Assetz^® News » HOME | FEED | LIST ALL ARTICLES | ASSETZ HOMEPAGE

Assetz^® Property News Service

Home sales to be £1,000 more expensive under scheme

---

All home sales could soon become £1,000 more expensive under plans for prospective buyer information packs, due to be published by the Office of Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) this week.

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott plans to introduce the scheme despite warnings by many that the regulations will simply create more red tape and expense for people selling homes.

The information packs, which will include a £350 condition survey, will shift the onus for collecting information on the state of a building from buyer to seller. Also included will be guarantees for central heating, double-glazing, local government searches and title deeds.

Critics have warned that many buyers will still feel the need to pay for their own surveys because the proposed home condition report is not wide enough in its remit, and that a new mini industry will develop of advisors offering to produce packs for sellers.

"Labour's sellers' packs will simply put up the cost of selling a home, create more red tape and ultimately undermine a fragile housing market," Conservative spokesperson Caroline Spelman told the Daily Mail.

"Sellers will be saddled with an extra cost of £1,000, lenders will probably demand their own assessments and many buyers will want their own survey instead of the one they are given."

She also challenged claims made by ministers that the packs would cut the time taken to sell a home from up to 12 weeks to as little as one or two.

Surveyors have added their voices to the chorus of concerns, warning that the minimal surveys would be no more than a "box ticking" exercise unable to provide enough information to be of any real use to buyers.

The government is standing solidly behind the scheme, however. "The packs help cut the time it takes to sell a house by making sure all the key documents are ready at the start of the process, rather than being gathered together towards the end," said one official.

The only new expense involved in the legislation would be the £350 survey, he claimed. "All the other documents are things which already have to be produced when a home is sold."

Mr Prescott is said to be convinced that the proposals will simplify buying and selling property. The plan is due to come in to force in 2007.

---

Accessing the news service

You can view all of the Assetz® UK, International and UK Property Investment Articles and News here.

We also provide an Feed of the news service, or you can view all articles. Click here to view more information on RSS readers and how they make reading online news more convenient.

Terms of content usage:
XML and other types of publication of this article title and the URL of this page are permitted using the RSS feed or other methods.
Article content strictly prohibited from duplication on any other site directly other than first paragraph included in the XML feed.

Copyright © 2001-2008 Assetz® News Limited. All Rights Reserved | Company Information | Assetz® Homepage
Assetz House, Newby Road, Hazel Grove, Stockport, Cheshire, SK7 5DA
TEL (UK): 0161 456 4000 FAX: 0161 482 7588
TEL (International): +44 161 456 4000 FAX: +44 161 482 7588