In reply to George Edwards

The HIp does not contain a survey that is an optional extra known as a Home Condition Report which lenders will start to accept from 2008 - 2009.

I am sure the problem with searches can be dealt with those who complete the packs are duty bound to report the facts not what the seller would like to hear

M Quirk, Liverpool,

The home information pack has been designed by a series of civil servants and politicians with no knowledge of the property market in the vain hope that this would somehow speed things up when buying a home. Like all sections of the property industry the opinions of the Law Society were disregarded and in retaliation they, unlike us toothless estate agents, have the power to put the boot in by condemning personal searches even though they are fully aware that most councils are not equipped or inclined to provide an efficient service to buyers.They also know that very rare subsequent problems of searches and title are already covered by various insurances which are becoming the norm.
The term “Elephant in the room” springs to mind and this elephant looks like a lawyer.
If we were to detach the house buying process from the control of Law Society members ie solicitors I am sure that home buying would be a quicker purel financial transaction than the current protracted legal one.

Ron Kennor, Sidcup, UK

Until the government force all local councils to operate a computerised system so a FULL local authority search can be done quickly with a standardised fee structure this is going to be a problem. The London Borough of Barnet charge £302.10 whilst Cornwall County Council charge £36.30 for the same search with the average across the country being around £170'ish.
Madness!

Julian, Sutton, England

So personal searches in a HIP have been going 3 weeks and a lender says they might not accept them to lend on. Personal Searches before HIPs have been around for years and some solicitors have accepted them some not, some lenders have accepted some not. Why has there never been a standard on lending and solicitors on this? One solicitor practice even has different acceptance of personal searches within its own office!!
Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors- did they compare the sale rate of 4bed+ houses in the weeks before HIps with the year before due to advertising from estate agents to "get in" before Aug 1 to avoid a HIP? I haven't seen that report- maybe because it does not fit with RICS agenda.
Your report shows Abbey have surveyed 4.5million people with a4 bed house. Wow! So many people with a 4 bed house. It must have cost a fortune to have surveyed 4.5million people- so what was the question asked of millions of people by the survey? Leading question maybe?

David Thompson, Brighton, England

A personal search is nowhere near as reliable as an Official Local Authority search mainly because a personal search does not contain all the information an Official search does. The search agent who collates the information does not have access to the the information that is required as it is not on a public register. Many members of the public who are buying a house never know that they a getting a personal search as they are never given the option or having a personal or official search. If the personal was so good why dont solicitors give the choice to the purchaser. If I was buying a house I would never use a personal search.

Paul Guyler, Rochester, England

What can I say but "I told you so", when I first began my campaign against the introduction of the, then named, Sellers Packs?

The government has arrogantly refused to listen to advice from the representative bodies for solictors, surveyors, licenced conveyancers, estate agents,
mortgage lenders and other groups intimately involved
in house selling. They called us 'Stakeholders' and pretended to listen for a while with patronising smiles, but when the clamour became too much for them to bear (ie our point was at last getting through that their Home Information Packs were fatally flawed), they reacted by cancelling any further meetings. Even HIP introduction dates were not discussed prior to announcement, even though we were the organisations left to carry the implementation can.

HIPs are hopeless, of no earthly use to buyers, sellers or their professional advisors and for the government to press blindly on is supreme folly. www.homeinformationpacks.com

Trevor Kent PPNAEA, Gerrards Cross, Bucks, England

In most cases the bedrooms would be more accurately called box-rooms. I would rather have less bedrooms with some space than more bedrooms and barely manage to fit a bed in the room... nevermind cupboards!! This obsession with bedrooms is absurd considering the size of them

Chantel, UK,

I am biased in this instance as I am a Director of an established and thoroughly reputable company providing personal searches for inclusion within HIPs. I find the whole debate misplaced given that 50% of property transactions in this country currently take place using a personal search, and the instances of litigation as a result of incorrect information are no greater than those where a Local Authority search is used. Personal searches within HIPS are covered by robust insurance in case of mistakes or 'gaps' in information, and are therefore as reliable as any Local Authority search.

Iain Crouch, Halifax,

Any HIP worth having would be compiled by a group of people all of whom are professional and have indemnity insurance, this is where the adage "You get what you pay for" holds true.

The Home Condition Report element of a HIP, voluntary at the moment but, I think, well worth having, is a survey at a level between the simple valuation and the exhaustive structural and would, I suspect, meet most peoples needs. If the HCR were incorporated into the HIP package I think the whole process would be made welcome as this is what buyers need to see, a report objectively outlining exactly what it is they are intending to spend there money on.

Gary Oliver, Plymouth,

These things are the most dreadful mess and sum this Government up perfectly.....completely inept.

Judy , Liverpool, england

The HIP's instruction booklet runs to 54 (fifty four) pages of information.
Someone was paid to write it, someone to print it and an army to administer it.
How much did this cost and who paid?

Dennis Williams, Seaford, East Sussex

Is it any surprise that another Labour piece of legislation is failing? It seems that the only possible reasons this rdiculous fiasco is going ahead is because Labour promised jobs for their boys and to save their own radiant blushes.

The sooner Britain votes this government's en off the statute book, the sooner we can start the long process of unpicking the mess they have caused over the last decade.

Edwin Thornber, Bucharest,

Even if the local authority search is not a personal search, there are still difficulties with the buyer relying on one commissioned by a seller. If the property is on the market for some time, the search can no longer be relied upon by a prudent solicitor. A search commissioned by a seller may also just be a very basic search and not include all of the additional enquiries which a prudent solicitor would have requested

Sarah, worcester,

The idea that any buyer or lender would trust the sellers "information pack" before handing over a vast sum of money was always teetering on the brink of insanity. If buying I certainly would demand my own survey, and I'd expect anyone buying off me to do the same. Another barking mad law from the people who brought you measuring-your-children-at-the-roadside.

George Edwards, harrogate, UK