Home Condition Reports and Home Inspectors
This Fact sheet is up to date at January 2009
The contents of the HIP, both compulsory (Required) and voluntary (Authorised) are set out in the regulations contained in SI 2007 No 1667 as varied by a number of amending statutory instruments.
The original intention of the new system was that all HIPs would contain a Home Condition Report (HCR). This element is no longer mandatory in the HIP but government hopes that they will come to be included as a voluntary ‘authorised’ element. It is expected that the HCR will become mandatory at some stage. The EPC, originally to be part of the HCR, will in most cases be mandatory. The EPC is now required for all residential property to be sold or let even where there is no requirement for a HIP – see Fact sheet 19.
A Home Condition report is a report on the physical condition of a residential property at the time of the inspection. The report is in a fixed form and is completed by rating, on a hand held computer, each aspect of the property according to a specified grading system. The hand held computer enables the information to be turned into an HCR automatically.
Only Home Inspectors (HI’s) who are members of and licensed by an accredited scheme may carry out these inspections and prepare an HCR.
Once completed the report will be entered on a database register and retained for at least 15 years to give an historic picture of the property’s condition.
This is one of the possible downsides of the scheme – a ‘bad’ report could blight a property and affect its price or saleability.
It is therefore expected that sellers will arrange for a pre-HCR inspection of their property to give them the opportunity to put right any defects that are revealed and get a ‘clear’ HCR that goes onto the register. Sellers will be able to give instructions to restrict disclosure of an HCR.
The HCR must not be more than 3 months old at the date the property first goes on the market – the first point of marketing (FPM). It is no longer a requirement that any HCR’s carried out for the current seller in the 12 months prior to the HCR should be included in the HIP.
Sellers, buyers and lenders are all entitled to rely on the HCR and the HI accreditation schemes provide a redress scheme for complaints and claims. HI’s are also be required to hold indemnity insurance to meet claims.
It is not clear whether a seller will be able to claim in respect of an incorrect HCR – the legislation does however provide for application to be made to remove an incorrect HCR from the register.
A fee will be charged for placing an HCR on the register and also for retrieving a copy. These are additional costs that, ultimately, will be passed onto the consumer. This fee has been fixed, for the time begin at least, at £1.15.
