Potential weakness in Hips exposed

Monday, 12 November 2007 12:00 AM

Concerns have been raised over potential weaknesses in the government's home information pack (Hip) scheme.

At present the document does not include an environmental survey, which would give details of a property's surroundings and their potential effects.

For example, according to research from OneSearch Direct, some 26 per cent of homeowners do not know if their house is on a flood plain.

Yet 88 per cent of homebuyers would not continue with a transaction if they found their potential property was located in a flood prone area.

Furthermore, 86 per cent of buyers would pull out of a transaction if they discovered their property was on contaminated land. But some 34 per cent of current homeowners could not be sure if their property resided on a contaminated brownfield site.

However, an environmental search is presently not compulsory as a part of a Hip.

At present only standard local searches and water searches - which check for impending planning applications, traffic control schemes and water and drainage services to the property - are necessary.

"The case for the relevance of the Hip and upfront information in the home buying process as a method of decreasing the number of sales that fall through has been highlighted by this research," said Ronnie Park, managing director of OneSearch Direct.

With the government recently announcing plans for an increase in the number of properties being built these concerns are growing in significance, according to OneSearch.

"With the government planning to build three million new homes by 2020, many of which will have to be constructed on flood plains in areas like the Thames Gateway, it seems absurd this information is not required to be made readily available in the Hip - especially when these properties are not automatically covered by insurers," continued Mr Park.

"Hips are providing more transparency for the market and improving the process but what we are talking about here is a fundamental consumer right - the ability for people to discern a fair market price for a property using all relevant information to make an enlightened choice on their biggest purchase."

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