HIPs Update:
As you will probably all be aware the requirement for HIPs has now been suspended, there will be a period of consultation prior to the HIP legislation finally being abolished, however the Government is committed to the Energy Performance Certificate and issued the following statement:

“In order to ensure that people selling their homes continue to make an Energy Performance Certificate available to prospective buyers, we have also laid before Parliament the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2010 which introduce a number of new requirements including:

A new duty on the seller to secure that an energy performance certificate (EPC) has been commissioned before marketing of the property commences where no such certificate is already available

An EPC has been commissioned when a Domestic Energy Assessor has been instructed to prepare the EPC and the EPC has either been paid for or has given a clear undertaking to pay for it

A new duty on the person acting on behalf of the seller to be satisfied that an EPC has been commissioned before commencing marketing.

A new duty on both the seller and a person acting on their behalf to make reasonable efforts to secure an EPC within 28 days.

All of the new duties carry fixed penalties where somebody fails in the duty conferred on them by the new regulations”

The full story can be found at the following: http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/1591777

In plain English this means sellers will only have to commission an EPC, rather than have one in place before they, or someone acting on their behalf, begin marketing the property. At present, the written particulars must either contain details of the EPC rating or a copy of the EPC must be attached to the particulars. In future, where written particulars are produced before the EPC rating is known, the particulars will need to be updated once the EPC becomes available. With this in mind Home Information bureau will still be operating a 48 hour turnaround time on EPCs (subject to access) so you will only need to produce your details once.

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