Hips confusion could hit first time buyers

22-Aug-2007

First time buyers already hampered by the rising costs of moving home could face a further bill after it was reported that some lenders now require buyers as well as sellers to pay for searches of a new home.

Under Home information pack (Hip) regulations, sellers of properties with four or more bedrooms – and soon, it is believed, all sellers, are obliged to have a local authority search made up for inclusion in the pack.

But today the Daily Mail has reported that some lenders are mistrustful of the veracity of these packs and have hence demanded that borrowers conduct their own search.

However, lenders have responded by saying that this will not necessarily result in higher costs.

"We are not demanding that house buyers spend more money on more searches," commented a Barclays spokeswoman, according to the BBC.

Earlier the likes of the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors had criticised the government for the flaws found in the rollout of the packs.

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