About Home Reports
About Home Reports > Legislation on Home Reports
The legislation says that from 1 December 2008 the seller or selling agent (if one is used) must prepare three documents before a home is marketed and make them available to prospective purchasers within nine days of a request to do so. The duty also applies to sellers who market their homes by themselves, without involving a selling agent.
A Home Report will not be required if the house has been on the market prior to 1st December, unless taken off the makret then remarketed.
A Home Report will consist of three documents: a Single Survey, an Energy Report and a Property Questionnaire.
The forms to be used for the Single Survey and Property Questionnaire are prescribed in the regulations. The regulations also prescribe the information that an Energy Report must include.
Only surveyors registered with or authorised to practise by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors may provide the Single Survey and Energy Report.
Only the seller of the home, or someone nominated by the seller, may complete the Property Questionnaire.
The Home Report documents cannot be more than 12 weeks old when the home is marketed. However a seller may withdraw the home from the market for up to 28 days on any number of occasions, and remarket the home using the same Home Report documents.
None of the Home Report documents have a prescribed 'shelf life', that is a period for which they remain valid. The users of any of the documents will judge the reliance to place on it according to the market conditions and the passage of time.
Someone in breach of the duty in the Act to provide the Home Report documents may have a penalty charge notice served on them by the local authority's Trading Standards Office. The penalty charge is £500.
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The Single Survey gives sellers detailed information about the condition and value of a home before it is marketed for sale. It also gives buyers better information about the condition and value of a home before they make an offer to purchase.
The Single Survey includes an accessibility audit that will make Scotland the first country to require that the accessible features of every home for sale are highlighted to potential buyers. This information will benefit parents with young children and older people, as well as disabled people.
Click here to view an example of the single survey.
The Energy Report gives a home's energy efficiency rating and its environmental impact in terms of carbon dioxide emissions.
It recommends ways to improve the building's energy efficiency and gives contact details for further advice and information about how to make a home more energy efficient and save fuel costs. The Energy Report helps home buyers to make 'green' choices, by comparing energy costs between homes and giving practical advice to reduce carbon emissions and save on energy bills.
Click here to view an example of an energy report
The Property Questionnaire contains information for home buyers, solicitors and surveyors.
It would include, for example: a home's council tax band, parking facilities, factoring arrangements, any local authority notices that affect it and alterations that have been made to the home.
This information will be useful for buyers before they decide whether to submit an offer to purchase a home. The Property Questionnaire will also reduce the risk of delay and difficulties in conveyancing.