Thursday 22nd May 2008
Home information packs (Hips) are decreasingly being offered by estate agents for free, it has been reported.
According to the Observer, a growing number of estate agents are retracting free Hips as they do not believe the cost of preparing the pack will be recouped during the property sale.
But homeowners are also struggling to meet the cost of obtaining a Hip, the publication notes, as witnessed by Daniel Carter, managing director of Hertfordshire-based estate agent Jonathan Hunt.
"We had one client a few weeks ago who was having problems paying her mortgage and wanted to put her home on the market," he tells the Observer.
"She couldnt afford the upfront cost of the Hip and couldnt defer payment because of problems with her credit record."
The warnings could come as a cautionary note to those who are emerging from fixed-rate mortgages into a climate of higher interest rates, as a quick sale may not be an option should difficulties arise with repayments.
Hip Payment Services is one firm looking to tackle the issue by providing deferred payment schemes to help homeowners spread the cost of obtaining a Hip.
Jeff Smith, chief executive of the firm, tells the Observer: "We expect the market for free Hips to fall from half to about ten per cent."
The publication notes that the cost of preparing a Hip is typically in the region of £400 - a price estate agents are increasingly unwilling to meet from their own pockets.
Hip Payment Services suggests that its ten-month scheme, which has been prepared after consulting with practitioners within the market, can help to meet the cost without some of the complications commonly associated with other forms of credit.
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