Estate agent does not have HIP report

[vicz84]

hello peeps,

i've currently sold my house and bought one instead as it was going quite cheap. the sale was agreed in january 2009, and had mortgage offer of my own and buyer by april all sorted out, now everythingis in place and solicitors have sent out contracts to each other for my property i've sold but unfortunately, the estate agent i have bought the property from does not have the HIP report for the house i'm buying, and thus solicitor cannot complete sale without it. the agent has been chasing the report since april till today been nearlly 5-6 weeks and had no luck. well he's told us as far as they are aware there was a hip report, but dont have it, they are unable to get the report till now from the energy assesor who prepaired it. Now am i right thinking that the estate agent shouldnt have had to property advertised until he had te HIP in his hand, or can they still do it without the HIP, and now till today they dont have. the buyer of my poperty is in concern of whats going on and might pull out if it goes any longer like this. i keep chasing the agent every day and have no luck. tey are the same agents who have sold our property and we bought the new property of them, so they will make nearlly £10k in commision from sale.

Can someone please let me knw where i stand and whthr i should negotiate with the agent for a redctio in fees due to his delay?

Thanks
robb

[Darth Marty]

There are circumstances in which a property still does not require a full hip, only certain elements of it, depends on continuous marketing, date on the market etc. However if a HIP was required then the Agent should have had confirmation that the hip was ordered, or depending on date on the market, completed. It isnt necessary for the agent to physically have it however in lots of cases they do, only that its been ordered/completed. In your situation I would call the agent and say unless they sort it out soon you will be contacting their head office and the ombudsman.