current Chair of
the Property Section and member of the NAEA. Membership is open to independent estate agents, surveyors, brokers,
solicitors and conveyancers. Per Pro is hosting a half day Conference in Bloomsbury London WC1 on Monday
10th July 2006, starting at 2pm through to 6pm. Cost is £125 plus VAT and event qualifies for 3 hours CPD.
The Law Society's regular e-bulletin on HIPs is now available and you can register to receive future
bulletins. Apparently, 2,000 solicitors have registered their interest in the Law Society's online Home Information
Pack (HIP). The Law Society packs model (and there will be more than one variant) is being developed
through a joint venture with MDA Advantage. This company is part of MacDonald Detwiler Associates Limited
(of Canada), who developed the National Land Information Service (NLIS) infrastructure and hub which handles
most of the electronic searches available in the market. MDA are a software developer well able to locate,
search, collect and distribute information and it is information assembly which is at the heart of the content of the pack.
The Law Society have set up a special site as a centre
for the development of their online HIP solution to enable conveyancing solicitors in England and
Wales to successfully compete in the market.
There is a trial about to start - you can register on the site.
Over the next few weeks they will be organising the first round of training sessions and then
presumably carrying out the trial run of the actual processes involved.
Land Registry's e-conveyancing website.
It says "You can explore the wider issues and find out how Land Registry's proposals will benefit every property
owner in England and Wales over the next five to ten years.
Our e-conveyancing Task Force is currently developing an electronic system to help with the buying,
selling and registration of land and property in England and Wales.
This system will provide open access to chain information and will also allow chain transactions
and payments to occur simultaneously, with automatic registration on completion.
It will help reduce the delay and anxiety so often experienced in the house buying process."
The Association of Home Information Pack Providers (AHIPP) was founded
in June last year to ensure that there would be proper representation for those companies who will be at the
heart of a new industry. Full membership is open to those involved in the production and collation of
Home Information Packs (HIPS), with associate membership available to other interested organisations.
There are links to just about all the major players, so far, with descriptions of the products on offer,
and an onging round-up of news relating to HIPs.
HIP-Consultant.co.uk are an independent North East
based Home Information Pack (HIP) provider, who compile the HIP pack and carry out domestic energy assessments
for the Energy Performance Certificates (EPC). There is also useful information on the site
for consumers and professionals.
Council of Mortgage Lenders has produced reports indicating
distinct fear of the Government's plans for HIPs, warning of instability in the housing market during a transition period
and also arguing that there will be a continuing
need for a valuation irrespective of the HIP, adding costs for the consumer.
Sites providing news on HIPs and/or free newsletters and in some cases already in the market for actually providing HIPs,
listed alphabetically
Barnetts of Southport are now providing podcasts - and
the first one is an extended lecture on HIPs, from senior partner Richard Barnett, intended for other solicitors.
There is also a pdf version of the presentation which can be downloaded, for those who prefer written
documents to spoken ones! (Take "podcast" from the menu on the left)
You can subscribe to future podcasts on the site.
Conveyancing Month describes itself as the UK's first
monthly on-line journal dedicated to conveyancers. Edited by Tim Platel, solicitor and IT consultant, the site
covers news of conveyancing and particularly electronic developments and you can sign up to a regular bulletin
on the site.
The first company supplying Energy Performance Certificates that I have come across
EPC Assessments Ltd are providers of Energy Performance
Certificates (EPCs) for Home Information Packs. They apparently have a team of fully qualified
Assessors throughout the UK, all of whom have had full and advanced background checks by the Criminal Bureau Agency.
They are looking to work with Solicitors, Estate Agents, HIP and Mortgage Providers.
Firsthips Limited has been established by leading software
developers and property lawyers to provide a unique and economical Home Information Pack internet solution for
independent estate agents and property lawyers.
The company behind the software development Net Formation Ltd. t/a
forfront.net was founded in 1998 and
provides original and dynamic marketing, web applications and e-commerce solutions for businesses and industry.
Forfront.net designed and maintains the internet site and in-house software system for the Council for
Licensed Conveyancers. Firsthips offers "an online and easy to use internet portal for storing, viewing and
downloading all HIP documentation; instant access to a nationwide team of Home Inspectors to undertake the
Home Condition Report speedily; comprehensive online search facilities; online conveyancing facility enabling
conveyancers to send communications and documents to each other instantly on a secure server".. and other things.
Hipsco is a dedicated Home Information Packs Provider,
working closely with Estate Agents, Solicitors and Chartered Surveyors.
They have an online system that will enable Hipsco members to order a complete Home Information Pack
at the touch of a button for delivery in 5-10 days (electronic versions sooner).
It is planned that the Hipsco system will be able
to order any subsequent reports needed such as Damp and Timber, Wall ties ETC that may become necessary
following the completion of the Home Condition Report (HCR).
Hipsco are fully committed to using local solicitors where possible and will not rely just on the larger
conveyancing firms. There is lots of information on the site and you can register for regular updates by email.
Hips Direct provides cost effective Home Information Packs
throughout the UK. The service is managed by Howard Garde, a Chartered Building Surveyor with 20 years
experience in the residential surveying field.
Howard is a regular speaker at Home Inspector training events and a regular contributor to the
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors assessment centre newsletter.
Hips Homes Limited is a newly formed Norwich based company,
offering vendors and property professionals an easy and cost effective way of completing a Home Information Pack.
The company has been established in response to concerns amongst local solicitors, estate agents and
financial advisers that large companies will corner the new HiPs market and restrict choice.
The website works by allowing vendors and licensed firms of property professionals to register their property
and then guides them through a comprehensive system of pack selection, completion and print out.
All parties to the transaction are kept informed of progress or issues by email or SMS and as well as the
standard pack there are options to help with adverse reports or valuation queries.
In summary, it is an IT solution for the electronic production of
HIP. It is simple to use and more importantly is aimed at promoting independence. It provides facilities for
any solicitor practice small or large to produce a HIP using its own choice of Home Inspector and Search Provider
(there are no tie ups with large providers). It is hoped this will enable small practices and independent estate
agents to compete with the larger HIP providers. There is no up front payment - it operates on a pay as you go basis.
HIPSIS is a site set up by Michael Garson, a solicitor and an estate agent.
He is a former Law Society Council Member for Residential Conveyancing and he is now chair of the Property Section.
He has lectured extensively on Home Information Packs and has been commissioned by the Law Society to write on the topic.
He offers training and consultancy on HIPs, solicitors’ property selling and other related e-conveyancing topics.
Hipsxchange is a site offering links and references to resources for HIP
solutions and products. As it says on the site "Hipsxchange is a site
designed to keep Estate Agents, Surveyors, Home Inspectors, Solicitors, Sellers, Prospective Purchasers
and other potential Home Information Pack (HIP) providers, aware of latest news and HIP related products.
The site is also to be used as a forum for those who have questions about HIPs or who simply wish to
participate in the Hips debate." Providers of HIPs services will pay a fee to be featured on the site.
There will be a Forum on 2nd June in Cambridge called "One Year to go"; this will be a chance to
see many of the HIP products under one roof. You can register on the site.
Mundys, Licensed Conveyancers, provide information on HIPs
(and conveyancing generally) on
their site. They also offer a free monthly newsletter for anyone who is buying or selling property
and this includes information on the progress of HIPs - see
Mundy Mail to register for this. The latest newsletter
contains an excellent summary of the present position.
The Partnership is one of the
only HIP providers in the country that is actually providing complete HIPs
today. Their background is legal and their material is used by CLT in their HIP seminars.
There is lots of information on the site about the legislation involved and the main players
involved. They are working with some of the most prestigious estate agents in England, which
means that most of their clients are already working with solicitors. They do
not charge referral fees for solicitors.
Propert-e is
a joint presentation from Estates Gazette (egi) and Wragge & Co.
covering all the latest developments in electronic conveyancing. There are
also links to legislation, consultation papers, news and a forum.
In particular, there is an extensive article on
"What is e-conveyancing" covering relevant legislation as well as practical and IT aspects.
There are of course links to paid egi legal research services as well.
Spring provides a special sort of HIP - really a super HIP with
additional documentation and only involving one solicitor for both sides of the transaction.
The National Association of Estate Agents has researched approx 140 HIP
providers and has stated that Spring is one of 7 which satisfy their criteria.
Spring is run by solicitor Stephen Foden of Fodens.
National Land Information Service, Channels, and other online search agencies
National Land Information Service describes the basic system
and provides links to the three licensed private sector organisations ("channels"):
The process uses the Government's "gateway" process (requiring registration) and also uses encryption
to send the forms. This is all part of the Government's push towards e-conveyancing.
Easyconvey is a company which already provides software for many aspects of e-conveyancing, including
case management and the ability for a client to track matters on line. David Horsfall, Director of
Layard Horsfall, of Godalming was the first person in the country to successfully submit an SDLT return
via the Government Gateway; he used the Easy Convey system. There is a charge of £5 per submission.
SDLT.co.uk is a standalone application; the software can be downloaded for free but there is a charge of
£5 per transaction.
EPC Assessments Ltd for Energy Performance Certificates,
provided quickly and efficiently.
You can work with us by instructing your HIP provider to list us as your preferred supplier of EPCs
or you can work with us directly.
We provide volume discounts. For every 20 assessments we carry out for you we will provide you with one assessment free.