Written answers from Communities & Local Government (CLG)
Tory Shadow Minister, Grant Shapps, has been busy asking the DCLG questions lately. His latest one asks:
...whether data gatherers for energy performance certificates, who are not domestic energy assessors, will need to be accredited and undertake a Criminal Records Bureau check.
Minister, John Healey, tackled this one:
CLG has issued guidance setting out the circumstances in which data gatherers may be used. A Criminal Records Bureau check is needed for a data gatherer who visits dwellings unaccompanied by either a domestic energy assessor or the landlord where the dwellings have tenants. A data gatherer does not need to be accredited but cannot produce a certificate. The certificate is the responsibility of the domestic energy assessor (DEA).
Energy Performance Certificates: 15 Sep 2008: Written answers (TheyWorkForYou.com)
Other questions included:
HIP shelf life
...what the maximum shelf life of each element of a commissioned home information pack is?
The elements of a home information pack (HIP) have no shelf life under the regulations as there is no requirement for sellers to update any document in the HIP as long as the property remains on the market. (Parmjit Dhanda, Parliamentary Under-Secretary, DCLG)
Property information questionnaires - electronic sorting
...whether the information collected from property information questionnaires will be sorted in an electronic database?
There are no plans to do so. As set out in our consultation paper, the property information questionnaire would be completed by individual sellers and provided to prospective buyers as part of the HIP. (Parmjit Dhanda, Parliamentary Under-Secretary, DCLG)
Property information questionnaires - access to info
...which public sector bodies will have access to the information contained in property information questionnaires.
None. As set out in our consultation paper, the property information questionnaire would be completed by individual sellers and provided to prospective buyers as part of the HIP. (Caroline Flint, Housing Minister, DCLG)
