Will HIPs hurt your selling chances?

[Property Admin]

The UK government is planning to introduce HIPs from June 2007, where the seller must pay for a survey available to all interested purchasers, when selling a property.

The big questions is how this will affect the housing market.

For a start, will it cause short-term scarcity as sellers postpone their sales until they have a better idea of how the HIPs program works? Or will sellers simply add it to the overall costs of selling a house?

Will it actually make the process easier and better for selling a house as well? After all, if a house sale falls through only at the end because of a surveyors report, then isn't HIPs something that will benefit the seller as well?

[brian]

I really hope HIPs doesn't have a negative impact - but if the housing market does see a slowdown over the next 15 months, then it's going to be hard to see how HIPs can't have at least some small impact in putting-off owners from putting their house up for sale. I really hope the size of impact - presuming there is one - is going to be pretty small.

[Slow Rambler]

One effect apparently is that local authorities have speeded up the time it takes them to respond to requested searches.

[Ronny]

A real problem with A HIP, in my opinion, is that it presents another barrier in the selling process as they cost will be circa £300, which is just to enable you put yopur property on the market.

[Propertyguru28]

Bring on the Conservatives - as soon as Brown loses the next election, they should get rid of HIPs - which will save everyone a lot of time and money.

[Tim Newbury]

I heard there was a way to sell your House without HIPS once but I think it is not with an estate agent.