Do you know anyone who has bought or sold a house recently? I have a friend who put her house on the market a few weeks ago and had to pay for a home report which is now a legal requirement when selling a house and comprises of three elements - the survey, the energy performance certificate and the property questionnaire.
She has a couple who are exceptionally keen to buy her house and the sale seems to be going ahead smoothly but she wasn't comfortable with the new report as she felt too much responsibility lay with her instead of the buyers, but she admits the exercise was interesting. Until now of course, it has been the buyer who has to ensure the property they are purchasing is worth their hard earned money.
Lots of other queries popped up too. How long do you think the value on a report is valid? There is a suggestion that three months is reasonable but is it in today's market? Are surveyors going to provide you with a new report or update without payment and wait until you have sold your property? The energy performance certificate lasts 5 years. Make any changes and you will need a new one.
Does the property questionnaire tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth? That may be debatable as the information it provides may be correct but lacking in substance and a purchaser may still be left to discover potentially expensive shocks. There is lots of other information you may be required to provide as a seller and this may have a cost in some instances.
It is suggested by a property specialist in today's Scotsman that home reports may be hindering recovery in the housing market and should be dropped for the time being. He suggests the provision of all the information is not necessarily beneficial. I would disagree. The more information you have about a property the better. After all it's your money and a house is usually the biggest investment any of us make in our lifetimes.
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8 comments:
Haven't the Tories said they're getting rid of them when they win the election?
The "survey" system seemed to work well before all this came out. This carbon footprinting rubbish is getting on my nerves now.
After this expenses fiasco, the government need to stop fleecing the taxpayer with these green stealth taxes.
At least now we know where all the money goes!
I'm not sure Sue, I thought it was EU legislation these reports. My friend said te carbon thing was really overplayed by the surveyor who didn't seem to understand it. She had to correct him a few times - hence the 'she found it interesting' bit.
SR,
I think these are important, we rented out our apartment earlier this year and had to have an energy efficiency report done for the tenant - £90.
I also feel that a bad neighbour/disputes needs to be made clear too, regardless if it was 6 months, 1 year or 2 years ago!
Have a nice day!
CD
Oh CD surely not neighbour disputes? Here's hoping I die in this place then because my immediate neighbours are possibly the nastiest people I've ever met. Unfortunately we share a drive and they object even when a delivery van stops here. Unbelievable. (Oh the objections involve endless lawyer's letter btw, they can't complain to my face).
Home reports are standard here - have been for years.
That's interesting scunnert. Are there ever any cases where the puchaser sues the seller because of bad information?
Slightly off topic, but some years ago friends of mine bought an expensive modern bungalow in an upmarket village near Loch Lomond. They paid for a full structural survey. Shortly after moving in they encountered some problems and called in a builder, who told them that the house would have to be demolished as it had been built without foundations. That's right - it had no foundations!
They assumed that they would have redress from the surveyor - what else is the point of paying for a full survey? They were wrong. They had to leave the house and write it off as a total loss. Painful - and they were a young couple.
So the old system has its problems too. The idea of the new report was to end surveyors klondiking on property sales by selling the same survey many times. A good idea, but I think it has become over-elaborated from the initial simple principle - it looks like that horse designed by a committee. Nevertheless, I suspect that most of the trade complaints about it are inspired by as much fear of personal loss as objective criticism.
I think both systems are wrong Vronsky unless there is some form of redress. If there's no responsibility on the part of the surveyor then you're paying good money just for words on paper. Doesn't make sense.
What took my friend aback was the energy issue and the lecture she received about preserving energy. Funny thing is her husband was one of the heid bummers with British Gas.
How sad about the young couple, but it's not the first time I've heard such a tragic story. Insurance companies don't cover well when they should.
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