Hips extension to hit flat and small house sales

Owners of flats may struggle to sell their homes next year after the extension of the compulsory home information pack (Hip) scheme to one and two-bedroom properties from December 14.

Judith Heywood, The Times - 23 November 2007

Experts fear that compiling a sellers’ pack for smaller homes, many of which are leasehold flats, will prove too great a burden for vendors who are already suffering a market slowdown. A reduced supply of small homes would be to the detriment of already struggling first-time buyers.

Miles Shipside, commercial director of Rightmove, the property website, said: “The combination of wider economic uncertainty overlaid with legislative tinkering is an unhealthy mix.”

Owners of larger homes, which are already subject to the compulsory pack of legal and energy efficiency information, have reported delays and expense in securing leasehold and legal information from freeholders or managing agents - full article