Housing Advice
The recent announcement by the coalition government of the suspension of Home Information Packs, loathed by clients for creating additional costs and by conveyancing professionals for creating unnecessary administration will be widely welcomed, writes Nick Mason, Head of the Property and Private Client Team at Salmons Solicitors. “The Home Information Pack appeared to have no useful function apart from the dubious provision of an Energy Performance Certificate required by European Law, but when a prospective purchaser looked at buying a home, the type of lagging on a boiler, the thickness of the insulation in a loft and the type of light bulbs in use in the property did not rank particularly highly on most buyers’ wish-lists!” In truth, he adds, in these recessionary times, the HIP operated as a disincentive and stifled a fragile housing market. The only regret, for many, will be the loss of several thousand jobs reliant upon the HIP scheme and the loss to the Treasury of the VAT receipts.
