Concern is growing that the Scottish version of HIPs – Home Reports – are failing to help the housing market north of the border and are proving unpopular.
The Edinburgh Solicitors Property Centre is calling for a rethink.
It says that buyers do not regard the Home Reports as essential, whilst sellers are negative about them, with ESPC research showing that 65% say they do not help.
Four out of ten consumers want to see improvements, and a further three out of ten want them scrapped.
The Home Report goes further than HIPs in that it includes a survey commissioned by the seller.
The principle behind this was that multiple surveys on properties would be a thing of the past, so that prospective buyers would no longer waste money on a home they did not go on to purchase.
However, multiple surveys are back, because buyers do not trust the seller’s survey, or because in a slow market the surveys were done more than three months ago and are not acceptable to lenders, or because the surveyor was not on the lender’s panel.
ESPC chief executive Malcolm Cannon said: “Home Reports were a concept created during the period of high activity and rising prices in the property market.
“Coincidentally, their arrival coincided with a rapid slowdown and contraction in the number of homes up for sale.
“Our research with buyers has shown that whilst most find it a helpful document, it is not a ‘must have’. Plus a third of respondents had an additional survey completed either on request of their lender or of their own choice.
“Sellers, who pay for the Home Report, were much more negative with 65% describing the document as not helpful to them as a seller.
“Unprompted, respondents recommended changes to improve Home Reports: 43% suggested content changes and 31% were of the view that the best way to improve the Home Report would be to scrap them.
“With such strong opinions, ESPC would like to see a broad group of stakeholders brought together to identify how the Home Report can be a stronger contributor to a healthy property market.”
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Comments
HIPs, whatever your views, were designed to speed up the process. Can't see the point up north as property takes so long to sell even the worst solicitor will be ready.
The valuations contained are a laugh, always 15 to 20% too high but someones making good money out of proeprty not selling, so a better model perhaps than England?
It's been working North of the Border since 2008.
“With such strong opinions, ESPC would like to see a broad group of stakeholders brought together to identify how the Home Report can be a stronger contributor to a healthy property market.”
Scrap the whole thing there is no way this will work. It did not work in the UK so what makes anyone think it will work a bit further north?