Prescribing standards in the HIPs Regulations

The HIP 2007 regulations prescribe certain standards for ‘required’ searches and others for ‘authorised’ searches. For example, required searches must be prepared with reasonable care and skill and backed-up with insurance; However, there are no equivalent requirements for authorised searches.  This creates an incongruous situation in which the Government appears to be promoting a two-tier approach to consumer protection, depending on whether or not a search is commissioned in every transaction. CoPSO has strongly opposed this proposition, arguing that there should be one set of standards within the regulations which apply across all the searches. These will run in parallel with the standards in the Search Code, which provides a much more comprehensive set of requirements.

Setting standards for accessing search data

In September 2005, the Office of Fair Trading published its report following a 10 month market study of the property search industry. The OFT’s primary recommendation was therefore an extremely welcome one for the search industry, as it required local authorities to make available all the information for a personal local search in time for the launch of HIPs in 2007. In addition, local authorities will be unable to provide access on terms which favour their own searches compared to other search providers.

This is a significant step forward in widening the availability of data and should address conveyancers’ concerns that personal searches cannot include all the required information. The Government has since confirmed its support for the OFT’s recommendations and CoPSO is working with officials and local authorities on the guidance which should be published in Summer 2007.