ANYBODY selling a house in Scotland from December this year will have to spend up to £500 on an information pack for potential buyers, MSPs decided yesterday.
Proposals for the controversial single-seller survey scheme, which is designed to make the housing market simpler and help first-time buyers in particular, were backed by MSPs.
Stewart Maxwell, the housing minister, set out the Scottish Governmen
t's plan, arguing it would benefit "all buyers and sellers".
However, the scheme was criticised by solicitors and some opposition politicians, who warned that the Scottish Government was merely driving up the cost of moving house.
The proposal was backed by Holyrood's local government and communities committee yesterday and now only needs the formal backing of the whole parliament – which is likely to take place next week – to be made law.
It will mean that, from 1 December, house sellers will have to commission a home report before they even put their property on the market.
The report will have to include a single survey, an energy report on the building's environmental impact and a completed property questionnaire containing useful information for buyers.
Mr Maxwell said: "We are pressing ahead because this is a good system. It will benefit all buyers and sellers because, for any buyer, they will be presented with very detailed information about the biggest financial decision they will ever make. In particular, first-time buyers will pay nothing at all, because the survey will be provided by the seller."
The move was backed by SNP, Labour and Lib Dem MSPs on the committee. But David McLetchie, the Conservative MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, who was the only committee member to vote against the move, claimed pilot schemes showed the system was unworkable.
He quoted Scottish Consumer Council claims that low-income sellers would be hit by the changes. And he said the government's own figures showed the only winners would be surveyors, with annual earnings expected to rise from £25-£40 million to £57.6-£83.2 million.
Richard Loudon, of the Edinburgh Conveyancers Forum, said: "We believe it is naive to expect purchasers to accept a seller's survey as their sole guide to the value of the house.
"Most purchasers will want to commission their own surveys after their offers have been accepted, in order to get their own independent view on condition and value. Also, the seller's survey may not be accepted by the purchaser's lender. It may be out of date by the time the loan application is made."
HOME REPORT AVAILABLITYUNDER the new system, everyone who puts a house on the market will have to produce a home report.
This will be drawn up with the help of solicitors, estate agents or the person marketing the property, to get it into the right format.
However, the seller will have to make it available to anyone who is interested in buying the property.
Often this will be done online, with potential buyers given a link to the appropriate pages on the internet, but sellers will have to produce hard copies, possibly dozens.
DETAILED INFORMATION PACKTHE Home Report will contain three documents at a cost of about £400-£500. These will be:
&149 a single survey prepared by a chartered surveyor containing detailed information on property condition, accessibility information and a valuation;
&149 an energy efficiency rating and the property's environmental impact in terms of emissions;
• a property questionnaire to give prospective buyers useful information, such as parking arrangements, factoring and any alterations undertaken.
