News from the Residential Property Investor, the bi-monthly magazine for RLA members other artilces from the February / March 1999 issue RPI news archive

Fast route to price realism - February / March 1999

Government proposals for speeding up the house buying process could lead to more realistic asking prices, according to a consultative paper from the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions published in December.

Gazumping is not a common problem, according to The key to easier home buying and selling, a consultative paper. It occurs in less than 2 per cent of transactions whereas delays inherent in the system are widespread and affect almost everyone.

The papers central proposal is that, before putting their house on the market, sellers should put together an information pack containing search responses, copies of planning permissions, copies of title deeds and a survey report.

This would incur costs in obtaining searches and paying for a survey, it admits. And the end result may be that the seller will be encouraged to set a more accurate price, reflecting the true condition of the property. For this reason a voluntary approach may not work.

Although this will be considered in the light of responses to the paper it is possible the law will have to be changed to make sure that sellers information packs are made available.

Besides wanting both buyers and sellers to be better prepared for housing transactions, the paper calls on local authorities, utility companies and mortgage lenders to sharpen up their act when it comes to responding to search enquiries and applications.

What we want is a modern, more streamlined system that is easier and faster for everyone, said housing minister Hilary Armstrong.
 

other artilces from the February / March 1999 issue

• Business rate assessments
• Fast route to price realism
• One sided rules on rent capping
• Tennancy validate by bank action
• When acceleration takes longer
• New crackdown on benefit fraud