Press Release

Some estate agent HIPs are not fit for purpose, says Law Society

4 October 2008

The Law Society is warning of the dangers in not using a solicitor when compiling a Home Information Pack (HIP) after a Trading Standards investigation highlighted serious flaws with estate agents’ HIPs.

Birmingham Trading Standards officers investigated HIPs produced by estate agents and found they contained serious errors, including absent information and inaccurate dates for planning proposals.

Law Society President Paul Marsh says:

“The findings of the trading standards investigation confirm very starkly the concerns the Law Society has been expressing for some time about these cheap packs put together by unqualified and unregulated HIP providers, which are a complete waste of consumers’ money.

“Unregulated providers have not the slightest understanding of the meaning let alone the importance of the documents that go into these packs. Their only concern is to make as much money as possible from the consumer.”

The Law Society has received reports from its members that some estate agents are being paid undisclosed commissions by search companies to include poor quality searches in their HIPs, and the Birmingham Trading Standards investigation seems to confirm that.

Paul Marsh says: “If the pack is to provide any value to the consumer at all it needs to be accurate and contain reliable information. That requires those who compile these packs to understand what they are doing.

“Anyone who buys a HIP from an unregulated estate agent or HIP provider might as well throw their money away.

“It makes perfect sense in a slow market to use the time you have properly and instruct a solicitor not only in the preparation of a HIP but on all the paper work that is involved in the selling of your home, including the contract, as soon as possible.

“All the research shows that instructing a solicitor early on in the transaction will speed up the process of selling a property significantly and ensure it runs as smoothly as possible”

Sellers looking for a conveyancing solicitor can find one in their area at www.lawsociety.org.uk/findasolicitor