Builders in U.K. Claim Inspections Bring New Taxes

[hausdok]

For the past 5-years, builders, mortgage lenders, real estate agents and professional "surveyors" have railed against a new law in the U.K. that will require that a home information pack (HIP) be prepared on all properties put up for sale in England and Wales beginning in June 2007.

The special interests have been successful in getting the government to withdraw from the law the requirement for a mandatory home condition report (HCR), which is essentially a home inspection report similar to what we have in the U.S., but they have not been successful in getting mandatory energy audits taken out of the package.

Now, the special interests in the U.K. are trying a new tactic - they're claiming that inspectors will be, essentially, defacto assessors, and that, following preparation of a HIP, homoewners will be hit with new taxes.

For an American home inspector's perspective, it's pretty comical reading. What will they think of next?

To read more, click here.

[hausdok]

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