From 1 December 2008, you will require to provide a Home Report for prospective purchasers unless your property falls within a number of exceptions provided for in The Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 (Presented Documents Regulations 2008).
Exceptions
The exceptions which are fully described in the regulations are generally portfolios of properties, seasonal and holiday accommodation, mixed sales comprising residential and non residential property, mixed use properties comprising residential and non residential property, properties which are to be demolished, newly converted property and new housing, i.e. a house which has not previously been used as a house or as any other premises.
The Home Report has three elements:
1. Property questionnaire
2. A single survey and
3. An energy performance certificate.
Property Questionnaire
The marketing agent will provide the seller with the property questionnaire prescribed by the regulations and it is the responsibility of the seller to complete the questionnaire accurately and truthfully as prospective purchasers will be relying on the information contained in it. To see details of the questionnaire click here.
Single Survey & Energy Performance Certificates
The single survey and the energy performance certificate are prepared by a surveyor. The single survey contains an assessment of the condition of the property, a valuation and an accessibility order for people with particular needs. The energy performance certificate provides information about the property’s carbon dioxide emissions and energy efficiency.
If the seller wishes a mortgage valuation of the property to form part of the Home Report, this will also be provided by the surveyor, although this is not required in terms of the regulations.
Date of Home Report
The Home Report is to be dated no earlier than twelve weeks before the date on which the property is put on the market. Whilst the regulations do not provide for a Home Report to be updated where the property does not sell for a number of months, it is felt that purchasers generally will be advised that they should not rely on reports which are more than three months old.
Requests for Home Reports
On receipt of a request for the Home Report from an interested party, the person responsible for marketing the property must provide the purchaser with a copy of it within nine days of receipt of the request, unless the person responsible for marketing reasonably believes the person making the request cannot afford it, is not genuinely interested, or is not a person to whom the seller is likely to be prepared to sell the house.
Cost of Home Report
The cost of the Home Report should be paid by the seller when instructed and will vary according to the value of the house. As an indication, we believe costs will range from approximately:
- £420 for a Home Report for a property under £100,000
- to up to £890 for a property with a value not exceeding £500,000.
Where a seller would find it difficult to pay the cost of the report at the time of instructing it deferred payment options will be available details of which can be obtained prior to the marketing agent ordering the report.
Draft Documents
The seller will be provided with a draft of the survey and a copy of the energy report before the Home Report is finalised. This affords the seller the opportunity, before putting their property on the market, to decide how they want to deal with any issues raised in the survey such as, rot, alterations not authorised by the Local Authority, etc.
A fundamental change in selling a house in Scotland, but one which we can help you to deal with efficiently and speedily. So, contact us as soon as you are thinking of putting your house on the market and we will spring into action on your behalf.
Susan Lang sjl@bto.co.uk