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Home Information Packs (HIPs) aim to reduce the stress of buying and selling a home by providing key documents at the time a property is put onto the market.

Until recently this information was not normally made available until after an offer had been negotiated, often causing sales to be renegotiated or to collapse altogether which was unsatisfactory for all concerned.

The Packs aim to increase confidence in the sale process from the very start. The transparency of this process is aimed at increasing competition in the market and speeding up the house buying and selling process by providing more information earlier on.

Our HIPs packs are competitively priced and fully portable. We also have a deferred payment option for those who prefer that.  We can also arrange for your legal conveyancing through a Nationally accredited online conveyancing business.

Get Legal & HIP quotes.

To obtain a quote for your HIP, just go to the main link shown above.

The main property bodies originally held the following views:

For:

Association of Home Information Pack Providers (early in 2007):

A survey by a leading online estate agent concluded that 85 per cent of consumers would welcome the Home Condition Report as part of the pack and the Governments decision to allow this to be only voluntary at the start, is wholly unnecessary

It also is their belief that there will be demand for the new Home Condition Report. A surveyor, engaged to carry out this inspection, could also produce the mandatory Energy Performance Certificate, resulting in cost savings all round.

Against:

National Association of Estate Agents (early in 2007):

Although the mandatory nature of the Home Condition Report has just been removed, following intervention by RICS in consultation with the NAEA, they continue to be concerned that the mandatory nature of the Home Information Pack itself is still a problem.

In particular, the NAEA recently said the necessity of still having to provide an Energy Performance Certificate and how these may be produced remains their concern.

Estate Agents (early in 2007):

Most appear to be against the whole idea of Home Information Packs.

Housing Developers (early in 2007):

Many appear to think that if we had brought in Home Condition Reports, the housing market would have been crippled with a shortage of supply of properties.

In essence many think the whole business of introducing mandatory Home Condition Reports should be consigned to the waste bin!

Clearly strong sentiments are being expressed about the governments mandatory introduction of Hips as a first step in improving the way houses are bought and sold in England and Wales.

This is therefore, an extremely important matter and will ultimately depend upon support from owners and buyers alike, if it is to prove to be a success.

Useful web sites on Home Information Packs.

Association of Home Information Pack Providers:

www.hipassociation.co.uk

The official Home Information Pack website:

www.homeinformationpacks.gov.uk

Verify the registration of a named

domestic energy assessor or home inspector, or

Find an existing EPC and HCR:

https://www.hcrregister.com

Key Information about HIPs

1. •HIPs (Home Information Packs) became a legal requirement for every type of house or flat being marketed in England and Wales from the 14th December 2007.
   

2. •The cost and provision of a HIP is the Seller's responsibility.
   

3. •If you are marketing a property in England and Wales, you are currently allowed to begin marketing it as soon as you have ordered and paid for a HIP, but from the beginning of 2009, you will not be able to put your house up for sale until you have one of the packs.
   

4. •Even so, you must still be able to show that you have ordered and paid for your HIP as soon as the property is on the market.
   

5. •Property owners who market their property without a HIP where one should have been commissioned could be fined £200 by the government (and this may be repeated at "reasonable" intervals) if a compliant HIP is not swiftly provided. (Also, this fine could be increased at the Government's option, so sellers please beware).
   

6. •The Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) element of your HIP is mandatory. Its purpose is to assess your property in terms of amount of energy used per square metre of floor area for heating etc. This energy efficiency calculation is based, both on fuel costs and the environmental impact resulting from the Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions.
   

7. •Your home will then be given a rating according to its calculated energy efficiency.
   

8. •The Home Condition Report (the HCR) element of your HIP, as distinct from the HIP itself, is still currently only voluntary, although the Government has reserved the right to change this to become mandatory in the future.
   

9. •A compliant HIP, like the one we can supply, will normally be valid for a period of one year. However, it should be understood that the legal searches contained in the HIP will only be valid (from the buyers point of view) for 3 months. Vendors must maintain an up to date HIP whilst marketing their property.