Ordering the cheapest HIP report in the UK?

[prand]

Hi All, for some crazy reason we're going to try and sell our house but this time round we need to order a HIP before the estate agents will start marketing.

We are being quoted £3-400 for an estate agent supplied one, but I also see them on the internet for £180.

I can't see how any report is better than the other (considering nobody pays any attention to them in the first place) so do I just order the cheapest one off the web and be done and save myself a hundred knicker?

Also if anyone can beat £180 in Berks please let me know!

Cheers

Edited by prand on Tuesday 27th January 14:44

[SystemParanoia]

http://www.hips4u.com/
quick google found this... but who knows if they're any good or not?

[james_tigerwoods]

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

I ended up using MyHIPHome - all done in about 2 days - brilliant

Cost about £200 too, I think

Edited by james_tigerwoods on Tuesday 27th January 15:04

[prand]

MyHIPHome is the one I've seen too. £182 all in.

The Estate agent warned us not to get a cheap HIP as they might not have the best detailed search. If nobody looks at it, and the Solicitors do the searches again anyway then WTF?

Edited by prand on Tuesday 27th January 15:07

[Steamer]

Mine is going on the market next month too - but I get the feeling its going to look a nightmare on the HIPS paperwork:

1860 build
No loft insulation
Original single sheet glass sash windows (grade 2 listed)
No Gas - Only electric oil filled rads for heating
No wall insulation (they are just solid walls with no cavity anyway)

So you don't have to have your HIP done by the estate agent your going to sell with then?

ETA: Obviously not - just answered my own stupid question by looking at the HIPs 4 u site!

Edited by Steamer on Tuesday 27th January 15:12

[prand]

Nope - as a quick search on Google will show you. There are lots of independents doing searches, I'm just trying to find the cheapest one!

One estate agent offered us a free HIP if we used their conveyancing service - which conveniently cost £300 more than our normal solicitors. So no real point doing that either. At least they don't mind if you say no.

As for the energy report, Don't worry about it either. Any house over 60 years old will inherently have a low efficiency rating,with single glazing, badly insulated walls, roofs & floors etc, even if you take many steps adn spend money to insulate the house and run efficient boilers etc, they will always be marked down.

People who buy period properties accept that as part of the ownership costs and I don't expect will put off buyers in any way- that's if they even look at the report!

Edited by prand on Tuesday 27th January 15:17

Edited by prand on Tuesday 27th January 15:19

[cslgirl]

My estate agent was offering the HIP pack in with the fee and if you took it off the market, you just pay back the HIP fee.

[RobboC]

Steamer said:

Mine is going on the market next month too - but I get the feeling its going to look a nightmare on the HIPS paperwork:

1860 build
No loft insulation
Original single sheet glass sash windows (grade 2 listed)
No Gas - Only electric oil filled rads for heating
No wall insulation (they are just solid walls with no cavity anyway)

Don't worry about that too much. The EPC will take into account the age/construction of the property, and take into account any restrictions, such as grade 2 listings.

There are 2 arrows on the EPC graph, which need to be as close to each other as possible. One shows current rating, the other shows the houses maximum potential given the its limitations.

[BliarOut]

What a fasntastic idea from the government.. Make it more difficult to sell houses. Utterly brilliant!

It was possible a while back to just ask around the estate agents and see if they wanted an instruction without a HIP.

[Steamer]

RobboC said:

Steamer said:

Mine is going on the market next month too - but I get the feeling its going to look a nightmare on the HIPS paperwork:

1860 build
No loft insulation
Original single sheet glass sash windows (grade 2 listed)
No Gas - Only electric oil filled rads for heating
No wall insulation (they are just solid walls with no cavity anyway)

Don't worry about that too much. The EPC will take into account the age/construction of the property, and take into account any restrictions, such as grade 2 listings.

There are 2 arrows on the EPC graph, which need to be as close to each other as possible. One shows current rating, the other shows the houses maximum potential given the its limitations.

Goes to show how much attention I paid to the ones I looked at a while ago then!

I didnt realise the reason behind the two arrows.. just thought mine would be on the bottom.

So although gas or oil would be more efficient (we arnt allowed solar panels on the roof or a wind turbine in the garden) the fact the building has no supply of gas in the first place is taken into consideration?

[james_tigerwoods]

prand said:

MyHIPHome is the one I've seen too. £182 all in.

The Estate agent warned us not to get a cheap HIP as they might not have the best detailed search. If nobody looks at it, and the Solicitors do the searches again anyway then WTF?

If someone (private) sold you a car and assured you it was HPI clear - would you trust them? You'd do it yourself, wouldn't you?

[prand]

Yep don't disagree about HPIs. But my question is for buying & selling houses, if nobody pays the blindest attention to the HIP anyway, then what's wrong with getting the cheapest, crappiest (although certified & approved) HIP off Dodgy Dick's Internet HIP services?

This ought to be enough to satisfy the absurd Government requirements, and save me a couple of hundred quid in the process!

[cuneus]

We used Myhiphome as well

No problems at all (although it's complete waste of time)

[jas xjr]

in stoke i can get them done for £60 as a favour . must be very useful these hips