We’re very pleased that our clients have spare chairs in their offices, because we've been deploying them with great haste on several occasions recently when greeted with the news that buyers are asking to see a HIP. As their content is intended for conveyancers we are intrigued to see their reaction to details of restrictive covenants and agricultural tie appeals, but the mere fact that they are asking for them is highly encouraging. The introduction of the new Property Information Questionnaire (PIQ) from April which includes questions about access to the property as well as council tax band information makes the HIP more consumer-oriented, and we expect enquiries about their content to increase.
Property Information Questionnaire
Any doubt about the government’s intention to press ahead with the changes in April were put aside last week when the law was quietly changed to dictate that the PIQ is required before a property may be marketed for sale. Sellers must complete the questionnaire and it must be included in the HIP before marketing may commence. It is important to note that if an estate agent assists the seller in completing the form then the Property Misdescriptions Act applies.
We provide three options for our clients – hard copy and Adobe PDF format (a branded version is now available on our website: www.thepartnershiplimited.com/Documents/piq.pdf) and from 1st March, a web-based alternative will be in place.
Energy Performance Certificate rules
All commercial and residential properties (with a few exceptions) now need an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) when they are marketed for sale or rent irrespective of when marketing has commenced. However, an interesting exemption has been determined for those without any heat source. Under the enabling legislation (The Energy Performance of Buildings Regulations) the law defines a building as being one whose climate is controlled by energy. Therefore, it appears that if a property is not climatically controlled, it does not qualify as a building and will not need an EPC. It should be noted that this does not apply with predicted energy assessments, i.e. where the developer has specifically designated a heating source, which may not have been installed yet but there are plans to do so.
Existing properties taken off the market
If a property with a HIP is taken off the market a year after it was first marketed for sale, some content must be refreshed if the property is subsequently remarketed. This includes title documentation and searches, which will naturally require an update to the index. As EPCs last for 10 years and may be up to 3 years old on inclusion in a HIP, obviously these need not be updated as they will be at most 18 months old.
To ensure our clients are aware of any potential breach caused by this, from February 1st we will be launching a new email reminder service which will send an email a month before the year’s anniversary of the date that the HIP was commissioned, warning that if the property has been taken off the market with plans to remarket it then new documentation will be required.
