Do HIPs speed up transactions? |
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25th September 2009
Statistics from a leading agent released this week claim that HIPs have speeded up the time between offer and exchange by an average of one week.
The figure comes from Connells. Roger Wilson, their conveyancing services director, was quoted as saying “From my own audits, I have seen first hand how having the legal paperwork and searches available up-front can speed up the due diligence process. Now, whilst I know that this source is eminently reliable and in fact.
I know Roger and he is an extremely professional man who was involved in advising the Department of Communities and Local Government on elements of HIP implementation. I too sat on the same sub-committee and was very impressed with his views.
Nevertheless, I cant agree that HIPs have made a significant difference to the overall process. In fact, the additional few hundred pounds that HIPs cost is claimed to save 7 days, yet doesn't mention how long the average sale actually takes.
Further more, there is an inevitable delay of a few days before you can actually put a property on the market as the Law requires you to have a HIP in place before marketing can commence.
I actually suspect that the claim conveyancing may be quicker, if indeed it is, has more to do with the fact that solicitors have half the number of cases to deal with, surveyors aren't busy, and estate agents are morse keen to get the deals through couple with the fact vendors are keen to ensure that they don't lose a buyer which may be harder to replace than a couple of years ago.
