We have been saying all along that the searches in the Home information pack were useless, now it has been confirmed by the Press and mortgage lenders. 

Major mortgage lenders, including HSBC, are unwilling to trust local authority searches contained in the packs put together by sellers. see this post June 7th sellers pack searches

The Daily Mail reported that banks are telling buyers to pay for their own searches, including information on drainage, planning applications and building consents, through their own solicitor.

This means tens of thousands of homeowners in a chain, making up about 80% of the market, are being forced to pay twice.

They are legally obliged to spend £500 on a HIP to give to potential buyers of the property they are selling, and are also being told by their mortgage lender to pay a similar amount for a lawyer to carry out searches of the property they want to buy.

The home information pack(s) were intended to speed up the selling process by giving buyers all the information they need without having to employ solicitors to carry out searches.

With the home sellers pack touted around westminster, as a cost saving to help first time buyers, its now turned into a  complete farce. First time buyers and in fact all home buyers are now having to pay extra for searches…