Scotland introduces Home Reports
December 8th, 2008 by Rachel Newcombe
It’s almost a year since Home Information Packs (HIPs) were introduced in England and Wales, and now Scotland has followed in their footsteps, with the introduction of Home Reports.
As of the 1st December 2008, everyone selling residential property in Scotland has to produce a Home Report. It’s expected to cost sellers in the region of £500 to £800 to have the report produced, as it involves a so-called ‘single seller survey’ and valuation by a surveyor. The report consists of three main documents:
- A Single Survey – which is an assessment produced by a surveyor of the condition of the property, whether it’s accessible for people with particular needs and a current valuation of the property.
- An Energy Report – which is an assessment carried out by a surveyor of the energy efficiency of the property and its environmental impact. Where applicable, they’ll also include ideas for improving energy efficiency.
- A Property Questionnaire – filled out by the seller of the home, it has key information about the property, such as the Council Tax rate, parking facilities and maintenance costs.
Like HIPs, the theory behind Home Reports is that it will provide buyers with extra information about the property they’re interested in and avoid the need for multiple surveys to be carried out.
According to some critics, the potential downside is that, for properties that don’t sell quickly and need improvement work carried out to help their selling ability, the Home Reports will need to be updated again after the work has been carried out. This will cost another £80 to £150, so could make the Home Report rather pricey. Of course, one way around it would be to do any improvement work first, before you put your house on the market, to avoid unnecessary costs further down the line.
