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Are you missing your Property Information Questionnaire (PIQ)?

So are agents going to welcome the Property Information Questionnaire(PIQ) with open arms? You bet they won't, 95% of them have never heard of it, but word is now out courtesy of a reply to a Parliamentary Question that agents can look forward to being fined if the PIQ is missing or incomplete!

In a written answer to this Parliamentary question

what penalties may be imposed upon a householder not completing, in whole or in part, information on a Property Information Questionnaire on a home information pack and then marketing a property.

Iain Wright said

The Home Information Pack Regulations provide that the person responsible for marketing the property must ensure that a valid pack is provided to potential buyers. This would include ensuring a completed PIQ has been included in the HIP. In the vast majority of cases the responsible person will be the seller's estate agent.

The local weights and measures authority has the power to issue a penalty charge notice of 200 pounds on the responsible person for a breach of the HIP duties.

How kind! So thats another potential fine to be avoided by agents, who at this time, have no idea this is on the agenda and going to arrive as their responsibility very very soon! We shall be briefing the agents we work with and keeping them informed as the countdown to PIQ day starts. This additional paperwork will be the final nail in the coffin to disorganised and incompetent pack providers who have managed to wing it so far without investing in the right people and technology to make the process repeatible and to an appropriate high standard.

Does anyone actually remember the Home Condition Report?

Sound familiar anyone? Well apparently CLG run a Stakeholder Panel on Home Buying and Selling and they are going to issue some proposals in the Autumn about a condition report within the HIP. Apologies if I sound a touch cynical but being over 8 grand down for a HI qualification that has no value means that I find any CLG chatter about HCRs of absolutely no value or interest. Far more likely that RICS will open the door to allow HIs a route to a real career. I might not agree with everything RICS says or does, as it also the case with the NAEA, but they are at least consistent in their view and don't give out mixed or incoherent messages which is what we have had all too often from the politicians and CLG.

Scrapping HIPs?

And finally, with plenty of chatter about whether the Tories will scrap HIPs assuming they win the next election, which of course they will, Grant Shapps (Con) fired in the old chestnut:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will use her powers under section 162 of the Housing Act 2004 to suspend the requirement to product a home information pack to market a property.

and do stop panicking at the back there, as Iain Wright Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Hartlepool, Labour said:

We have no plans to suspend Home Information Packs.

So Iain Wright keeps us in check once again.

One other industry 'gentleman' from Hartlepool has been rabble-rousing again this week, trying to drag my name through the mud. He'll keep trying, sadly its all he has got left to do now. Most fortunate for him that I am not troubled enough to stick him in a world of pain by sharing a few truths with a wider audience. Appears to be quite a few stones in a standard Hartlepool glass house!

Labels: estate-agent-fined-Property-Information-Questionnaire-HIP Home-Condition-Report Scrap-HIPs

Other than the fact the introduction of Display Energy Certificates have been watered down twice so far (date slippage and the use of one DEC per group of buildings rather than per building), and the fact that I don't feel the data collection is detailed enough to produce a result that is helpful enough to the occupier it could just be that folk are beginning to understand what this energy saving business is all about!

Take this article in Bradford's Telegraph and Argus by Ben Barnett entitled Museum's energy-efficiency 'among the worst' which goes on to state that not only is the National Media Museum scoring a G rating but 1 in 4 of all buildings assessed so far has scored either a F or G rating, the worst categories for energy efficiency.

This particular building spent 189,807.42 on energy bills in 2007-08, roughly 26p per visitor, Museum director Colin Philpott said:

We are currently implementing a number of energy-saving measures and investigating further energy-saving techniques which we hope to have in place in the short to medium term. The museum is proactive in implementing a number of energy-saving measures including installing voltage optimisation, which should reduce its electricity consumption by ten to 15 per cent. Energy-saving options are being investigated including installing CHP (combined heat and power) which would enable the museum to generate some of its electricity on site, and then use the heat generated for heating space and water.

Now this is good news, this was precisely the point of DECs, highlight to occupiers the problems with the buildings so that they could take action and cut their energy usage, and of course their fuel bills too.

But I need to let you into a little secret. In order to meet the Governments regulations, buildings must have these Display Energy Certificates hung on their wall, but there is a neat workaround available, which is to simply issue default ratings of G which is a score of 200 incidentally. This can be done in less than 5 minutes by an accredited energy assessor without vistiing the building, without seeing any fuel bills, without having knowledge about the construction of layout of the building. This would meet the Government and EU Directive, and the decision could be made to leave the proper survey until possibly 2009, when things are less hectic, surveyors actually know what they are doing, the software is much improved and so on, oh and DEC will be cheaper of course.

I fully expect to see a HUGE number of G ratings issued this time round and if you looked closely at them, and found a large number of scores of 200, then you will now know why! A huge number of the data collectors being used are not qualified energy professionals, they are simply box tickers, given basic instructions in what to do and let loose on many of the largest municipal buildings in the country.

If the EPBD rollout was a school project, this Government would score a D- Very poor communication, failure to meet its own objectives and the actually quality of what has been produced is sadly, open to scrutiny.

Labels: Can Display Energy Certificates really work? G ratings of 200

Think again! Comments here in the Birmingham Post article Property sales to be probed over energy performance that trading standards officers may be tempted to trawl through the land registry data checking that EPCs have been carried out on commercial property.

Reed Smith commercial property associate Simon Robinson clarified:

“There is a view that they may well use the Land Registry records to find out what transactions have taken place, but no-one really knows how they are going to deal with enforcement issues. It might be that they will do this to show that they have got teeth, although it must be said that the fines - ranging from 500 to 5,000 and linked to the rateable value of the property - are pretty small compared to the cost of providing a certificate in the first place.”

So with the commercial property sector as quiet as its been for 10 years (Source: Property Week magazine, July 2008) the introduction of Commercial EPCs, on top of the financial gloom and doom which shows no sign of evaporating any time soon, its no wonder that their introduction has been less then positively received.

Having spent the bulk of my morning in a repossessed chip and kebab shop I did wonder if the energy rating of this domestic-build poorly maintained building will make any difference to prospective tenants who, owing to the popularity of the location and the only barrier to entry being cash, will already be asked for a lease premium upwards of 20k. Yes it had no loft insulation, it also had no central heating. Plenty of evidence of rodents though, and maggots, and decomposing chicken carcasses. Yep, you bet I get all the glorious jobs to do but I don't mind a bit of it- fascinating to find out talking with another energy assessor about the enormous gaps and differences in the training and assessment process between the various training providers. Needless to say, there has been no joined up thinking in this industry yet, and wow, does it show! Still, whinging never got anything done, time to continue building the Commercial FAQs for our use as we are getting pepppered with all manner of questions from potential and actual clients right now. There is a huge knowledge gap across this new part of the EPBD roll-out and given we've had 6 years to get ready, it scares me to think about how wrong it could go if it were actually something complicated!

Labels: Thinking-of-dodging-Commercial-EPC Birmingham-Post-Property-sales-to-be-probed

Just a week to go to the Agency Expo and the NHER/SAVA Conference follows one week later. I will be at both events and have been looking forward to both for some time now.

Agency Expo

Who could possibly turn their nose up at the opportunity to mix it with hundreds of shiny-suited, gelled hair and soon-to-be unemployed estate agents!! Yep, its the annual trade fair, previously called PCS Expo but now renamed Agency Expo, with total focus on the hair gel, er, I mean _the_ estate agency sector!

Given I own a small, but perfectly formed, agency, and even though we have forgotten what a buyer looks like there is certainly no harm in nosing round the latest offerings from companies trying to sell floorplans, virtual tours, HIPs, agency software, magazine subscriptions, referral networks and anything else you might find or need in an agency office. Well not quite, no hair gel company is listed as an exhibitor!

We almost exhibited this year but some quick cost/benefit figures showed that this year was not the right choice, there are still a few companies blowing marketing budgets and the financial pressures will mean next years event may be leaner in more ways than one and should be more suited for the audience we want to reach and with the pitch/rounded product we want to offer.

Very amusing to see some of the other exhibitors names, certainly a few that I have crossed swords with- lets see if they are still around the industry next year!

NHER/SAVA Conference

This is going to be the largest gathering of energy assessors in 2008 and the speaker list is impressive with some big hitters from the world of Energy. With an agenda spread over 2 days, and an opportunity to rack up some CPD for those who need some, its going to prove a very good networking opportunity for energy assessors. We still get calls in the office from energy assessors who don't know others living and working close to them and want help arranging holiday cover. Regional meetings have on the whole, fallen by the wayside which is a pity, but if everyone attending just meets one person who become a good contact and learns just one thing, then it has to be worth it. Somehow I think I'll be learning more than one thing looking at the variety of speakers.

Too many Commercial Energy Assessors, does this sound familiar?

Word reaches me that we actually have more commercial energy assessors qualified and in training than we actually need! Yep, its official folks, CLG have confirmed the worst-kept secret earlier today when they provided figures that demonstrated we actually have a total number of CEAs who are either accredited or finishing off their training that is higher than the CLG number for how many CEAs we need in 2008.

Not that it'll stop the training providers hoovering up more much-needed income.

Labels: The big two events Agency Expo and NHER SAVA Conference

Recently announced by NES, parent company of leading training providers NHER/SAVA, is the funding to the tune of 2,500 for regional groups of energy assessors and home inspectors who would like to use the funding to help develop their own group and allow it to thrive and progress.

Details are:

NEW CASH GRANT LAUNCHED TO HELP SUPPORT LOCAL ENERGY ASSESSOR GROUPS

National Energy Services (NES) is launching an Energy Assessor Community Grant worth 2,500 to help support energy assessor and home inspector networking groups.

Applications are being sought from all local or national voluntary groups in England and Wales who could use the cash to help with marketing, networking, welfare or other initiatives to benefit energy assessors (domestic or commercial) or home inspectors.

The winner of the Grant will be announced on the first day of the NES Annual Conference which is taking place at the International Convention Centre, Birmingham on 22-23 October 2008.

Brian Scannell, Managing Director of NES, said:
“We know that it is an incredibly tough market for many energy assessors, particularly new entrants who may be self-employed for the first time in their lives. Professional networking, online discussion forums and local support groups are a vital lifeline to share knowledge and experiences, swap notes and get advice and moral support. NES is committed to supporting our members, and we want to use this grant to help them build a thriving and high quality business environment.”

Applying for the Energy Assessor Community Grant is a short and easy process via an application form which can be downloaded

The deadline for all entries is Monday 13 October. Following a judging process by a panel of NES and independent experts, 2,500 will be given to the group that makes the most compelling case for support.

So best of luck to all those applying!

So who might apply for funding?

With the demise of many regional groups it might actually be a newer group that could receive the funding. The efforts that went on in regions such as the northwest, northeast, devon and cornwall, thames valley and so on have really come to nothing. Virtually no regional group is having what one what would regard as regular meeting in the sense that members organisations would be expected to have. Some group, particularly those in the north have imploded owing to the actions and attitude of a small minority, others just never had the commitment to actually organise and market regular events.

I went to my local event last night, 50mins drive for me as I am one of those living at the edge of the region. 9 people turned up! We used to have 25-30 on a monthly basis. Opinion was along the lines of either its shaken up, or it dies. May well be my last visit, I need to get something out of attending events, as everyone else does. In my case its networking and seeing if there are leads I can run with, but with the attendance dropping away, the odds get ever-longer.

No structures have remained in place, whether business groups or those based on Institute arrangements. Its turning into a dead loss right now, and all this at a time when we record numbers of qualified and accredited DEA/HIs.

What a pity, but back to the positives then.... to those who have a quietly successful group, do make sure you apply for funding, there is so little cash floating about in the industry, that the chance to get a decent website, some support with administration and marketing, plus even potentially the meeting room costs means it could provide a very good boost or launchpad for any regional group.

Labels: DEA / HI energy assessor / home inspector groups cash giveaway

And finally, a mere 5 and half months after CLG were kind enough to give us the last update as to how many more DEA/HIs have been conned to train we have an update!

Conned to join the legions of DEA/HI cannon fodder sat every morning, feet up watching Jeremy Kyle, waiting for the phone to ring with an EPC at 20 quid or to play fastest finger first with panel text messages.

Promised a new career, new opportunities, a fresh start, the mandatory EPC, a money-spinner and guaranteed income some rogue training providers would have you believe. The reality as we know is very much another story and the numbers that follow spell this out in harsh terms.

Assessor Numbers as of 23 May 08

Accredited = 7,930 (+829 from 7,101 on 6 Mar)
Qualified = 1,464 (passed exams and qualified, but not yet become accredited)
Passed exams = 4,816
Total in system who have passed exams or progressed further = 14,210 (+2,784 from 11,426)

Lets just pause there a minute shall we cos I smell a rat. So what CLG said is that on 6 March we had 11,426 DEA/HIs in the system and a mere 10 weeks later we have magically gained another 2,784 DEA/HIs in the system. Sorry but something whiffs a bit, either CLG were not gathering data from all the training providers, and lets face it there are so many now, breeding like hamsters they are, and all being unregulated of course so its hard to keep up, or, CLG have not given us an update for 5 and half months because they were afraid of the impact of having ANOTHER 2,784 DEA/HIs joining the industry. Wouldn't look good in the press now would it?

I don't even need to do the maths here to tell anyone that 2,784 is more than enough DEA/HIs to service the WHOLE COUNTRY in 2008. Not sure I was saying any different earlier in the year actually when CLG and others were suggesting 3,000-3,500 but since we knew employed panels were on the rise, it was obvious that a lot less self-employed DEA/HIs were going to be needed. See my calculations later in this post that prove my point.

Back to DEA/HIs then, remember them, hard to avoid bumping into one nowadays I suppose. So for those DEA/HIs who need to know how many 'contracts' they you need to take out to thin the local competition, take a look here. Maybe try and negotiate a bulk rate per 100 kills?


North East 368 + 22 was 346
North West 947 + 102 was 845
Yorkshire & The Humber 582 + 45 was 537
East Midlands 618 + 83 was 535
West Midlands 743 + 73 was 670
East of England 789 + 61 was 728
London 644 + 61 was 583
South East 1289 + 124 was 1165
South West 1021 + 111 was 910
Wales 426 + 50 was 376
Unknown 503 + 97 was 406
Total 7930 + 829 was 7,101

Coming onto just how busy everyone is then. Rightmove took on 120,436 new instructions in July and cover 90% of the market so we have to factor that up to 133,818 to give an estimated total number of new instructions in July 08. (This may actually be an over-estimate since some 'new' properties have actually gone 'multi-agency' and are therefore not requiring an EPC as they already have a HIP)

Then take our fresh and crispy selection of 7,930 burned DEAs and lets 'do the math' as our relay baton-dropping cousins would say.

133,818 divided by 7,930 gives 16.87 EPCs per DEA in July 08, less than one day even based on 20 working days per month assuming you aren't kind enough to work at weekends or any unsociable hours.

Guess you can see where the problem is? We have 14,210 - 7,930 = 6,280 more DEA/HIs queuing up to join the legions of existing under-utilised DEA/HIs.

Impact of this, sorry to say this, cos I've been in from the start and been a strong advocate of doing a good job, reasonable fees etc. but the outcome is the continuation of the fee crashing we have seen. I don't know how much lower it will go, with ever-cheaper accreditation available, thats another 2-5 that will come off the headline panel EPC prices I would wager.

Lots of people and companies in this industry are in dire financial straits, I heard today of one personal search company in Yorkshire that has folded, we have lost Hipstar today of course and the property sector is in freefall and confidence is at rock-bottom.

Another scary point of course is that is pretty much a year to the day since CLG first published any figures at all when we were first informed by CLG that we had 525 accredited DEA/HIs (and that was a reason to delay the rollout of HIPs from 1 June for another few months).

Worrying CLG is still populated by civil servants who are happy to see Data Collectors for EPCs, they want pain-free implementation. I have met them, held meeting with them and their approach worries me a great deal. So how can so many people conspire to keep cocking it up?

DEC rollout- a failure already with watered down implementation guidelines already in place
Commercial EPC rollout - failure, not enough accredited commercial energy assessors and no straight answers given.

Shoddy project management, thats what.

Labels: 930-accredited, Domestic-Energy-Assessors-and-Home-Inspectors-DEA-HI-Accreditation-numbers-update-7

And lo it came to pass, another big name pack provider goes to the wall.

No shock really. Hipstar have followed Habitus as another franchisor/pack provider to cease trading.

The company is currently being put into liquidation.
There has been no stock market announcement from the parent company, Network Surveyors
The former sales staff are ringing around looking for jobs

My own personal view is that they never captured the market share they should have done given the 3-4mil spent last year on the running and marketing of Hipstar. We have spoken with over 1000 agents but very few of them actually use Hipstar, certainly not enough of a proportion to keep such a substantial company ticking over.

I have been tracking this company for some months on my blog as the share price has tumbled, the financial results have not been pretty and just a couple of weeks ago, the owner purchased a large chunk of shares which will have stopped a further fall. The owner family own around 93% of the shares issued giving it less liquidity than other shares that you may have heard of. Hipstar hadn't booked a stand for Agency Expo where the rest of the free-spending pack providers will be handing out free biros, boxes of mints and anything else that agents might need to keep them alive in this atrocious market.


Hipstar Franchisees

What is to become of the franchisees who all spent many thousands of pounds buying areas. While Hipster specifically isn't named here, take a look at this experience and the financial return this franchisee has had: HIP Franchisor keep moving goalposts


My Blog postings

Tue 22 July 2008 Network Data Holdings (HIPSTAR) shares drop off a cliff
Wed 12 April 2008 Hipstar announces loss owing to HIPs
Tue 25 March 2008 Hipstar extends its credit facilities


Hipstar Losses

2006 1,333,000 (When the parent group Network Data Holdings made a profit of 271,000)
2007 3,579,000 (When the parent group Network Data Holdings made a loss of 1,105,000)

You can see more financial information about Network Data and Hipstar here

Labels: HIPSTAR-enter-liquidation What-is-to-become-of-the-franchisees

Commercial EPC and Display Energy Certificate rollout 'AT RISK'

In a remarkable update to my blog update of last week DEC assessors let down by CLG we have now received a further snippet of info from CLG which is more than enough to raise the proverbial eyebrow. After all, CLG have 'form' in the delaying of the rollout out of every key phase to date of both HIPs and EPCs. Remember last May 22nd, when with just a handful of days to go to June 1st, we had yet another delay to the HIP and EPC rollout announced? What would any of us wager on either:

a) A delay of the rollout to the third phase of the commercial EPC rollout due to start in October

b) Zero policing of the rollout and no fines issued hence allowing a 'soft' rollout but at the same time allowing the commercial property professionals to continue without taking on board the need for EPCs. Maybe a fudged compromise with the insertion of a default certificate with a rating of 200 and a G rating?

Anyway, here's the Freedom of Information Act request with CLG seeking to know the number of Non Domestic Assessors in Training, both Qualified and Accredited. The response received last Thursday was

"At this time, the harm that may be caused to the success of the project, which is in the public interest, outweighs the general public interest of disclosure."

What a stunning reply, yes it may be honest, but to the commercial property world who have had some years to prepare for the rollout, and certainly the whole of 2008 to prepare for the October rollout, this looks only slightly less than shambolic.

I guess the next step is to take one of the options above. The DEC rollout has already been watered down with a significant reduction in the number of buildings that need a full DEC to be completed following last weeks 'clarification' from CLG.

However, to make it easier for public authorities with multiple buildings on one site to comply with the legislation, a site-based approach for the first year is to be allowed where it is not possible to produce individual DECs. This means that only one DEC will need to be produced based on the total energy consumption of the buildings on the site. Public bodies most likely to be affected by this approach are NHS Trusts, universities and schools.

The story doesn't stop here, lets see what the next chapter brings!

Labels: CLG-holding-their-breath-as-the-commercial-EPC-rollout-cat-begins-to-topple-out-of-the-bag Commercial-EPC-and-Display-Energy-Certificate-rollout-at-risk

Finally it seems, the IDEA juggernaut is fuelled to the brim and ready to launch on the start of its journey to achieve global domination. With promises of paying DEAs the full market rate, certainly a number of the more vocal IDEA members are now in a frenzy singing its praises.

First up though is the appointment of a Committee comprising members and 13 people have stuck their arm up and want a piece of the action, here they are, voting is still open for another 2 weeks but you can see a few numbers anyway:

Nick Phillips
Colin Bailey 33 votes
Brian Blunden 14 votes
Driss Charrouf 12 votes
Haley Fairless 32 votes
Dave Halligan 32 votes
Meirin Jones 24 votes
Ian Macpherson 21 votes
Sarah Mason 36 votes
Mark Norris
John Oxley 25 votes
James Robertshaw 28 votes
Gary Ward 20 votes

Every one is a qualified and accredited Domestic Energy Assessor (DEA) and none have the HI qualification. Perhaps this will assist in keeping the focus on the issues facing the majority of folk carrying out EPCs, namely, the DEAs.

A controversial way to commence proceedings

Each and every candidate has been asked to sign a confidentiality agreement pertaining to all discussions and information regarding IDEA. This is surely a unique move for committee members of an Institute, who are neither employees nor Directors of the company.

2 candidates have already withdrawn.

Just days into the voting process, 2 of the above candidates have already withdrawn their candidature. In a revealing comment, one of them said "I remove myself from the candidate list based on.... the requirement to sign a 3 year confidentiality agreement, which for me is too onerous for a voluntary position."

Will IDEA ever be run in a proper way?

Non-profit making companies would have a Board, containing members and invited others. IDEA however, proposes to have Directors who have full decision-making powers and are not accountable to the membership in any way. The Directors have the power to do whatever they like with IDEA, the members funds and so on. What price its tee'd up to be bought out in the future?

So sadly our list of 13, well minus 2 obviously actually have NO decision making capacity, they are simply there to advise and provide information to the Directors, who are the decision-makers.

I have commented elsewhere about the interest that those running IDEA have in making money: May 2008 17 ways IDEA are making money

What we have here for the committee is accountability without responsibility. IDEA has been run as a personal fiefdom up until now, but these elections were sold on the promise of changing that. Sadly they are simply going to provide a veneer. There are a number of individuals who disagree with me, but the one thing linking them all is that they are all IDEA members as opposed to being DEAs considering which, if any, members organisation to join.


IDEA lower their sights substantially by 75%

Not only have IDEA been obliged to set the membership fee at the lowest rate offered in a poll of members, now the actual number of members is less important than it was before when the target was 2000 members. In a remarkable move the self-appointed lobbyist/CEO/Chairman of IDEA has stated that "even if we only got 500 signed up initially this would still be more than the combined membership of IHI and NARHI..."

An astonishing U-turn indeed but it feels more like cutting the cloth according to interest level. With a potential membership of around 12,000, is 500 members, or just over 4% of the total of those in the industry really enough to be THE conclusive membership body?

All we can do in what is still a new industry is wish IDEA good luck, its got a history to be ashamed of, but with new blood on board, its got as good a chance as any. Let the voting commence! (well, continue anyway!)

Labels: What to do with a problem like IDEA? Confidentiality agreement

In case you weren't aware NRG Experts cannot provide any work to DEA/HIs accredited with HI Certification between 6th and 14th August. Sadly this is because the accreditation scheme is closed for a holiday break.

Kick back and top up your tan, never a bad move, just remember to splash on some factor 20 before spending a week in the Sun.

I am mildly concerned that this leaves some DEA/HIs hung out to dry if they need to speak with their accreditation scheme, technical helpline and so on. Interesting times indeed!

Labels: Accreditation-Scheme-On-Holiday