Home Condition Reports form part of the Home Information Packs (HIP’s) presently being trialled by the government. From June 2007, any person wishing to sell a property will need to have an HIP prepared prior to putting the property on the market. The HIP will include items such as searches, land registry title, service and guarantee information and a Home Condition Report.
The HCR is a condition inspection of the property which will give a seller an opinion as to the condition of different building elements. The condition of each element will be given a rating 1, 2 or 3.
In broad terms, the ratings are as follows:-
- An element which is in sound condition for its type and age and requires no more than usual routine maintenance.
- An element which is in generally sound condition but requires some attention in the short term to bring it back to a satisfactory condition but if this is not done, will not have a significant effect on other elements of the building fabric.
- An element which requires attention to bring it back to satisfactory condition and/or which, if such works were not carried out, would have an effect on other elements of the building fabric or services.
An important factor is - the cost of putting right a particular element is not related to the condition rating given. It is therefore possible to have an element given a rating condition 3 which only has a small repair cost but it is the failure to undertake that repair which can give rise to greater, more significant repair. It is also possible to have an item given a condition rating 2 which may require a significant amount of money to put right but by not doing so immediately, would not have a significant effect on other elements. (However, if it is not repaired it will only worsen.)
Should you require further information, please contact as identified elsewhere on this website.
