Why this problem with my Hip?

By THIS IS MONEY
Updated:

 

If my home information pack searches were in date when my buyer agreed to buy the property, why are their solicitors saying they will be out of date on completion and need to be renewed? S.A.H., Huntingdon

A home inspector

Hips: Why to mine need to be renewed so soon?

Andy Knee, managing director of property services business LMS, replies: This has most probably arisen because the buyer is obtaining a mortgage to fund part of the purchase price and the solicitor is having to meet the terms and conditions laid down by the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

These insist that a search is not more than six months old when the mortgage completes (CML Handbook - Section 5.2.3)

Some lenders permit solicitors to use an insurance policy in conjunction with the original searches to avoid the need for them to be renewed. Whether the buyers' solicitor has this option will vary lender by lender.

It is set out in 'Part II' of the instructions that the solicitor will have normally been sent with the mortgage offer.

Some solicitors will not accept certain types of searches at all, claiming that the Law Society have said it is best practice to use only searches obtained directly from local authorities themselves and not via personal search companies.

There is some confusion among solicitors as to precisely what The Law Society advice is on this matter. In any case, I do not think this is the issue in your case because it appears that it is the age of the search and not the type of search that is in question.

So, the search may well be valid for Hip purposes but need to be renewed because either the lender or solicitor thinks it should be and there is little that can be done to prevent them from obtaining a second search.

In any case it is unlikely to have changed much since the original search was obtained and, unless you are unlucky and the house you are selling is covered by a very slow local authority, it should not delay matters very much.

I would also expect that the cost of the second search will be met by the buyer. If I, as a seller, were being asked to pay for it I would normally refuse.

However, in this market I might think I was lucky to have a buyer and agree to cover the cost. (If you agree to this it might be sensible to do so only if the sale completes).

I wouldn't want to lose my buyer and then find that I've paid for two searches, neither are which are acceptable when I find another buyer in the future.

Mortgages - Reviews and news

null

Piggy bank and some houses

Most watched Money videos