Hips do lie say lenders

Another day, another round of confusion when it comes to Home information packs (Hips). Today's controversy surrounds the fact that some lenders are supposed to have demanded that buyers pay for their own search of a prospective property because seller searches, a mandatory part of the Hip, are unreliable.

Lenders such as HSBC were cited as making such demands, which were thought to have added another financial cost onto buyers, many of whom may already be preparing for a financial blow when they come off fixed-rate mortgages this autumn.

But true to form, the situation is not as clear as that - HSBC has now denied that it's stopping from giving out loans unless buyers conduct their own search.

"We have never accepted private searches rather than those from a solicitor," said an HSBC spokesman, according to the BBC.

"We just need to be sure that the customer's solicitor will sign off the search so that it is covered by their personal indemnity insurance," he added.

So this row seems to have been defused for now, but there's inevitably another one waiting just around the corner.

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