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Most people will have heard talk of Home Reports (sometimes referred to as "Sellers Surveys") and the fact that they are being introduced in Scotland with effect from 1 December 2008. There has been much debate and controversy as to whether the Home Report is a good idea or not but the time for that debate is over and we now need to prepare for their introduction as from 1 December 2008 . What the rules, introduced by the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, say is that the person responsible for marketing a house which is on the market must possess a Home Report in respect of that house. A Home Report is made up of three parts:- • A Single Survey. This is prepared by an RICS Chartered Surveyor and is a description of the property, a Report on the condition of the property, an Accessibility Audit and a Valuation of the property. • An Energy Report. This is also prepared by an RICS Chartered Surveyor and gives the current Energy Efficiency Rating of the property, recommended measures to improve the Energy Efficiency Rating, the potential Energy Efficiency Rating if those recommended measures are carried out and details of sources of further information. • A Property Questionnaire. This is prepared by the seller or someone nominated by the Seller and includes details of the Council Tax Band for the property, parking arrangements, any alterations carried out to the property, the central heating system, the services and the provisions relative to any common areas, factors appointed and common charges. You will realise that this means that as from 1 December 2008 , if you wish to put your house on the market there will be considerably more initial expense and preparation than is the case at present. There is speculation that people might either rush to put their houses on the market before 1 December 2008 to avoid this requirement or try to agree off-market private sales (there is no need to obtain a Home Report if you do not put the house on the market) but the reality is that for many there is no option but to put a house on the market if you want to sell it and the timing of selling a property is often outwith your control. The Home Report must have been compiled not more than 12 weeks prior to the commencement of marketing of the property but has no lifespan so even if a property is on the market for a year there is no need to update the Home Report. If any potential buyer asks for a copy of the Home Report a seller (or his agents) must supply it to the potential buyer unless the person responsible for marketing the house reasonably believes that the person requesting a copy of the Report is unlikely to have the funds to buy the house in question, is not genuinely interested in buying the house or is not a person to whom the seller is likely to be prepared to sell the house. This would be very difficult to assess and so the reality is that copies will have to be supplied to almost anybody. An electronic copy is not sufficient unless the person requesting the Report confirms it is sufficient for them. The person marketing the property is entitled to charge a sum (not exceeding the reasonable cost of making and sending a paper copy of the Report) to the enquirer. If a property is taken off the market at any time for a period in excess of 4 weeks then when marketing re-commences a new Home Report dated not more than 12 weeks before re-marketing commences will be required. When someone requests a copy of a Home Report you have up to 9 days to supply the copy. How these new rules will work in practice remains to be seen but it seems likely that they will do nothing to boost the slow property market and will result in more costs. It is most likely that a purchaser will want to have their own survey of sorts carried out and even if they are happy to rely on the Home Reports (which they will be entitled to do), banks and building societies lending money to a purchaser are likely to require a survey of their own (or at least an up-to-date valuation) depending on the period of time between the date of the Home Report and the date upon which a purchaser submits an offer. The costs of Home Reports are yet to be finalised. Watch this space for further updates but meantime if you have any questions of a particular nature please feel free to be in touch.
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