HIPs suspended

In a shock announcement, the government has decided to suspend the requirement to provide Home Information Packs for properties to be marketed. However, it has confirmed that Energy Performance Certificates must still be commissioned before a property may be marketed.

"We’re sorry – there’s no-one available - please leave a message after the tone"

When we received a promotional email from a company offering “cut-price conveyancing by qualified and experienced solicitors” we decided to take them up on their offer and called for a quote. Unfortunately, no-one was available to take our call, so they couldn’t give us the low-price they had promised. We find it surprising that some consumers still do not understand that a low-cost service can only mean cheaper, fewer and less-experienced staff to deal with their issues. Ironically, the payment of referral fees reduces the margin that providers can make, resulting in an even poorer service. We continue to question the ethics and the wisdom of such fees, as the quality of a referred company directly reflects on the company giving the referral and ask how can any company concerned about its reputation recommend a supplier that has been forced by their actions to offer a poor quality service?

Planning permission required for HMOs

A recent change in the law has meant that landlords looking for buy-to-let properties may find it more difficult than before. Since April 6th, under an amendment to the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, all properties that have not been let out to multiple individuals (Houses in Multiple Occupation - HMOs) previously, must receive planning approval from the local authority if an owner wishes to change their use to do so. The rationale behind this change is to try and reduce “student-only” areas of towns, but its impact could be far-reaching. We have already experienced a local authority refusing planning permission to one of our clients which halted a deal that was close to exchange.

Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) concerns

One of the most common frustrations with EPCs is for sellers of older or more unusual properties, especially where clients have spent time and money improving their properties to make them more energy efficient. For certain types of properties, such improvements do not always result in good energy ratings and high fuel bill estimates, and this can be highly disappointing. Agents should be aware that we are happy to provide an explanatory sheet for clients explaining the reasons for their rating, which can often help to reduce tensions in such circumstances.

Website launch focussing on conveyancing service

We continue to be delighted with the positive response from clients and agents to our responsiveness and professionalism with our conveyancing services. After just a couple of months, agents are referring clients to us for conveyancing due to the confidence we have been able to generate with our proven communication expertise. Our new iPartnership system is proving extremely popular, enabling agents and clients to keep track of the case as well as add their own questions and comments.

iPartnership is accessed in exactly the same way as our existing system and our new website will be going live later this month.

"Hiring today for another scapegoat - HIPs need not apply"

The Conservatives claim that HIPs are responsible for reducing the number of properties coming onto the market - indeed, they were a worthy scapegoat for the stock shortages in 2009 which forced up prices and lead to much frustration for agents and buyers. However, in the last few months, there has been a significant increase in instructions, with buyers having a wider choice of properties which in turn is slowing purchase decisions. Given this, we’d be interested in how the Conservatives can explain this, as they appear unshakeable in their opinion that HIPs have strangled instructions levels and must be eliminated. As the more likely explanation is the cyclical nature of the market, the opposition may need to find another justification for the unemployment they will create by their “Baby-and-Bathwater” approach to HIPs.

EPC on newbuilds

There is confusion over whether a standard Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) can be used on properties completed since April 2008. Since January 2006, all new developments need an EPC based on a complete Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) report, which are usually produced by the developer or architect. Upon completion of the building, an On-Construction EPC (OCEPC) is needed to be validated by building control officers to sign off on building regulations. Given that there are circumstances where these final reports have not been produced, for example, a developer has gone into receivership, this makes the sale of the property difficult without the final report. Many thought a standard EPC (using a reduced version of the SAP calculations) could be used on the property once complete. However, this is not the case and standard EPCs cannot be used on any property completed after April 2008 - the full SAP report must be used. There have been cases where solicitors have refused to exchange because there an appropriate report was not available. A domestic energy assessor may lose their licence by producing an EPC on a property that should have full inspection, and is unlikely to be insured to produce the report.

Clarification on HIP exemptions

We have found agents disagreeing with one another over the exemption of a property requiring a HIP. In one case, one agent attempted to undermine the credibility of another by telling a prospective seller they had been mis-sold a HIP when one wasn’t needed, when actually the case was not clear-cut. This is quite a common occurrence when considering properties with over five hectares (~12.5 acres) of land. Just because a property has more than five hectares, does not automatically mean it is exempt, as the primary use of the land must meet one of the following three criteria;

- Horticulture or cultivation
- Breeding or keeping of animals
- As grazing lands or woodlands

The full details of the law is available through our online HIPKnowledge and can be downloaded by clicking here:

http://www.thepartnershiplimited.com/Documents/HomeInformationPackRegulations-AcreageExemptions.pdf

Partnership conveyancing goes from strength to strength

The feedback on our new interactive conveyancing service has been overwhelmingly positive, with agents being delighted with our trademark communication expertise helping them complete complex deals more quickly than traditional solicitors. We have approximately 50 cases underway and are always interested in referrals; we will be announcing an incentive scheme later this month, with a monthly raffle for a case of wine for agents that refer potential clients to us, irrespective of whether we are instructed or not.

iPartnership launched

As part of our website development launched last month, we are delighted to announce that our online case management system, iPartnership, is now available to our clients and agents. The upgrade includes vastly improved presentation, as well as agent access to cases where their clients are using us for their conveyancing. This unique service enables agents to track the case online and even add their own notes to the case. The sophistication of the system means that any notes added by agents cannot be seen by clients, although agents may see all the comments added by clients.

Referral fees come under further scrutiny

Following our survey about our concerns about undisclosed referral fees being paid to estate agents, the Mail on Sunday has picked up the story and their latest reporting gives details about their concerns.

Click here for article

“A thousand monkeys at a thousand typewriters …”

When Aristotle suggested that sufficient random typing would generate the works of Shakespeare, he probably didn’t envisage that this could be applied to the miles of newsprint still being devoted to discussions about Home Information Packs (HIPs). Judging by the feedback from agents, we suggest that the time for discussions about their merits or demerits has passed. We believe that it is time to move on to more pressing matters, such as the issue of the transparency of referral fees and quality concerns about the conveyancing process. Indeed, this was borne out in our recent survey which highlighted that in the opinion of many agents, a few well-trained solicitors are seen as being far more productive than dealing with the thousands of individuals working in conveyancing call centres.

iPartnership launches today

As part of our website development launched last month, we are delighted to announce that our online case management system, iPartnership, is now available to our clients and agents. The upgrade includes vastly improved presentation, as well as agent access to cases where their clients are using us for their conveyancing. This unique service enables agents to track the case online and even add their own notes to the case. The sophistication of the system means that any notes added by agents cannot be seen by clients, although agents may see all the comments added by clients.

Referral Fees – more coverage

Following their reporting last month of the results of our survey on referral fees, the Mail on Sunday has been prompted to investigate the issue further. Whilst in our survey we found that referral fees had a minimal impact on the choice of solicitors, the paper claimed that if an agent recommended a solicitor that this should disqualify them automatically. Notwithstanding the rather emotive language used, it is clear that solicitors must declare any fees paid to agents to their clients.

The original article is shown here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/property/article-1247684/Sellers-misled-agents-backhanders.html

and the latest article is included here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/property/article-1252890/MARKET-WATCH-Is-estate-agent-taking-bribes-lawyer.html

Naturally we remain committed to questioning the ethics of referral fees and will continue to offer our conveyancing and Home Information Pack service to clients without such fees.

Commercial Energy Performance Certificates

A trading standards officer visited one of our clients last week and questioned them as to why the reference number on the recommendation report for the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) was different from the certificate itself. This is because commercial EPCs are produced in two separate reports, rather than the single report in the residential version. Unfortunately the reference number is not cross-referenced in both, with the recommendation report only referring to the certificate but not vice versa. As the trading standards officer requested that both the certificate and recommendation report should be included with the property particulars, (we do not agree that this is a requirement under the law) they questioned the validity of the report because of the difference in numbering, which is not the case.

New website launched

As the company increases its expansion into offering conveyancing, The Partnership is delighted to announce their new website which will serve as a starting point for all clients and agents.

Click here