Coalition Announces Home Information Pack (HIP) Removal

One of the good and bad things to so far come out of the new coalition government is the possible removal of the Home Information Packs (HIPs).

If you dont know what a HIP is simply it allows a potentional buyer to see facts and figures about a property prior to purchase, such as energy rating, floor plans, etc. I for one totally agree with both the Home Information Packs (HIPs) and the Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs), I think they are a great way to see an at a glance view of what is one of the largest purchases you will every make.

As the HIP was only introduced back in 2007, and many people spent their own time and money to become qualified HIP providers and energy assessors, this means that potentially many people will become unemployed over night.

However as the economy has to be the new governments top priority, you will still need to provide a HIP for your property sales, and and EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) for every rental property, until any official announcement is made.

Now this being said it is in my view that despite a promise to abolish the Home Information Packs (HIPs) I think they will more likely be a step towards either.

1. The Home Information Pack (Hip) being an option when selling your property, that way the Home Information Pack (Hip) will no longer be a legal requirement, but can be seen as a sales tool in aiding the potential sale or letting of a property.
2. A simpler scheme without the need for the information contained in a Home Information Pack (HIP), mainly likely to be based around the current Energy Performance Certifcate (EPC) such as is the case for rental properties.

The fact is that until any formal announcement is made on the removal of the Home Information Pack (HIP), and even then it will be a gradual not an over night removal. You are still have a legal responsiblity to provide a Home Information Pack (HIP) for selling your property and an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for letting your property for the time being anyway.

Do Not Sell Until After Emergency Budget

With the general election finally over and the formation of a Conservative - Lib Dem government, this is an uncertain time for the UK economy.

There are only a few certain things that will come out of this, and that is change and hopefully for the better.

Now a word of caution one thing that has been announced is an emergency budget in around 50 days, and although we have just had a budget no one really knows what will happen until after this budget and mainly the new government having some time to govern.

So my advice is to take the time between now and the emergency budget to fix up your home, make the most of the weather, and remember such things as kerb appeal, first appearance and workings if you want to sell your home.

As for the actual sale, it is a safe bet that something will come out of this budget to help the economy and that will help house sales, whether this is directly connected to home sales or simply an increase in buyer confidence. So do not actually put your house on the market until after the new government has had time to adjust and the emergency budget is over. Doing this you will stand to make a better profit on your house, with a lot less hassle.

New Stamp Duty Threshold for First Time Buyers

As you may or may not have heard there is a new stamp duty threshold of £250000 for firsttime buyers. This means that for anyone who is buying there first home will not have to pay stamp duty unless the house value is above £250000.

So remember to bear this in mind when selling your home, if you are hoping it will be snapped up by first time buyers you can probably get away with raising your asking price a bit, but not too much as you will over value your house and make it a poor option.

For example if you value your house at £250000 a first time buyer will pay no stamp duty, but if you value your house at £250001 the first time buyer will pay around £7500 in stamp duty, effectively reducing your house to a real market value of around £242500 and potentially losing you the sale.

So remember if your home is valued at over £250000, you may be better off reducing your price in order to sell your house.

Also remember that is you are buying your first home, this double in the threshold means that you can now spend around £2000 more for every £100000 of asking price, on your new home up to £250000.