Can you DIY a HIP ?

[Goochie]

We're looking at selling our house in the near future so I need to get a HIP. The question is, how much of it can I do myself (if anything) ?

[JCB123]

Yes - but good luck.

By time you've paid individual providers you'll have stumped up more than they can be bought for now anyway.....

[SJobson]

JCB123 said:

By time you've paid individual providers you'll have stumped up more than they can be bought for now anyway.....

This is exactly right - I am a solicitor so on principle I wanted to do my own, but the cost of searches alone was about the same price as the whole HIP from myhiphome.co.uk. Add on my time in compiling it and instructing an EPC and there was really no point.

[Goochie]

I see that myhiphome claim to do a HIP in 8 days - how is it possible to get all of the local authority searches done in such a short time? When I've bought a house myself, they always seem to be the things that slow things down (so the solicitors say)

[rah1888]

Goochie said:

I see that myhiphome claim to do a HIP in 8 days - how is it possible to get all of the local authority searches done in such a short time? When I've bought a house myself, they always seem to be the things that slow things down (so the solicitors say)

Almost certain to be personal searches.

[bga]

Goochie said:

I see that myhiphome claim to do a HIP in 8 days - how is it possible to get all of the local authority searches done in such a short time? When I've bought a house myself, they always seem to be the things that slow things down (so the solicitors say)

What myhiphome claim & what is reality are 2 different things as they are still dependent on the LA. If the LA are playing silly buggers like Lambeth are, you can be waiting over a month to get the final searches complete. No fault of the HIP provider other than not wanting to pay the individual £250 for the LA search for quick processing.

[SJobson]

rah1888 said:

Goochie said:

I see that myhiphome claim to do a HIP in 8 days - how is it possible to get all of the local authority searches done in such a short time? When I've bought a house myself, they always seem to be the things that slow things down (so the solicitors say)

Almost certain to be personal searches.

Indeed - virtually every HIP I've seen contains personal searches.

However, they are (or should be) insurance backed, and acceptable to most mortgage lenders, so no real problem. This also explains how they can get the searches done for less than the cost of ordering them yourself from the local authority.

[andy43]

The HIP is such a work of genius I may well vote Labour in the next election. Oh, wait.

Personal searches are 'insured', and most lenders accept them, but in the real world, with a slow moving house market, I'd guess the vast majority of searches are now being done at point of marketing, and again weeks or months later by the buyers solicitors, who for the most part will never have heard of myhiphophome or whoever.
A fair few solicitors, or more importantly, their insurers, trust unknown searches and HIP content about as much as they'd trust Lord Mandleson.

But at least doing all the searches twice keeps the VAT and council cash rolling in.