Yearly Archives: 2010

The suspension of HIPs came into effect from midnight on Friday 21 May 2010 and it is expected that legislation to abolish HIPS entirely will be brought in later this year.

This means that you will no longer need to acquire a HIP prior to putting your property on the market. However EU law does require that you commission an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), which ranks the energy efficiency of a home with A to G ratings, within 28 days of putting your property on the market.

Please note that you will need to send a copy of your EPC to us when instructing us on your sale.

The buyers of your property will now have responsibility for paying for searches carried out against the property.

Stamp duty has been scrapped for first time buyers from 25 March 2010 purchasing for £250,000 or under. This new £250,000 threshold will last for two years and means nine out of 10 people buying their first home will not be liable to pay stamp duty. The move will be partly funded by an increase to 5% in the duty on homes costing £1m or more, which will see buyers of these properties having to hand over a minimum of £50,000 in tax. That change will come into force April 2011.