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Home buyers have a lot to learn

Tuesday, 12 December 2006 12:00 AM

Most homeowners do not know the basics of what they are paying for when it comes to buying properties, a new survey reveals.

Over 50 per cent of people did not know what they were paying for in a local property search and one in five people thought an estate agent would carry out conveyancing.

Over a third of people (37 per cent) were still unaware of what Home Information Packs (HIPS) were, which are set to become mandatory next year, and many people were confused as to who would pay for them - 15 per cent believing estate agents would foot the bill and 29 per cent believing buyers would pay for them.

"It is quite concerning that the general public do not seem to have an understanding of these issues," commented Alex Fraser, chief executive of the Council for National Land Information Service (C-NLIS), who commissioned the survey.

"Buying a house and signing up to a mortgage is possibly the largest financial commitment we make in our lives, and yet the sheer number of people who do not fully understand the basic terms and processes is very worrying."

C-NLIS' basic facts for home buyers and sellers

  • What is in a local search and who does it?

A conveyancer carries out a local search using the most up to date local authority information, and once completed it is only considered valid for conveyance purposes for three months.

"Items which can be found on a full search response include, close proximity to public right of way, planned road humps, sewer works and nearby resident parking controls," explained the C-NLIS.

  • What is a Home Information Pack (HIP) and who pays for it?

C-NLIS explains the seller pays for the HIP, which contains "an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), a summary of sale, along with local authority, drainage and water searches, together with evidence of title".

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