Home Condition Reports
Home Condition Reports
Although the Government has indicated it will make Home Condition Reports voluntary, it strongly believes that these are likely to prove valuable to both sellers and buyers, and is working with the industry to ensure that there is active take up.
Although currently an authorised (non compulsory) element of the Home Information Pack, by adding a Home Condition Report to the Pack, home-owners could dramatically speed up the sale of their home.
The Home Condition Report will provide sellers with a competitive advantage and make their own property stand out from the rest of the market.
The Home Condition Report (HCR) acts as a 'health check' for your home and it is similar to a surveyor's report - which many buyers already get, but only after they put an offer in.
A HCR is an objective report on the condition of the property that buyers, sellers and lenders will have a legal right to rely on. The Home Condition Report will have to be completed by a qualified, certificated Home Inspector who will carry out an on-site assessment. Sellers, buyers and lenders will all be able to rely on it as it classifies all the main elements of the property, roof, walls, foundations etc... into ratings, 1 ,2, 3. These correspond to Good condition, In need of repair and Serious Defect which makes the report clear and concise yet sufficiently detailed.
By providing this report upfront, it will not only give sellers a competitive advantage and make their own property stand out from the rest of the market, it will also ensure buyers have the confidence to commit to the property the minute an offer is put in - something they are unable to do if they still have to wait for a survey to be completed.
This means that the time taken for a sale to be completed could be reduced, as all of the legal searches will already be in the Pack and the Report will ensure nasty surprises which could threaten the sale later are avoided. And this could save consumers money.
