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Law Society: Many estate agents breaking Hips law
05 August 2008
A number of estate agents are breaking the law by marketing residential properties without including a Home Information Pack (Hip), according to the Law Society.
Hips are intended to provide those buying a home with essential information about their chosen property, such as evidence of title, standard searches and an energy performance certificate.
Despite being a legal requirement, some estate agents in England and Wales are still not providing an information pack when placing a property on the market, the Law Society said.
Speaking to the BBC, Paul Marsh, president of the society, said a number of solicitors have found they are not receiving a Hip "when the deal is struck".
"You would have expected that the Hip would be available immediately the agreement [to accept an offer] is reached," Mr Marsh explained.
"We're not getting a Hip until three to four weeks later, sometimes not until exchange of contracts."
Peter Bolton King, chief executive of the National Association of Estate Agents, recently said the Hips scheme had been "surrounded by a catalogue of disasters".
Rather than improving the home buying and selling process, the packs have been a "hindrance" and represented more red tape, he asserted.
Helen Ford, conveyancing executive in residential property team, comments: "Hips have always been and still are controversial. They were meant to speed up the process of buying and selling a house, and legally should be available at the time a property is put on the market or at the very least being processed at that stage.
"Some of the searches are only valid for three months and can be quite costly to obtain. In a slow market, it is perhaps understandable that some agents may delay obtaining a full Hip package until some interest is shown in the property. However, the seller should be made aware that by doing so they are breaking the law and risk being fined."
