©2008 The Energy Agents Limited

Archived News

Mortgage lending will be slow at the start of this year, but is expected to pick up, according to one expert

19th February 2010

Property purchases are likely to be at a lower level in the first few months of 2010, following a boost in December when buyers move to take advantage of the stamp duty concession, explained Bernard Clarke, spokesman for the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). More information.

Latest Land Registry Data

February 8th 2010

The latest Land Registry data, released last week, shows that over the last 12 months, national house prices have risen by 2.5 per cent. This is the first time since May 2008 that annual change has been positive. In December, house prices rose by 0.1 per cent. The average value of a property in England and Wales is now £161,783.

The UK economy has come out of recession

January 26th 2010

The UK economy has come out of recession, after figures showed it had grown by a weaker-than-expected 0.1% in the last three months of 2009.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8479639.stm

The Energy Agents 'floor' the competition

January 2010

The Energy Agents now provide clients with marketing photographs and floor plans. "We found that client's requirements were changing either needing to cut down on the number of times a property was visited, or to offer a more comprehensive transparent view of the property to potential buyers, via the floor plans. We attend properties for the energy assessment so it was a natural progression to also record the room measurements and layout and take great photo's of the rooms and grounds at the same time". Said Managing Director Costa Dionysiou. "The service means agent's time can be better spent getting new properties on the books and then showing them to potential buyers". For more details click here

HIPs Regulations

January 2009

The Government has introduced new measures for HIP regulations, to be introduced in April 2009, including an extension to the cut off date for first day marketing from January 2009 to April 6th2009. Margaret Beckett announced in December 2008 the new HIP regulations and highlighted below are the main amendments aimed at improving the quality of information available to home buyers.

  • Inclusion of a Property Information Questionnaire (PIQ), providing additional environmental information and replacing current required leasehold information.
  • Ending first day marketing provisions, a HIP must be completed before marketing can commence.
  • Ending insurance provision for searches, recognising that insurance is no substitute for information where it is available.
  • More enforcement, changes to make it easier for trading standards to identify non compliance and enforce the requirements.

For a full report please go to http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/1091058

Attention all Landlords

July 2008

From 1 October 2008 all rental properties with a new tenancy in England and Wales will be required to have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC).

Information for Landlords

When buildings are to be rented out, the landlord (either direct or via the letting agency) is responsible for ensuring a valid energy performance certificate is made available to all prospective tenants.

The EPC and recommendation report must be made available free of charge by a landlord to a prospective tenant at the earliest opportunity and no later than:

  • when any written information about the building is provided in response to a request for information received from the prospective tenant; or
  • when a viewing is conducted; or
  • if neither of those occur, before entering into a contract to sell or let.

An Energy Performance Certificate does not have to be made available if:

  • the landlord believes that the prospective tenant is unlikely to have sufficient funds to purchase or rent the property or is not genuinely interested in renting that type of property; or
  • the landlord is unlikely to be prepared to rent out the property to the prospective or tenant (although this does not authorize unlawful discrimination)

An EPC for rented property is valid for ten years regardless of change of tenancy.

The Energy Agents can provide your certificates. We can discuss discounts for landlords with large portfolios please call us now on 01565 633211 for more details.

 

Cheap Hips and Land Registry

June 2008

Be careful when choosing a HIP Provider as some providers may not be using the correct documents within the pack. Check when you are choosing a HIP provider that they only use Official Copies and not Register Views of the Land Registry and Title documents. The Land Registry has full details on what to look out for in an official copy. An "official copy" issued by Land Registry may take the form of a paper document produced on watermarked paper or an electronic version of the document (in a PDF). Therefore, the original home information pack assembled should contain the official copies issued by Land Registry. Copies of this pack provided to potential buyers and others should include a true copy e.g. a photocopy of the "official copy" or another official copy. (See Regulation 6 for further information on use of copies.) An electronic HIP can only be given to a buyer if the buyer agrees to receiving it in that form - otherwise a paper copy must be given. The electronic version of the "official copy" incorporates a security feature that enables Land Registry to identify whether the PDF has been unlocked or modified. Land Registry's opinion about the status of official copy PDFs is set out in its Practice Guide 11 (paragraph 5.3): Some HIP providers are incorporating Land Registry official copies into their own electronic HIP by either (a) scanning a paper official copy (i.e. a paper copy issued by Land Registry or a print out from the Land Registry PDF file) or (b) "unlocking" the Land Registry PDF file and incorporating it into the provider's electronic HIP. Single HIP PDFs prepared in this way may not contain official copies. However, in both cases, the resultant copy packs should comply with the HIP regulations when given to a potential buyer, as long as the resulting PDF copies are a "true copy" of the originals.

Use of Register Views

Instead of using official copies (as described above), some HIP providers are including "Register Views" obtained from Land Registry Direct as evidence of title. This option provides users with an on screen display of the register which can be downloaded and printed. Although the information contained within a printed version of the register view may be identical, it is not an official copy of the register and is not therefore acceptable for inclusion in the HIP.

Code for Sustainable Housing and New Builds

May 2008

As of the 1st May 2008 all new homes built must have a rating against the standards set by the Code for Sustainable Housing. This Code measures the sustainability of the building against a set criteria covering the minimum standards for water and energy usage.

New Build Properties and HIPs

April 2008

Legislation covering the marketing of new build properties has come into force. From now on any new homes marketed will require a HIP. However those marketed "off-plan" before they are physically complete will not have a full Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) as these can only produced following a physical inspection of a completed building. In these cases, the HIP will contain a Predicted Energy Assessment (PEA). Once the building is completed this will then need to be replaced by a full EPC. If a building is sold before it is completed a HIP is not required. However an EPC will still need to be given to the buyer if the building is completed before exchange of contracts, even though marketing has stopped.

Government report on impact of HIPs

March 2008

A Report on the impact of HIPS in the trial areas has been released by the Government.

Link : http://www.communities.gov.uk