Trade and representative bodies, including The Conveyancing Association, RICS and SLC, launch fourth iteration of the BASPI

31 March 2023

Trade and representative bodies representing the legal, surveying, estate agency and property management sectors, including the Conveyancing Association (CA), RICS and the SLC, have today (31st March 2023) launched the fourth iteration of the BASPI – Buyer’s and Seller’s Property Information form.

The BASPI, developed by the upfront information working group of the Home Buyers and Sellers Group (HBSG), is a ‘single source of truth’ dataset, designed to include all the information required on a property when it is put on the market for sale.

Split into two parts, Part A covers the disclosure of material facts required by Regulations, while Part B includes additional information required for the legal process. Information provided in the BASPI allows the seller to ensure their property is both ‘Market Ready’ and ‘Sale Ready’.

Part A asks for information regarding disputes and complaints, alterations and changes, notices, specialist issues, fixtures and fittings, utilities and services, insurance, boundaries, rights and informal arrangements, and any other issues affecting the property. Part B covers legal ownership, legal boundaries, services crossing other property, energy, guarantees, warranties and indemnity insurances, occupiers, and completion and moving.

This new version of the BASPI introduces eight new questions to be answered with the aim of making it easier to pre-populate the forms used by stakeholders in the home moving process.

The major change in this iteration comes with a move away from a specific question on building safety regarding the EWS (External Wall System) form, to a wider question on overall building safety and remediation to capture anything within the seller’s knowledge about building safety since the publication of the Building Safety Regulations under the Building Safety Act.

As the BASPI is completed by the seller it will be verified via the Leasehold Property Enquiry Form (LPE1) by the Lease Administrator but should provide a heads up to conveyancers much earlier in the process.

Other changes to the BASPI include requests for more information as a direct result of the National Trading Standards Estate & Letting Agent Team (NTSELAT) guidance on mandatory material information to be provided at the point a property is put up for sale. The NTSELAT is working through a three-phase project on improving the availability of upfront information in the conveyancing process.

Beth Rudolf, Director of Delivery at the Conveyancing Association, commented:

“Every year we conduct a full review and industry consultation to ensure the BASPI is up to date and reflects any changes in law, and ongoing updates that may be required. This is the fourth iteration of the dataset and it includes a number of changes that will ensure it remains fit for purpose and it retains all the information required for a property sale at the outset.

“This is all about ensuring stakeholders secure the information they need to be able to confidently provide it to consumers allowing them to make a fully-informed decision about the property and whether they want to proceed with plans to purchase. Our work within the HBSG will continue and we aim to ensure the BASPI remains relevant and up to date, and I would like to thank all those who have taken the time to work on this project and help us deliver this next-generation BASPI dataset.

“Our thanks in particular go to RICS and to the Property Data Trust Framework Sub-Group of the HBSG who are updating the Schemas to ensure the data captured by the BASPI can be used interoperability between systems and the provenance of that data can be authenticated.”

Simon Law, Society of Licensed Conveyancers (SLC) Chairperson, said:

“The SLC is entirely supportive of the principle of upfront information and use of the BASPI, which continues to evolve and develop in an ever-changing world. It is an important tool that estate agents and vendors can use to help deliver important information early in the process to better inform potential buyers and speed up transactions.”

Mairéad Carroll, Senior Specialist, Property Standards at RICS, said:

“RICS is pleased to support the work to develop and update the BASPI. With the push towards getting more upfront information at the start of the sales process, integrity and accessibility of the data will become essential to ensure transactions progress smoothly, benefitting both the buyer and seller.”