Personal HIPS experiences - please let us know.

Penners · Post by **Penners** » Tue 14th Aug, 2007 5:02 pm

skier-hughes wrote:you would have to work about 27 hours a day for 8 days a week

Sounds exactly like my last job.

Thank goodness I retired while I'm still youthful, fit and mentally agile*.

*and if you believe that.....

Cloudscape · Post by **Cloudscape** » Fri 17th Aug, 2007 12:56 pm

I've been trying to sell my house. The problems I have had include the bad weather, which kept people indoors, and the interest-rate rise. But the HIPs packs seem to have had an influence too. I put my house on the market in May. I had a buyer pull out in July, just as properties (locally, at least) started to flood onto the market. Lots of people, to avoid having to have a HIPs pack, put their houses on the market. Now there's a glut of available property (locally). Some are overpriced, so they probably don't really expect to sell, but (as I understand it) now their houses are listed with estate agents, they won't need HIPs packs.

Lady_Mari · Post by **Lady_Mari** » Fri 17th Aug, 2007 12:57 pm

HIPS to be extended to 3 bed properties from Sept 10.
(that'll help those poor under-employed chappies)

Penners · Post by **Penners** » Fri 17th Aug, 2007 1:28 pm

Lady_Mari wrote:that'll help those poor under-employed chappies

Phew! Thank goodness. I've been so worried that they might not manage to achieve their promised £70k a year.

Nemesis · Post by **Nemesis** » Fri 17th Aug, 2007 1:44 pm

Aye, it's good news for some.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6951171.stm

Every cloud etc.

"Hips and EPCs can help families to save hundreds of pounds off their fuel bills, and cut a million tonnes of carbon a year," she continued.

"They also have the potential to reduce the millions of pounds wasted by consumers when buying and selling a home, by increasing transparency and competition in a process that hasn't changed for a generation."

According to the Energy Saving Trust, the average consumer could cut their fuel bills by as much as £300 a year if they follow the recommendations in the EPCs.

Originally, Hips were also intended to include a survey, but this was dropped after objections from businesses involved in the property industry.

And how much will it cost in overall terms to save this alleged amount?

Oh what b*ll*cks!

Cloudscape · Post by **Cloudscape** » Fri 17th Aug, 2007 4:33 pm

It's a good thing they dropped the survey. I paid for a survey (for a reluctant/tight buyer) on my own house (the one I am selling). The buyer's mortgage company wouldn't accept it, even though it was done by a surveyor they regularly use, because I had commissioned it and it had my name on it.

Penners · Post by **Penners** » Fri 17th Aug, 2007 5:12 pm

Nemesis wrote:Oh what b*ll*cks!

That's not very respectful to a peer of the realm. Mind you, she's also a Government Minister, so that cancels out the title.

Moo · Post by **Moo** » Sun 19th Aug, 2007 10:01 am

Jeff Howell in today's Telegraph has some more disturbing information about the subject.
Apparently the tick-box forms with which the inspectors are supplied don't allow them to give credit for loft insulation that is shared between joists and rafters. It's either/or.
Nor is there a box for floor insulation.

I left the paper behind in the cafe, so am only quoting from memory; perhaps someone who has the Property section to hand can be more precise.

Nemesis · Post by **Nemesis** » Fri 24th Aug, 2007 10:43 pm

Is this the article?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... ips129.xml

Moo · Post by **Moo** » Sat 25th Aug, 2007 9:55 am

No - it's about the article.

But if you scroll down to the end of the page to 'Related Links' you will find the original article at the top of the list under the title My House.

Nemesis · Post by **Nemesis** » Sat 25th Aug, 2007 11:32 am

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... ips229.xml

Inspector John · Post by **Inspector John** » Sun 2nd Sep, 2007 10:57 am

I'm a Trainee Home Inspector with over 30 years experience in the construction industry
If you wish to ask me some questions fire away
but please bear in mind I'm a trainee that's has one exam left to finish and a very large portfolio to complete
Please Remember I do not know all the answers this is new so have patients
If I don't know answers, I won't promise anything but I'll try to find out
I've read some of your post's and it's fair enough and understandable to say that you are not happy about HIP's
I will do my best to answer your questions
Please also remember these folks who are training/trained are just like you and me and are out there to earn a living just like anyone else.
One other thing is, I may not be always be able to reply straight away because of other commitments that I have so don't think I've cleared off or left the country
Don't forget I'm here to assist.

Nemesis · Post by **Nemesis** » Sun 2nd Sep, 2007 12:37 pm

OK - what particular expertise have you in the wide variety of period buildings you will encounter?

Inspector John · Post by **Inspector John** » Sun 2nd Sep, 2007 2:57 pm

I have Some expertise.

Penners · Post by **Penners** » Sun 2nd Sep, 2007 6:00 pm

Inspector John wrote:Please also remember these folks who are training/trained are just like you and me and are out there to earn a living just like anyone else.

That's an entirely reasonable point, Inspector. Speaking for myself, I have no beef with anyone who wants to train as a Home Inspector. As you say, you have a right to earn a living, like anyone.

My objections are aimed at the HIPS system itself, which I regard as a half-arsed, half-cocked shambles from un-necessary start to longed-for finish. And that well diluted version of my true feelings is - I repeat - aimed at the Government, not at you or your colleagues.

Thank you for having the courage to stand up and offer answers to questions. Here's one to kick off with (a repeat of one I've asked before).

I live in an C18th East Anglian oak-framed house. The inner walls are part lath/plaster, part plasterboard/gypsum skim. The outer skin is cement render on expanded metal lath. Between the two skins is fibreglass insulation matting (at least, wherever I have had occasion to drill or cut into the wall cavity, I have found this). The previous owner told me that he incorporated insulation batts under the concrete floors that he renewed*.

A home inspector wouldn't be able to see any of this. So, if I were having a HIP prepared, how would my house be energy rated?

*Yes folks, the house is a symphony in gypsum and OPC. Mea non culpa!

Personal HIPS experiences - please let us know.

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