Hips to 'help first-time buyers'

The benefits of home information packs (Hips) to first-time buyers (FTBs) have been explained by a provider.

Lesley Sorridimi of Hip Hip Hooray.com said that FTBs would feel a positive financial impact when they saved money on the costs of title information and property searches.

These are potentially costly and prices vary widely between local authorities, she added.

Hips are presently only compulsory for properties with three or more bedrooms, which comprise 70 per cent of the market and include an energy performance certificate and a home condition report.

They will be rolled out gradually to include every property marketed for sale in the UK from December 14th.

"First-time buyers usually have quite a high conveyancing bill when they''re purchasing a property," said Ms Sorridimi.

"What the Hip should do is supply them with much of the information that they have had to have collected on their behalf and charged them for," she added.

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