Thursday 23rd August 2007
Free home information packs (Hip) offered by vendors may be inferior to those obtained from a specialist service, it has been warned.
Henry Pryor of the Hip Exchange - which matches estate agents with specialist pack providers - urges homeowners to pay for a professional to complete their Hip.
His comments come in response to the news that Barclays will accept personal searches only at the risk of the conveyancer.
"Solicitors/conveyancers have always taken legal responsibility for searches and this remains the case," Barclays said in a statement.
Mr Pryor echoes the sentiment, adding: "As with any legal document, its worth checking with your lawyer."
He continues that as Hips are rolled out to all properties, the need to conduct an authenticated search is likely to result in some sellers having to wait before their house can be listed for sale.
But the Hip Exchange terms understandable the decision of many solicitors not to lend their backing to a document which they have not prepared themselves.
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