So finally the date for introduction of Home Information Packs has been announced by the government. Last week (17^th Nov ’05) the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister said the introduction date for mandatory use of the packs for marketing a property would be 1^st June 2007.

Ages yet you might think - and if you are planning to sell your property in the next 18 months or so that would be a fair attitude - but the housing market industry, which has been split down the middle by those who oppose the idea and have been hoping the HIPs thing would go away, and those who (at least in principle) who have been constructively committed, now has very little time in which to get all the procedures in place.

The biggest industry change to date has been is driven by the mandatory Home Condition Report. Industry and government alike have identified the need for far more Home Inspectors - a sort of trimmed-down surveyor. To date, seven assessment centres have been established and 1700 people from the surveying and property industry and from other professions are undergoing training for the Home Inspector qualification.

A raft of subsidiary services are already available such as software to allow estate agents to produce HIPs quickly and systems to enable homeowners themselves to produce most of the pack. Already companies provide property marketing schemes that pre-supply potential buyers with all the elements of a HIP.

Well - in the first place there is serious doubt that enough Home Inspectors will be trained in the time available. Estimate vary about how many will be needed but a good guess would be about another 7,000 will be required. But maybe not all at once. The government believes in a smooth transition with many people using the HIP before the mandatory date, thus nipping in the bud the ‘but would you be the first’ argument. However, it’s no surprise to many that the June date for introduction coincides with the peak of the home marketing season. Despite protestations from industry leaders that this is exactly the wrong time of year to introduce the HIPs, market momentum will at least ensure a sudden dip an sales does not turn into a fiasco for the government and a disaster for the industry.

Then there is the burden of cost. Currently the buyer pays for all the legal stuff - including a mortgage survey or a buyers survey if he wants one. If the sale falls through - and according to the government some one million pounds a day is wasted on failed transactions - the poor buyer has to pay it all again.

With the HIPs in place this cost burden will transfer to the seller and in theory will only be purchased once. Many estate agents believe this will slow the market down as potential sellers will not want to part with money without first seeing if buyers are interested, particularly if they suspect that a survey may not show their property in a good light. Currently a buyer presented with a less-than-perfect survey may decide to continue and/or negotiate but if he does walk away the seller has not lost any money. Also say some estate agents, sellers will not be tempted to speculatively place their property on the market. Depending upon your point of view this may or may not be a good thing, but it will test the mettle of some sellers, particularly if they have a must-have price in mind. There is the opposite view of course, that buyers will be more readily attracted to a property that has a ‘clean bill of health’ and more confident of sellers’ reasons for selling.

The actual cost is also debated hotly. The government says it will be about £600 plus VAT but that most of this is not new cost. Others say the cost could easily reach £1000 and that the whole thing will go out of date quickly, requiring a new pack if someone withdraws property from the market for a season or two.

But most of the debate is now behind us - HIPs are here and the industry is mostly firing on all cylinders to embrace the biggest challenge yet.

Expect to see a plethora of schemes including ‘free’ HIP preparation by estate agents and also by conveyancers, self HIP books and software, HIP groups and the like. A whole new breed of specialist surveyors will be out there touting their skills too. Internet based searches, already available, will be built into HIP businesses, many linked to Home Inspectors or conveyancers.

But the biggest changes may come in the form of reduced timescales. House purchase - for the buyer at least, could become almost instantaneous, as speedy as an auction. And once this becomes the norm, those in the industry who have not embraced the new technology may find business competition a a lot stiffer.

New approaches to conveyancing will enable the seller to have everything in place - including a contract - before the property is even marketed. Once a buyer is ‘hooked’ the seller will be in position to exchange contracts - on the same day if needed. In a busy market, this could really concentrate the buyers mind!

Such schemes will undoubtedly be supported by mortgage lenders too so the whole tedious business of house purchase could - for some at least - come down to as little as a few days looking at suitable properties.

Conveyancers Fridays Property Lawyers have been quietly working with estate agents for the past 18 months to develop and test the part of the concept. Results have been quite staggering, with abortive transactions virtually wiped out, an average of 2 weeks to exchange of contracts, and a transparency that gives buyers the confidence to move quickly.

Fridays are encouraging vendors to instruct them at the point of going to the market so that all paperwork can be gathered before the buyer is found, even including some paperwork for which the buyer is normally responsible.

Once an offer has been agreed, if the buyer instructs Fridays too, then the report and contracts are sent out to them immediately.

They still see the normal to-and-fro of paperwork, the enquiries and answers, problems and solutions – they are all there for the buyer to read and inspect as normal. The only difference is that all appropriate enquiries are raised and addressed as the property is being marketed. The Legal Report and contract will ordinarily be available the day the buyer is found, rather than several weeks later.

Cash buyers could exchange immediately, the rest only have to wait for a mortgage offer.

Regulation from June 2007 will require the pack to be fully in place before marketing and this is also where new business opportunities will flourish.

Another company, Professional Computer Group, has also been working with industry on HIPs software. "Currently the bulk of the work contained within the HIP is produced by the solicitor anyway," says PCGL, "so why shouldn’t it continue to be?" The company has been serving the legal profession now for over 12 years and is currently working on HIPs software for the legal profession.

House Inspect, a team of team of specialist Home Inspectors covering the South East England are already offering a full Home Inspection Pack building service to estate agents. The pack allows them to get a property on the market fast and uses solicitors, Coffin Mew and Clover to provide the legal details, ensuring the pack is legal, complete and ready to go. Schemes like this are popping up all over but expect more automation, enhanced features and offerings direct to the seller as we get nearer the go-live date.

Will the housing market change with the introduction of HIPs? It already is -and this is only a sample: be prepared for a revolution in house purchase.

Fridays Property Lawyers - 0207 107 2960
Fridays http://fridaysmove.com/approach.htm
Professional Computer Group http://www.pcgl.co.uk/legal-software.shtml
House Inspect http://www.houseinspect.co.uk/
web-based Home Condition Report software from http://www.sava.org.uk/
And the self-route from Presafe http://www.presafe.co.uk/

What the Home Info Pack has to have:

• Terms of sale
• Evidence of title
• Replies to standard searches
• Planning consents, agreements etc
• SPIF, Fixtures and Fittings
• Warranties/ Guarantees
• Home condition report

In addition for leases:

• The lease
• Recent service charge accounts and receipts
• Current or any planned future works
• Insurance for the building and receipts for premiums
• Landlord regulations
• Memo and articles of Landlord/Management company