Barclays and HSBC happy with HIPs

Two big mortgage lenders, HSBC and Barclays, have denied that they are unhappy with the recently introduced Home Information Packs (HIPs).

The packs require sellers to provide information such as planning permission and copies of title deeds to buyers.

Law society
Despite these assurances, the Law Society renewed its warnings about HIPs that contain personal searches of council information.

It said solicitors, when acting for home buyers, should always point out to their clients that official searches provided a higher level of protection than personal searches, if any of the information in them turned out to be wrong.

"If you are buying a house for half-a-million pounds and you are mortgaging yourself to the hilt for the next 25 years, you can either have a search carried out by the council staff, on which you can rely, or one provided by someone you don't know - the search company," said Paul Marsh, vice-president of the Law Society.

"There is a degree of risk between the two but the buyer's solicitor has a search thrust on them now," he added.

The Law Society said it would like lenders to specify exactly which personal search companies they would be happy with, to remove a lawyer's current responsibility to vouch for a search company's work.

Conveyancing
The local authority search has been a compulsory feature of the conveyancing process since 1925.

It involves a buyer, or their solicitor or other representative, asking a set of standard questions about a property, covering local authority plans for the street or area, and any planning permission granted for the building or neighbouring ones.

This should also show up any restrictions on the way the property can be used, for instance the existence of smoke control orders, conservation areas, tree preservation orders, and any financial charges where the council could recover money owed to it.

The aim is to make sure that the buyer does not get a nasty surprise once they have bought the house or flat.
full article

Building straw houses

Fuelled by a growing demand for environmentally friendly buildings, hemp, wheat, flax and other grains are now being touted as emerging raw materials in the construction industry.

The merits of these so-called "biofibres" and their applications in Canada, the United Kingdom and other parts of the world was the basis of an international symposium that wrapped up in Kingston yesterday.

The group's tests look into what type of fibre bale, including flax, hemp or wheat, works best. They're also looking at what types of plaster, including clay or cement, applied over top of the bale, are more durable. They're even looking at the placement of the bales - flat or on edge - to find out which design is more stable.
United Kingdom-based Mike Duckett spoke about his company's work with hemcrete, an environmentally friendly building material that combines hemp and lime. It's already used in various parts of Europe.

His presentation revealed the environmental and practical benefits of using the material, including the fact that it's sustainable, lightweight, a good insulator, airtight, easy to use, and fire and pest resistant. The material also absorbs carbon dioxide, one of the greenhouse gases.

Duckett said that each house constructed with hemcrete walls, roof and floors could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 50 tonnes.
Hemcrete, which costs roughly the same as conventional building material, has been used to construct homes, office space, a warehouse and a theatre in Europe.

A building in England that has been touted as the most environmentally friendly warehouse in Europe doesn't require an air-conditioning system because the hemcrete material makes it possible to regulate the temperature inside at 14 C.
full article

Green energy set to be compulsory in new homes across Britain

Green energy devices such as wind turbines and solar panels are to be made compulsory on millions of new homes and offices under government plans to boost green energy.

Housing minister Yvette Cooper is determined to push ahead with moves to force developers to cut their carbon emissions by using renewable sources of power.

New planning policy guidance will make clear that ministers stand by council planners who refuse permission for buildings which fail to generate their own energy.

The House Builders Federation, which fears the measure will be applied to housing, has been lobbying strongly to abolish it, claiming it imposes unnecessary costs on developers and is too heavy-handed.

Renewable energy companies say the rule is much more important to them than the Government's low carbon buildings programme, which provides grants but has run out of money repeatedly and had its rules changed.

But according to the Standard, ministers intend to "widen, not abolish" the rule. "In some instances, we want to see councils going way beyond 10 per cent," a Whitehall source said.

full article

Housebuilders want greener standards - but not just yet

House-builders share a common objective with local and national government - to make new homes greener (Housebuilders win battle against green technologies, August 20). We may not want soviet-style planning, but a nationally agreed framework is the best way of ensuring all new homes are zero-carbon by 2016. Staged national delivery of improved levels of the code for sustainable homes will ensure pioneering technologies are robust, meet customer expectations and are backed by proper warranties. This phased increase in energy efficiency will also ensure the extra 240,000 homes a year to meet demand are not jeopardised. A multitude of differing targets around the country put these efforts at risk. In their dash to reach short-term targets, local authorities should not put the objective of more and greener homes at risk.
Stewart Baseley
Chairman, Home Builders Federation
full article