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National Association Of Estate Agents - Press Release
18 August 2007 10:50
Obviously we are concerned about the apparent continued lack of consultation and the basis on bringing forward the implementation for three bedroomed houses appears to be motivated by a desire to fully roll out HIPs by the end of the year. The NAEA has issued the following press release:


NAEA UNEASY OVER SECOND PHASE IMPLEMENTATION OF HIPs SO SOON!

Today the Government announced that Home Information Packs and Energy Performance Certificates will be launched for three bedroom properties in England and Wales from Monday 10th September 2007.

Peter Bolton King, Chief Executive at the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), comments: “The NAEA has consistently expressed concerns regarding the implementation of HIPS as there still remains a shortfall of qualified energy assessors taking the exams.  We did anticipate the second phase to be in the Autumn, but with this announcement it now appears that the Government may try and include all dwellings by the end of the year!  This will continue to place uncertainty into an already delicate residential market.

“The NAEA will be closely monitoring its impact on the market in England and Wales. 

“The current housing climate remains unsettled at this moment in time.  House owners and hunters are already feeling the pressure due to continuing interest rate rises which is placing increasing strains on their wallets. Also, reactions to the instability being experienced in the world's stock markets cannot but continue the current uncertainties. We do not believe that today’s announcement will assist in bringing about stability; to the contrary, it will hinder it."

 

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Government Press Release - re HIP's
18 August 2007 10:48
"Communities and Local Government News Release 2007/0159
17 August 2007
The Government has today announced that Home Information Packs (HIPs) and Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) will be rolled out to three bedroom properties from 10 September 2007.

HIPs and EPCs are being introduced on a phased basis to ensure a smooth transition in the housing market, and to begin the process of transforming the home buying and selling process in the interests of consumers and the environment at the earliest opportunity.

Following the introduction of the packs for homes with four bedrooms and above on 1 August 2007, the Government has today confirmed there will be enough energy assessors, nationally and regionally, to roll out to three bedroom homes next month, having taken into account the operation of HIPs in the market.

HIPs and EPCs will give house buyers energy ratings for homes for the first time, from A to G - similar to consumer friendly ratings for fridges, helping to lower fuel bills and reduce carbon emissions. The packs will also help to cut costs for consumers by increasing transparency and competition in the home buying and selling process.

A further announcement on rolling out HIPs and EPCs to other properties will be made in due course. Our key criteria will be ensuring a smooth implementation and that the necessary energy assessors, both nationally and regionally, are in place.

Communities Minister Baroness Andrews said:
“We are now ready to start rolling out HIPs and EPCs to the next part of the market as promised, and improve a home buying and selling process which currently is not working for consumers or the environment.”

“HIPs and EPCs can help families to save hundreds of pounds off their fuel bills, and cut a million tonnes of carbon a year. They also have the potential to reduce the millions of pounds wasted by consumers when buying and selling a home, by increasing transparency and competition in a process that hasn’t changed for a generation."
Measures recommended in the EPC could save the average consumer £300 a year off their fuel bills, according to the Energy Saving Trust. Typical 'green grants' of £100 to £300 for energy saving improvements like loft insulation are available for many home owners.

A new system to make it easier for home owners to access these grants from energy suppliers was launched earlier this month. Energy suppliers are providing immediate access and information about green grants and offers to home buyers when they sign up to an energy contract. A new portal on the Energy Saving Trust’s website also allows consumers to tap in their postcode to find out offers available.

A snapshot of leading HIP providers shows packs are taking five days on average to produce. Many major estate agent chains are offering HIPs as part of their ordinary fees. Others are charging in the region of £300 to £350 plus VAT on an upfront or deferred basis - £200 to £250 of which is already paid for in the current system."
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St Helen's / Bembridge Fort Walk
14 August 2007 14:44
You will see on my blog of the 1st August that the Fort walk is today at 18.00 Hrs, due to the weather this will be cancelled as it would be dangerous & too deep to walk their today. If I hear of a later date, I will let you know.
Simon
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Selling a home - contact Isle of Wight Homes!
13 August 2007 11:07
Georgina just visited a lady in Newport - our sole-agency standard rate is 1.5% another pushy agent had just quoted 2.5% on a sole agency basis & then tried to get leads to sell life cover, solicitors etc. When rates are quoted it may not seem very much difference, but on an average house price of £240 K this rate adds an additional £2400 to the bill!
Please be careful out there.
Simon
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Another Island first by Isle of Wight Homes Ltd. - iowh.mobi
09 August 2007 13:08
We have developed a site in conjunction our software engineers Raven Creek (www.ravencreek.co.uk) to view specifically on mobile phones - this is definitely the way forward!
Most sites have lots of data to download, and as you pay for what's downloaded, it can cost a lot to view details on your phone. We have developed a mobile site that is cheap to view as we have stripped it to the bone. You can still view all the room sizes & pictures wherever you are, whether be it on a train, ferry, or outside one of our properties. We really see that this could be of great interest to you.
(I have just checked all the details / pictures on a "recent arrival" & it only cost me 6 pence!)
If you want to have a try on your own mobile, go to the web access page (on your phone), where you can enter a URL, just type iowh.mobi then click ok & you will go straight to our new site.

We launched this new site on the 8th August 2007 – a full press release will be in the Isle of Wight County Press on the 10th August.

Simon
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Thank you Jill
04 August 2007 16:08
After over 5 years of loyal & greatly appreciated hard work, our Office Manager, Jill, has left us for pastures new – unconnected with estate agency! – We shall all miss her, but wish her every success & good luck in her new job.
Simon & Georgina
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TV Property expert Kirstie Allsop slams Home Information Packs
03 August 2007 15:47
Home Information packs will be costly, complicated and easy for homeowners to evade, TV presenter Kirstie Allsop said today.
The Location, Location, Location presenter said that the packs, known as HIPs, which come into force today, would not solve the serious problems in the housing market.
"If I thought that a HIP was going to speed up our incredibly laborious and difficult house purchasing process, I would back them to the hilt," she said.
"But the problem is, they won't."

Speaking at a joint press conference with Shadow Housing Minister Grant Shapps, Miss Allsop said that the controversial packs would have an actively negative affect on home buyers and sellers.

"It's going to slow things down; it's going to make things more expensive; it's not going to deal with the issue of gazumping or gazundering; it's not going to help first-time buyers.

"We need to alter the way in which we buy and sell houses in this country. There is no doubt about that. But the HIP is not the way to do it."

The implementation of the packs comes after the Government was forced to delay the introduction of Hips from June to August following a legal challenge from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and fierce Tory opposition.

Housing Minister Yvette Cooper has insisted today that HIPs would help make house buying speedier by requiring the seller to compile information at the outset.

She also said the energy performance certificates (EPCs) in the packs would play a role in tackling climate change by showing home-owners how to cut fuel bills.

But Miss Allsop dismissed the environmental argument for the packs, saying that home owners were already eligible for energy saving grants and that Government could have included the EPC part of the HIP in existing home surveys.

The regulations which apply from today mean that anyone putting a property with four or more bedrooms up for sale in England and Wales must compile one of the packs, which will include EPCs, standard searches and evidence of title.

"The majority of people who have houses of four bedrooms and over are older people, looking to maximise the value of the houses they have invested their life savings in," Miss Allsop said.

"It may only be 20% of the houses for sale, but it's those people who are most easily confused that are going to have to deal with this first implementation of the Home Information Pack."

She added that homeowners may be able to avoid having to compile the packs by removing a bed from a fourth bedroom and selling it as a three bedroom property, with a study.

The Channel 4 presenter called on the housing minister to rethink her approach.

"If the Government could sit down and say there must be a better way of making it easier for people to buy and sell houses then I think we'd all be really happy to talk to her.

"The problem is that soldiering on with this and ignoring everybody's issues and pretending they are the only people who know how the housing market works is not the way forward."

She added: "The people who are going to lose out is everybody. There's talk of it being £300 to £500, but there's no cap on this."

Mike Ockenden from the Association Of Home Information Pack Providers also attended the event and gave an opposing view.

Carrying a placard that read "Listen to Kirstie and lose a buyer" he said that HIPs would not only help both buyers and sellers, but would save them money as well.

"It's a very simple concept, you just take the information gathering process from after somebody's had an offer accepted and put it in front.

"It speeds the transaction up, the consumer is more aware of what they're buying, what they're putting in an offer for, reduces all the stress associated with the uncertainty long transactions take and ultimately saves money."

A spokesman for Communities and Local Government also maintained that HIPs would save consumers money.

"The introduction of HIPs is already leading to search prices coming down for consumers, with nearly fifty local authorities having already reduced what they charge consumers for searches, in some cases by more than £100."

He added: "The Government will monitor HIPs closely to ensure the benefits are being passed on to the consumer, with a new consumer panel being set up as part of a wider programme of action to make the home buying and selling process work in the interests of consumers."

 

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E-mail just in from a potential buyer.
02 August 2007 12:45
"Please send me all details of homes ideally with a sea or mountain view"

We had to reply - we have no mountains on the Isle of Wight!
Simon
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Annual Bembridge & St Helen's Fort Walk
01 August 2007 10:24
The annual Bembridge & St Helens Fort walk is due on Tuesday 14th August 2007.
The Fort situated in the Solent, ¾ mile off Bembridge and is only accessible by foot on a very low tide a few times a year; you walk along a shingle causeway leading from Bembridge beach (best to start from the end of Ducie Avenue). Usually about 3000 people take part in the walk if it is sunny weather.
Low tide is at approximately 18.00 Hrs
If you do go for the experience make sure you wear shoes as you have to walk on a lot of gravel & there are sometimes weaver fish lurking under the sand!
Simon
 
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