Hips evasion strategies unlikely to profit vendors
This August’s introduction of Home Information Packs (Hips) as mandatory for anyone selling a four-bedroom home has prompted a reaction amongst vendors seeking to find a loophole in the system.
According to research by Abbey Mortgages, 4.5 million people living in four-bedroom homes would be prepared to market their property as having three bedrooms rather than pay the £400 to £600 cost of Hips.
The majority of those surveyed (82%) would be happy to remarket a fourth bedroom as a study and some estate agents expect the word ‘study’ to become a synonym for a fourth bedroom.
Others respondents would describe a fourth bedroom as follows: playroom (21%), games room (15%), walk in wardrobe (12%), TV room (6%), library (4%) and computer room (3%).
However, the Abbey is warning potential vendors that marketing a property as having a reduced number of bedrooms can have its disadvantages, particularly as 89% of people in the UK now go to the Internet to search for properties, with 73% using the number of bedrooms as a key search criteria.
This can lead to the loss of potential buyers and the likelihood of a lower selling price.
Overall Abbey Mortgages believes that strategies to avoid the cost of Hips are unlikely to be cost effective.
Comments (1)
Visited 1636 times, 1 so far today
HIPs also now applies to 3 bedroom properties, so any such strategy is unlikely to work. Marketing a 3 or 4 bedroom house as a 2 bedroom is likely to lead to a serious undervaluation of the property as well.