Sellers, buyers and lending institutions will be able to rely on the report. It will provide a simple, easy to understand rating assessment for each of the main elements of the property, for example the roof, walls, ceilings, heating, water and drainage etc.

A three point scale will be used to rate each element:
§ ‘1’ rating indicates either no defect present or if the works are very minimal and could be classed as normal maintenance;
§ ‘2’ rating indicates that repairs are required but the home inspector does not consider these to be serious or urgent
§ ‘3’ rating is applied if serious or urgent works are required.

The report will also contain other essential information including highlighting any health and safety risks and provide a reinstatement cost figure which can be used for insuring your property in the event of maximum loss. It will include an energy performance certificate 'EPC' that will tell you how expensive your home is to heat and the best ways to improve this. For an EPC guide click here.

The government believes that sellers will want to provide this anyway within a sale. But why should you? Here are a few reasons:

The Home Condition Report (HCR) will:

1. Allow you to accurately market your property:
If you are aware of the condition of the property, the asking price and method of marketing can be decided on with your estate agent. Is it really worth marketing way above its value?

2. Allow for further investigations of problems, during marketing, to avoid delays after offer acceptance:
Defects identified in the HCR can be addressed through some or all of the following:
· Undertaking further investigations by specialist contractors;
· Obtaining quotations for specified works;
· Undertaking works and providing invoices to include in the HIP

3. Allow evidence of repairs done to be directly linked to the report findings:
If repairs are undertaken following their need being identified in a HCR, a contractor can be requested to set out in their invoice the specific work carried out, which can be related directly to the relevant item in the HCR and can be included in the HIP as an authorised document

4. Show you and potential buyers that your sellers are serious, not just kite flyers:
If you are really serious about selling, the prospect of committing to pay for the HCR should not be a significant factor in your decision as to whether to market the property and agree to a sale. Is a small additional fee now worth paying to ensure a sale?

5. Eliminate suspicion by potential buyers that you are trying to hide something:
The production of a HCR will show that you are willing to subject to transparency about the property and that, if there are problems with the property; they have been recognised as legitimate and addressed.

6. Impress buyers who are saved having to get a survey and who will be more inclined towards your properties:
Buyers will be more receptive to properties with a HCR as they will be able to eliminate the concern about costs, hassle of commissioning their own survey and the potential for further delays and costs if the survey discovers problems

First time buyers will be particularly pleased to have the benefit of a HCR; they are usually buying cheaper less well-maintained homes and are often inclined to minimise costs by neglecting to have a survey – the HCR gives them confidence that they know what they are buying, without the costs

7. Ease and speed up mortgage applications:
Lenders are legally entitled to use and rely upon the HCR. They are increasingly wanting to use automated valuation models (AVMs) for assessing properties and linking these with the HCR is one of the biggest steps forward in speeding up the mortgage application process. As lenders increasingly use AVMs the costs of the mortgage application should reduce in line with the efficiency and speeding up of the process

8. Reduce the potential for sales falling through or difficult renegotiations:
If the condition of the property is known before an offer is made, there is far less opportunity or justification for a buyer to attempt to reduce the price or withdraw from the purchase. This will drastically reduce the hassle, delays and suspicions which are so often brought about by last minute discovery of condition-related problems

9. Speed up the process between offer acceptance & exchange of contracts:
If there are few, if any, reasons for delays in the process after offer acceptance (also brought about by the legal information being substantially available in the HIP) the period between offer acceptance and exchange of contracts can drastically reduce, perhaps to no more than around two weeks. This reduces the window of opportunity for extraneous factors to disrupt a sale and for the opportunity for gazumping to take place

10. Impress potential clients
You will confirm to potential purchasers, that you are forward thinking and not afraid to confront the realities of the market-place, which is anecdotally recognised as a minefield. What if you are the only property for sale WITHOUT an HCR included in the HIP?.

Remember: –

As an inspection is, from 1 June 2007, required by law for the Energy Performance Certificate, it is extremely cost effective to commission the HCR at the same time

The Government has confirmed that the HCR will be a discretionary element of the HIP. Although, if the HCR is not taken up by the public that it is going to make the HCR a mandatory, this is likely to be in 2008.