AHIPP to fold by the end of this month

BIG T you could look into the TOUTING tactics of the corporates!

• 06 June 2010 08:49 AM

Its a free market. Our client pays our fee to do the best job for them, not anyone else, that includes getting the best price under whatever circumstances the vendor sells- you can't restrict that without a massive change and shift to the far far left, not going to happen
, nor should it.

• 04 June 2010 12:06 PM

Peter@... - So, if I read your post correctly, the Government needs to dictate the selling price of property in order to achieve what HIPs were introduced to do. Twaddle. How will that speed up the buying process? How will that reduce the number of abortive transactions? How will the Government possibly control the value that homeowners put on their properties?
Don't blame the Agent in all cases. There are those who overvalue to 'win' the instruction, however for every one of those there are many who provide realistic pricing advice. Listen, pal - we would all have an easier life if house prices were index-linked... but it ain't ever going to happen so move on and get real.
Of course, lower prices will result in quicker sales. But by using your own argument, who would ever buy? Who says that the initial 'correction' you advocate would be the last? Theoretically, the price for a property can fall to only 1 penny, so how much do you envisage the 'corection' being?
And as for your comments relating to mortgage valuations, this has been done to death on this site already. Valuers protect their PII first; the Lender second; and purchaser last. As long as this is allowed to continue, then their 'values' will continue to slide. They are no more accurate than any of the Agents you seem to want to blame.

• 04 June 2010 11:43 AM

Silversurfveyor, yes, but not as long as it does currently!

• 04 June 2010 11:24 AM

Spare a thought for me too, what am I going to do with www.homeinformationpacks.com ? It cost me fifteen quid, AND I've got to handle the withdrawal symptoms of much reduced TV exposure (and just when wide screens have become the norm to accommodate me too). I shall need a new crusade to keep me on the box - any ideas folks? Have a good weekend - Big T

• 04 June 2010 11:08 AM

Yawn - I guess there are ongoing supplier contracts to settle (PR for example!), notice periods and redundancy payments, premises exit costs etc. It would undoubtedly be better for all concerned for this to be handled cleanly rather than AHIPP to "do a runner" and go bust leaving all sorts of creditors who may then try and chase members for funds anyway.

• 04 June 2010 10:58 AM

Peter at property - You talk about change but in many paragrphs offer no solutions - Have you got one becuase we all would like to hear it.

Please do not talk about speeding things up. Buying a house is the single biggest commitment most people make. It is a complex process involving severtal professions who need to do the job properly. It should take time

• 04 June 2010 10:30 AM

Paying for June! For what!?

• 04 June 2010 10:16 AM

Well, there's plenty of pot holes that need filling. Hope Ocky has a shovel.

• 04 June 2010 10:01 AM

I'm not a Labour supporter but I think throwing away the HIP infrastructure which they set up is a bad idea.

Its not gone till a law is passed and that should be debated in the house first.

The reason estate agents almost universally castigate HIPs is because they uncover inherent inefficiency within the estates sector.

The whole way estate agents appraise property needs to change, to get the market turning over houses faster. Whats happening right now is sellers, as well as estate agents and even the Government all want to stoke up house prices beyond current market sustainability but inflation will be the end result and this will defeat the object of doing that anyway (from the point of view of individual house-owners).

I think there's a strategy between Government and estate agents where the government is unwilling to discourage agents (or vendors) from stoking up house prices beyond current market sustainability because they want future growth in the economy (at least on paper).

Its high time a different approach was taken because this is about to damage the economy severely, and this problem has been accumulating for years.

If the housing sector is ever to become an integral part of the mainline UK economy, there now has to be a root and branch change in the way house valuations are initially carried out, including the means by which sales transactions may be more swiftly achieved. Efficiency and transparency in this sector of the marketplace need to be brought in.

If these changes are not made, the status quo will simply continue, i.e. booms followed by slumps in house prices on a cyclical basis; running out of sync with the main economy and causing incalculable damage to it.

With the new Con-Lib coalition we probably have, for the first time ever, a clear choice whether to embrace necessary change in the way houses are marketed; or not.
In my view, it is time we embraced change, which is so urgently needed, that all our futures depend upon us doing it.

For the time-being, its buyers beware - be very aware. There's a huge rift opening again between asking prices and mortgage surveyor's franking valuations.

Anyone who fails to realise this is likely to loose money on the houses they may buy now, as there will be a price correction yet again, later.

• 04 June 2010 09:41 AM

more redundancies.....well Grant!!

• 04 June 2010 09:24 AM

AHIPP FIPP CPSO PEP RPSA - RIP - Typical Labour inspired gravy train. How many more are there in other sectors of the economy to be got rid of?

• 04 June 2010 09:16 AM