But the time has come to downsize – or rather reshape – our style of living to a low-level existence. A bungalow.

Now, the memories of our previous upheavals come flooding back.

The government duties, the solicitor's fees, the estate agent's charges, the cost of shifting our worldly goods from one place to another... could there be anything else to stir into this cash-consuming stew? Yes. The dreaded HIP.

I've always thought of HIPs as a waste of good money.

They are a "non-job" creation, brought in by a stealth-tax government trying to keep down the unemployment total.

I object to paying perhaps £350 or so for supplying information on such things as how big a carbon footprint my house is imposing on the planet.

Any buyer can see for themselves the depth of loft insulation; whether the windows are efficiently double-glazed; see proof of whether the cavity walls are insulated.

And so much of the information should be obtained, anyway, by the buyer's solicitor and surveyor, who are paid to do this very job.

To make matters even more onerous, it was only last week that the government imposed a further burden on people like me by demanding we supply information on flood risk, service charges, structural damage, parking arrangements, etc.

What on earth are we paying solicitors for if their not insignificant remuneration does not include responsibility for researching such important details.

By supplying wrong information, due to my layman's ignorance, I might find myself being sued by the purchaser if things go wrong later down the line.

So much for the HIP "benefits" lauded so loudly by this empty-promises administration.

Another downside is that your home cannot now be marketed unless a HIP is already in place.

Previously, homeowners could start marketing their property as soon as they had ordered one of the Home Information Packs, and could continue to do so for 28 days before it arrived.

It's just another example of our money being taken earlier than it need be, especially at a credit-crunch time when this earlier cash demand could be crucial to some sellers.

When it comes to private vendors, there's a lot to be said for "sold as seen", as in the case of cars.

Let the Latin maxim caveat emptor (let the buyer beware) be a guiding rule in such matters.

All such hassle, and this is even before I've started on the ordeal of telling family, friends, banks and insurance companies, etc, where we're moving to, getting the post redirected, adapting our new home to what we want... but it'll all be worth it in the end, won't it?


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