What Exactly Are Home Information Packs?

And how does it affect the buying and selling of a house?

Introduction to Home Information Packs

In 2004 the home information pack (HIP) was introduced in England and Wales as a mandatory document that is needed to be produced before a property can legally be bought or sold. It was introduced to stabilise the sale process and includes documents such as the energy performance certificate, sustainability document (for new houses only), sale statement (which includes the address being sold, the capacity of the seller etc) and proof of property ownership. If the property is leasehold or commonhold it will also require documents such as a copy of the lease, landlord contact details and recent service charge receipts. The average cost of the HIP's documentation has been estimated at around £300 to £600 for the majority of houses within England and Wales, but this isn't all a new additional cost as the majority of these expenses were present in past systems. At the moment the failure to produce a complete HIP document results in a fine of £200. The seller is always responsible for the cost of the HIP; it must always be in place when the property is available on the market and be with the group associated with advertising the property. A home information pack can be commissioned from a variety of sources, including estate agents, solicitors, specialist hip providers or you can just compile it yourself, but make sure it includes all of the necessary documentation. The HIP's document is always free to receive and you should receive it within 14 days of the request. There are only a few circumstances in which a HIP is not required, for instance non-residential properties or the sale of holiday accommodation.

Some of the major parts of a home information pack include,

Home Condition Report

The initial idea was that a home condition report would be included in any HIP document; this document would detail the condition of the property, avoiding miss-understanding with any problems with the property totally visible to the buyer. These reports are to be carried out by certified home inspectors to enable all property reviews to be standardised with similar quality levels, this isn't mandatory at this moment but may become so in the future.

Energy Performance Certificate

This document is designed to provide the house purchaser with the ability to assess the properties energy consumption, these as with the home condition report need to be undertaken by an official third party, and in this case a qualified Domestic Energy Assessor (DEA). This process is in place to improve the energy performance of homes within the buying and selling process, this has the benefit of improving the energy consumption of houses and saving on energy bills for the buyers. This is a required part of the HIP's documentation.

It is always a good idea to check the official government sites to view the current laws regarding HIP's, and always get in contact with the estate agents to receive their help in putting together your HIP document and what is legally required. You could alternatively use a third party group to assemble the pack, for example use a specialist HIP's provider or use an estate agent to compile the document.