News

Conveyancing Month!

CONTENTS

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The UK’s first monthly on-line journal dedicated to conveyancers!

News...

Explanatory note

Explanatory note

Anti - Hips Onslaught Hots Up

Text Box: The Government’s plans to introduce compulsory HIPs on the 1st of June next year are now the subject of a concerted campaign of opposition led by the Conservative party. The first salvos came in the form of a report published last month by Oxford Economic Forecasting (OFE) on behalf GMAC RFC, the UK’s 10th largest residential mortgage lender. According to OFE, Hips would distort the market, as Britons often put their homes on the market because they wanted to trade up to a bigger property or to gauge how much they could get from buyers. The cost of the HIP (up to £1,000 by some estimates) would stall people from doing this, resulting in a loss of sales.

Cautious support for HIPs from CML

Text Box: In a wide ranging review published this month, The Council of Mortgage Lenders has given the Government cautious support for it’s HIPs plans, but continues to express reservations, particularly in relation to the need carry out physical inspections of properties, rather than just relying on the Home Condition Report (HCR) to be contained in the HIP.

House Price Inflation Easing

Text Box: In a sudden reversal of a somewhat buoyant housing market, house prices dropped 1.2% in June according to figures released by the Halifax . House prices increased by 4.5% in the first half of 2006 with a 2.6% rise during the 2006 second Quarter . The level of activity appears to have moderated in recent months, said the bank. The number of mortgage approvals to fund house purchase during March-May 2006 was down 4% compared with the preceding three months after adjusting for seasonal factors. Property transactions in England and Wales fell for the second consecutive month in May on a seasonally adjusted basi

Law Society Announces Start of Dry Run

Text Box: The Law Society has announced that it’s Home Information Pack (HIP) dry run will begin later this month, on a phased geographical basis. Fifty-seven per cent of respondents to a recent ICM poll said they would be most likely to trust a solicitor to prepare a HIP, and 70 per cent said they would rely on their solicitor to interpret the information contained in the HIP. Kevin Martin, Law Society president, commented: “We have said from the outset that there must be a meaningful dry run to test all aspects of the new regime before the law changes. Feedback from firms involved in this trial will be used as we continue to stress to government the practical problems which may be caused by its new regime.

Land Registry Announces EFT Tender

Text Box: Land Registry has announced its intention to procure an electronic funds transfer (EFT) system which will underpin its e-conveyancing service due to be released in stages from 2007. EFT will allow money to be transferred from buyer to seller while simultaneously paying fees such as stamp duty land tax. Land Registry will then automatically update its database with the new owner’s details. The new system will remove the delays which currently prolong the registration process. EFT will need to be faster than the traditional methods of payment such as CHAPS and the provider must demonstrate that their solution is secure and provides certainty, immediacy and irrevocability in the movement of funds.

HIPs Ignorance Increasing!

Text Box: A FIFTH of estate agents — a near two-fold increase inside a month — still don’t know what a Home Information Pack is! That is the staggering finding of a new nationwide survey of agents, carried out with just 11 months to go to the mandatory introduction of Packs and just as the Government published the final regulations for their introduction. On-line conveyancer Easier2Move’s first canvass of agents in March found that 17 per cent of agents didn't know what HIPs were and that percentage then dropped monthly in stages to 11 per cent. But the latest survey indicates that 20 per cent of those surveyed at random don't know what Packs are — and Easier2Move reckon the shock escalation could be down to a lack of training.

Planning on Extensions

to be Eased

Text Box: Planning restrictions for home extensions are set to be eased where neighbours do not object to the project. Ministers are particularly concerned to make it simpler for householders to easily add energy saving devices to their homes such as wind turbines and solar panels. A new government steering group report says the number of household planning applications has more than doubled over the last ten years yet the vast majority of these are approved with no objection at all. These planning applications create unnecessary costs and delays for householders as well as taking up time and resources for local planning authorities.

DCLG Launches Energy Performance Certificate

Text Box: Energy ratings similar to consumer-friendly fridge ratings will have to be produced for every home bought and sold in England and Wales from next June, the Government has announced. Housing Minister Yvette Cooper launched the new Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) earlier this month. It will be an essential part of the Home Information Packs to be introduced next year. The certificates will give home buyers and sellers A to G ratings for their home’s energy efficiency and carbon emissions. They will tell them current average costs for heating, hot water and lighting in their home as well as how to cut costs with energy efficiency measures.

Explanatory note

Explanatory note