Grant Shapps, the “campaigner” has carried out yet another PR stunt. This time he wrapped a house in red tape in an attempt to highlight the bureaucracy of the home information packs.

The owners of the home, David and Helen Wright, where apparently released from their “red tape hell” by the hero Shapps. Apparently they went on to sell their house due to the publicity received; I bet they had no complaints about the speedy completion process.

Hips 1 – Shapps 0.

Some of you may remember previous Shapps Stunts. He slept homeless on the streets in London on Christmas Eve in London to highlight the problems of the homeless, well Mr Shapps it is a shame that did not solve the problem of homelessness and scrapping the HIP’s will not solve the Recession.

With buy now pay nothing until completion Hips that are exchange ready from PALI the house selling and purchasing process has never been so quick and cheap. Hips are floored, they need fixing, not scrapping.

 

 

In the continuing struggle by personal search companies to gain their legally entitled access to environmental information, the Basildon office of PALI (Property And Land Information) lodged a complaint against Maldon Council for refusing access to Building Control records and charging to provide information contained there in. Jeremy Tyler of the Basildon office complained that Maldon were operating restrictive practices as the information he was requesting access to was environmental and should be available to the public free of charge. The council disputed this and continued to refuse access to the information. Jeremy requested that his complaint be entered into the councils complaints review process. Maldon re-iterated its refusal so Jeremy reported the council to The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) which rules on these matters.

As the ICO had already ruled on two similar cases it was expected that the ruling would be in line with these previous rulings. That is in fact what happened and the ruling was in favour of PALI and against Maldon.
The full report and decision by the ICO can be read on this blog by
clicking here. In summary the decision was that the information requested was environmental and access should be freely available at a point designated for that purpose and within a reasonable time scale.

Nick Small of Pali Ltd Merseyside, The PALI head office said “This is good news for the Personal Search Companies and Home Information Pack ( HIP ) providers, We at PALI are determined to keep our prices as competitive as possible for the benefit of the consumer and our clients. The price rises imposed by the councils since April this year have had the effect of forcing up the cost of searches and Home Information Packs ( Hips )’.

The proposed doubling of the charges to access the Land Charges registers by councils in January will further drive up these cost so it is important that we make a stand against abuses of monopoly positions, restrictive practises, restraint of trade and illegal charges. Various offices of PALI have similar complaints lodged with the ICO currently and are hopeful of similar decisions. These will be reported on this blog as and when they are published.

Decision Notice

#ukgovOSS

CALL 0151 691 1170

Need to get your property on the market fast and don’t want to be slowed down by the Home Information Pack regulations? Pali can supply you with the HIP components that must be in place before a residential property can be marketed very quickly.

A property cannot be legally marketed until the following elements of a Home Information Pack are in place:
Index
Sale Statement
Property Information Questionnaire
Land Registry Office Copy & Title Plan (Registered Properties)
Search of the Index Map Register (Unregistered Properties)
Energy Performance Certificate.

Pali’s online systems mean that the majority of the above will be in place usually within an hour or so of the order being taken. As long as the Energy Assessor is able to gain access to the property immediately there should be no reason there is a delay in marketing your home.

Orders for Home Information Packs can be placed by CLICKING HERE or telephoning 0151 691 1170.

Telephone 0151 691 1170

The current economic climate has caused many companies to go out of business. Home Information Pack providers have been affected by this more so as they are linked directly to the property industry and many were new companies set up when the HIP regulations were introduced.

The result of these HIP companies closing has been that many property vendors have either lost or never received the Home Information Packs they have paid for.

Pali have been providing conveyancing searches, the core elements of the HIP, since 1999. In 2007 Pali launched their website Hipview which enabled Hips to be ordered and stored in one place.

Hipview is available for anyone to use. If you have recently purchased a HIP, or are considering doing so, be sure to insist that your HIP Provider used Hipview to store the final product. As all of the HIPs on Hipview are stored and archived on secure servers located in the North West of England, you can rest assured that if your HIP Provider disappears, your HIP won’t. Every Home Information Pack stored on Hipview has a unique security PIN (Property Identification Number) and URL, for quick and easy access.

Alternatively you can order your full Home Information Pack from Pali. Simply Click Here or telephone
0151 691 1170.

Mike Ockenden, Director General, Association of Home Information Pack Providers (AHIPP), responds to new research into the flouting of HIP regulations:

“Research suggesting that half of all housing transactions are taking place without a completed HIP in place is simply not true. We have strong statistical evidence that compliance with the legislation is now running at over 95% and by working with local trading standards officers we are currently taking action to drive compliance from the remaining 5%.

“Further, there is an acceptance among trading standards officers that the clarity provided by 6th April regulation changes will allow them to now start issuing fining notices, where relevant.

“Grant Shapps has said that he is not suggesting people break the law and yet the tenor of his comments seem to almost incite agents to do just that. This is dangerous territory and estate agents are well advised not to jump on a non-existent bandwagon of non-compliance.

“We understand Grant Shapps to have said he is pragmatic and not dogmatic in his approach to housing matters - this needs to include HIPs. We look forward to working with Mr Shapps to demonstrate this is the case.”

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.

The above guidance was published today. It can be viewed by clicking this link: http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/housing/propertysearchservices
Hard copies should be with the councils next week.

There have been many reports flying round recently regarding certain Home Information Pack Providers who have taken money from people for their HIPs, but not delivered the goods. On trying to contact these companies they seem to have disappeared.

If you or you clients have been affected by this give Pali a call on
0151 691 1170. We may be able to help by supplying the remaining components of your HIP.

The Minster for Housing, Margaret Beckett has announced proposals to improve the consumer content of the Home Information Pack (HIP).

This new document called the Property Information Questionnaire (PIQ) will be easy for sellers to complete without needing professional help and will provide people who are looking to buy the property, useful information so they can make a decision to view a property or even make an offer. 

Two documents will be made available. 

General Use Version 

New Homes Version 

If you are looking to improve your HIP today, you can include this into you pack now. For further information please contact us at search@paliltd.com