Helping Innovate Property (HIP) – Blog, Housing Market News and Articles

With the conservative’s conference now finished and the focussed rallying of political troops coming to a natural lull we now see further reflection of the speeches and recently published papers.

Grant Shapps always provides some interest though feel he often lacks solid reasoning and/or alternatives to areas he dislikes. He is undoubtedly advised on certain areas though in regard to Home Information Packs and Energy Performance Certificates he just seems to be taking a ‘party line’; stating what he hopes the nation wants to hear.

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Home Information Packs (HIPs) have undoubtedly received some bad press since their introduction which has been mainly initiated by a number of staunch anti-HIP groups. However, over time and with increased understanding and research we have seen these protesters diminish and numbers grow in support of the Home Information Pack. As people witness the benefits of the HIP these numbers will surely grow and the perceived negative start to the life of the HIP, progress and develop further into an essential and beneficial part of the property conveyancing process.

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London Sales

Unsurprisingly, demand is exceeding supply with homebuyers retracted into their shells for the traditional summer calm this August. The figures this year indicate a certain tidal change compared to the same period in 2008. Across London properties, the amount of offers being made went up 60% on an annual basis while exchanges 78%.

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Welcome to Mike Ockenden, Chairman of the Association of Home Information Pack Providers (AHIPP) who has kindly agreed to spread a bit of light on how he sees the past and future of all things HIP related.
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One of the ‘cheapest’ Home Information Pack (HIP) providers who were favourably named in last months edition of Which have ‘withdrawn’ from the HIP market.

This demise has been inevitable for many of the cheap HIP providers including Promise Home Packs and we highlighted concerns last month in the article ‘Be aware of cheap, budget HIP & EPC providers‘. Promise are not the first HIP supplier to have left the market and certainly will not be the last.

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The Conservative party has made no pretence about its desire to ‘scrap’ Home Information Packs (HIPs) should as is likely it gain power in spring of next year. Is this a credible policy which can be backed with intellectual argument or is it simply an easy way of trying to win the populist vote?

In this article I will look at both sides of the argument and will, despite my vested interest in seeing the HIP retained, try and provide a balanced analysis of the issues.

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Nationwide have published their monthly report stating that house prices have risen for the fourth consecutive month. In August, it is claimed that we have seen property prices increase by 1.6% making the average house price in the country £160,000. However, is this the recovery most are looking for?

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House hunters searching online for property can now benefit from a new search engine which uses text entries to find the most suitable match rather than traditional drop-down filter menus. Gartoo, which launches today, is based on ‘semantic search’ – advanced technology which disseminates search according to words entered by the user to find the most accurate fit.

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In comparison to last year, recent studies in the property market have indicated that new properties for sale on the market are far more likely to be sold in this year.

New research indicates that owners are almost twice as likely to sell their flats and houses this month than they would have been when the market was at its highest. The number of people applying to buy has augmented by about 40% compared to May last year. A simultaneous fall in the number of new property being introduced to the market (about 31% since May 08) has clearly changed the balance between available property and the demand for it. As a result a noticeable advantage has emerged for sellers.

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An estate agent in Somerset has been succesful in her job application to become a Witch at a tourist attraction in Somerset.

After watching BBC news yesterday morning and the reported results of the job interview later that evening; it just could not go without a mention due to the amusing nature of the story witch is sure to raise a smile.

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Google maps has recently developed their search functionality when searching for properties. The recent addition of streetview is in our view fantastic and with this new ability it further enhances googles’ progression and  goal of returning the best searches result, now targeting the property search market.

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