Hip view (Home Information Packs and Energy Performance Certificates EPC

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has stated that the resumption of new mortgage lending by Northern Rock will hopefully help to ease the continuing lack of supply of mortgage lending to the market. Northern Rock was a significant lender before nationalisation, and its previous strategy of balance sheet reduction inevitably meant that in having to absorb business from borrowers remortgaging away from Northern Rock, other lenders had less funding available for other lending.

CML director general Michael Coogan commented:

“While other lenders will no doubt be watching carefully to assess the competitive impacts of Northern Rock returning to the market as an active mortgage lender, in overall market terms anything that improves the supply of lending is a positive.

“Mortgage redemptions funded nearly all the £18 billion of the loan that Northern Rock repaid to the government. This was £18 billion that had to be absorbed by the rest of the other mortgage lenders. By removing this market pressure, other lenders as well as Northern Rock should experience an increased capacity to lend to other borrowers.”

On the other topical question of 100%+ mortgages in the wake of the Prime Minister’s article in yesterday’s Observer, the CML says there are side issues to consider that should not get lost, despite the inherent appeal of a simple policy such as this to mitigate risk and encourage responsible borrowing. In particular, what about negative equity products for borrowers who want to move house but whose own house price has fallen? What about shared equity loans made to the affordable housing sector, where borrowers are not asked to pay a deposit? And what about the fact that people may simply “top up” their borrowing with second mortgages or other unsecured loans on more expensive terms? These issues all need to be considered in deciding the right regulatory approach to 100%+ mortgages in the future.

The Government has today unveiled plans to reduce household carbon emissions to almost zero by the year 2050 through a combination of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies.

The Heat and Energy Saving Strategy has been published for consultation today by DECC (Department of Energy and Climate Change) and CLG (Communities and Local Government), and includes proposals for:

· Rolling out low-cost home energy audits, developing a qualification for energy advisers, and establishing an accreditation scheme for installers.

· Finance packages to install energy efficiency measures and low-carbon heat and power sources would be offered to householders. Repayment from part of the savings on energy bills would be linked to the property, rather than residents.

· Combined with guaranteed cash payments by way of a Renewable Heat Incentive and a Feed-in Tariff for small scale electricity generation, the payback for homeowners who switch to low-carbon technologies and save energy would start from day one.

· Options for improving the delivery of energy efficiency advice and measures, including establishing a central coordinating body funded by energy companies and working to Government-set targets.

Commenting on today’s announcements, deputy managing director Austin Baggett said:

“We already have a great vehicle on which to deliver these plans – the Energy Performance Certificate. We also have a highly trained work force of qualified and accredited energy assessors. It is encouraging that Government has recognised the importance of both of these in their proposals.

“However, we now need to quickly develop a far more detailed plan for how energy advice is to be provided and, crucially, how it is to be funded. Energy assessors will need to receive funding to pay for any top-up training they need and funding will also be required to subsidise the cost of providing the energy advice. We also need fiscal incentives to persuade householders to take action on the advice that they receive – we cannot simply rely on people ‘to do the right thing’. Government should be bold and use differential rates on both stamp duty and council tax to encourage householders to act.”

Click on the link below to go to the DECC website and see the Consultation on Heat and Energy Saving Strategy:

http://www.decc.gov.uk/consultations/index.htm

NB: Two other consultation documents were also published today: The Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) consultation and the Community Energy Savings Programme (CESP) consultation.

What is “Part L”?

The Building Regulations apply to building work in England & Wales and set standards for the design and construction of buildings to ensure the safety and health for people in or about those buildings.
The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) publishes guidance on meeting the requirements in what are known as “Approved Documents“. The guidance contained in each document relates only to the particular requirements of the regulations that the document addresses. The building work will also have to comply with the requirements of any other relevant paragraphs in Schedule 1 to the regulations.

The fourteen ‘parts’ of Schedule I to the Building Regulations are:

Part A Structure
Part B Fire safety
Part C Site preparation and resistance to contaminants and moisture
Part D Toxic substances
Part E Resistance to the passage of sound
Part F Ventilation
Part G Hygiene
Part H Drainage and waste disposal
Part J Combustion appliances and fuel storage systems
Park K Protection from falling, collision and impact
Part L Conservation of fuel and power
Part M Access to and use of buildings
Part N Glazing - safety in relation to impact, opening and cleaning
Part P Electrical safety

“Part L - Conservation of fuel and power”

Part L of the Building Regulations (in England and Wales) was introduced by government on 6 April 2006, and it concerns the implementation of energy efficiency measures.
These regulations raise the energy efficiency of new buildings by 40%, compared with the Part L 2002 requirements. They also improve compliance by introducing new energy performance requirements for building services within all new buildings. The time for the building industry to comply with the new regulations has been tightened, and the transitional arrangements have been cut from the expected maximum of three years to just 12 months. Therefore all new buildings without full building plans approved by 6 April 2006 by the local authority, must comply with the new Part L requirements from 6 April 2006.
The new Part L requirements are as follows:
“Reasonable provision shall be made for the conservation of fuel and power in buildings by:
a. limiting:

   heat losses through the fabric of the building
   excessive solar gains and
   heat gains from pipes, ducts and vessels used for space heating, space    cooling and hot water storage

b. providing energy efficient and properly commissioned fixed building services with effective controls
c. providing to the owner sufficient information about the building and its building services so that the building can be operated and maintained in such a manner as to use no more fuel and power than is reasonable in the circumstances.”

The current version (and the previous 2005 interim version) of ‘Approved Document L: Conservation of fuel and power’ is split into four parts:

   Approved Document L1A: Conservation of fuel and power (New dwellings) (2006 edition)
   Approved Document L1B: Conservation of fuel and power (Existing dwellings) (2006 edition)
   Approved Document L2A: Conservation of fuel and power (New buildings other than dwellings) (2006 edition)

For more information please telephone Philip Graham on 0151 691 1170 or email phil@paliltd.com

We are still exploring the best way of producing Exchange Ready Hips. We feel that the packs should be produced in conjunction with a conveyancing solicitor. Any Home Information Pack Solicitors who would like to discuss making their packs Exchange Ready should telephone

Nick on 0151 691 1170 or email nick@paliltd.com.

The definition of a monopoly is:
“In economics, a monopoly (from Greek monos, alone or single + polein, to sell) exists when a specific individual or enterprise has sufficient control over a particular product or service to determine significantly the terms on which other individuals shall have access to it. Monopolies are thus characterised by a lack of economic competition for the good or service that they provide and a lack of viable substitute goods. The verb “monopolise” refers to the process by which a firm gains persistently greater market share than what is expected under perfect competition.”

The Consultation Paper for Local Authorities (Charges for Property Searches) (England and Wales) has now been passed. The paper can be viewed by CLICKING HERE, the regulations can be viewed HERE and the costing and charging guidance HERE. The big question is however will the Local Authorities adhere to the law? The initial indications are some of them already are not.

‘Cost recovery’ regulations were introduced in 2007 for the LLC1. Previously the LLC1 had a national price of £6.00, however the Government gave councils permission to charge whatever they liked (as long as it was on a cost recovery basis). Many took the opportunity to drastically increase their prices, some in excess of £50.00. As personal search companies often purchased the LLC1 as part of their search, many speculated that this was an underhand way to manipulate Government regulations by local authorities to try and damage personal search companies and potentially put them out of business. There is a growing concern within the personal search industry that the same thing will happen again with the new charging regulations.

Most councils are now starting to release there new pricing structures and are charging to grant access to information required by people to enable them to produce a Personal Local Authority Search. Many are now ignoring current legislation when doing this.

The Directive 2003/4/EC Of The European Parliament And Of The Council of 28 January 2003 is a very interesting document and you can read it by CLICKING HERE. Almost all of the information contained within a Local Authority Search can be classified as environmental. The interesting sections of the Act are:

Article 1 Objectives

The objectives of this Directive are:
(a) to guarantee the right of access to environmental information held by or for public authorities and to set out the basic terms and conditions of, and practical arrangements for, its exercise; and

(b) to ensure that, as a matter of course, environmental information is progressively made available and disseminated to the public in order to achieve the widest possible systematic availability and dissemination to the public of environmental information. To this end the use, in particular, of computer telecommunication and/or electronic technology, where available, shall be promoted.

Article 3 Access to environmental information upon request

5. For the purposes of this Article, Member States shall ensure that:
(a) officials are required to support the public in seeking access to information;
(b) lists of public authorities are publicly accessible; and
(c) the practical arrangements are defined for ensuring that the right of access to environmental information can be effectively exercised, such as:
— the designation of information officers;
— the establishment and maintenance of facilities for the examination of the information required,
— registers or lists of the environmental information held by public authorities or information points, with clear indications of where such information can be found. Member States shall ensure that public authorities inform the public adequately of the rights they enjoy as a result of this Directive and to an appropriate extent

And

Article 5 Charges

1. Access to any public registers or lists established and maintained as mentioned in Article 3(5) and examination in situ of the information requested shall be free of charge.

Another interesting piece of legislation is Freedom of Information Environmental Protection The Environmental Information Regulations 2004. Again CLICK HERE to view it.

I would like to draw your attention to:

Charging

     8.  - (1) Subject to paragraphs (2) to (8), where a public authority makes environmental information available in accordance with regulation 5(1) the authority may charge the applicant for making the information available.

(2) A public authority shall not make any charge for allowing an applicant –
(a) to access any public registers or lists of environmental information held by the public authority; or

(b) to examine the information requested at the place which the public authority makes available for that examination.

All pretty straightforward and undisputable.

Finally now, The Information Commissioner’s Office has issued guidance to help public authorities comply with, the charging regime laid out in Regulation 8 of the Environmental Information Regulations, and in particular what constitutes a reasonable amount. This report can be viewed HERE. The overview of the document states:

• The EIR allow public authorities to charge for making environmental information available, but any such charge must be reasonable.
• In general a reasonable charge is one that covers the actual costs incurred by the public authority in producing the information.
• No charge can be made for inspection of the information or for accessing public registers or lists of environmental information.

The report continues on to say:
When is a charge prohibited?

As mentioned, Regulation 8(2) sets out two circumstances in which no charge can be made:

(a) Access to public registers or lists of environmental information

The intention of this provision is to help members of the public access environmental information by allowing them to see, free of charge, what information is held by a public authority.
One way to do this is for authorities to provide public registers and lists of environmental information which are easy to access and simple to use. They should also provide clear instructions on how to access the information listed. Charging for helping in this way would be incompatible with promoting the right to access environmental information.

Various companies, associations and trade bodies such as Pali, CoPSO, IPSA all intend to start challenging local authorities who make illegal charges for the supply of information to search companies required to provide the public with searches.

Further posts will be made on this blog as this story unfolds.

The introduction of energy performance certificates in Scotland has been thrown into confusion after it emerged that separate government-backed energy rating software can produce radically different results for the same building

The two approved applications are the dynamic simulation model (DSM) and the simplified building energy model(SBEM).

Software producer Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES) said a hospital tested with both approved packages got an E rating under the SBEM system and a C with DSM.

David McEwan, UK manager of IES, said: “It’s only a matter of time before people say: ‘Why should we get an E when we could move up two grades?’”

Public buildings in Scotland have had to display EPCs since 4 January.

What is the “Code for Sustainable Homes”?

On the 27 February 2008 the Government confirmed a mandatory rating against The Code for Sustainable Homes will be implemented for new homes from 1 May 2008.

The Code for Sustainable Homes measures the sustainability of a new home against categories of sustainable design, rating the ‘whole home’ as a complete package.  The Code uses a 1 to 6 star rating system to communicate the overall sustainability performance of a new home.  The Code sets minimum standards for energy and water use at each level and, within England, replaces the EcoHomes scheme, developed by the Building Research Establishment (BRE).

The Code for Sustainable Homes also gives new homebuyers better information about the environmental impact of their new home and its potential running costs, and offer builders a tool with which to differentiate themselves in sustainability terms.

Since April 2007 the developer of any new home in England can choose to be assessed against the Code for Sustainable Homes.
Link for government leaflet.

Interest Rates Slashed Again.

The Bank Of England has cut the rate of interest again today by 0.5% to bring it to its lowest ever rate of 1%. In a statement by the Bank Of England said the global economy was in the throes of “a severe and synchronised downturn”.

Bank’s Recent Rate Decisions

 Sky News Money Panel member Ian McCafferty, the CBI’s chief economic adviser, welcomed the cut.

He said: “This drop in rates should support business confidence and, when added to recent cuts of the past couple of months and the fall in the pound, provides a very significant stimulus to the ailing economy.”

If passed on in its entirety, the cut will save someone with a £150,000 mortgage around £40 a month.

People who are more heavily mortgaged with a £250,000 home loan will be £66 a month better off.

But around 300,000 customers with tracker mortgages will not benefit from the cut, as so-called ‘collars’ have already kicked in on their loans, meaning the rate they pay cannot fall any further.

The real question on my lips is will the lenders pass this on? Will they start to offer fixed rate mortgages that are below 4.99% for the duration of the fixed period?

Hopefully the Home Information Pack market will now increase as more and more houses come on to the market and mortgages become cheaper.

I read in a recent post on Yahoo! About a disgruntled gentleman who flew virgin Atlantic. For those of you that have read the letter will know that it is probably the best complaint letter ever written. The letter was originally published by The Telegraph on the 30^th Jan 2009.

What was of particular interest to me was the bit about the cookie, the description of a back-street underground cookie, purchased off a gun-toting maniac. The story has been blogged all over and has made it on to the Sky News, Money Saving Expert and has a following on Twitter!

Well folks I have heard from a reliable source that the letter was indeed a hoax from Virgin Atlantic’s PR company WCRS.

Well I don’t know about you but I originally thought “that’s terrible! I am never flying with Virgin!” however it has got everyone talking.

What does all this have to do with HIP’S ? or indeed PALI ? well the answer is not much! I sent the email around the office and the franchisee’s contributed to the illusion that this letter was indeed the real deal. Thought I would just set the record straight!

Telephone: 0151 691 1170

Home Information Packs have been required on New Build Properties since April 2008. There are extra documents which must be included in properties not physically complete, which are not in the standard pack. Pali have been working on a cost effective way of producing these packs for some time and can now offer substantial discounts on multiple Hips ordered on the same development. Pali can provide your Home Information Packs in full or part. We have in-house SAP Assessors who can provide your Predictive Energy Performance Certificate and also your On-Construction Energy Assessment when required. If you instruct Pali to provide your initial SAP (Standard Assessment Procedure) Report, we can offer further discounts on your Hips.
Pali have been providing Personal Local Authority Searches since 1999 and have a vast wealth of experience in the conveyancing search industry.
If you require any further information please email nick@paliltd.com or telephone 0151 691 1170.