The Home Information Pack (HIP)
The government is introducing HIPs as part of wider reforms
to cut carbon emissions from homes and to improve the home buying
and selling process. The HIP is a set of documents providing
important information about a property, such as its energy efficiency,
boundary ownership and planning permissions, for new properties,
copies of warranties and guarantees.
The purpose of the HIP is to provide consumers with better
information early in the process - to improve the speed and
certainty of transactions and reduce wasted costs. The government's
dedicated website is www.homeinformationpacks.gov.uk.
The documents that have to be included in a HIP from the
first day of marketing include an index, an Energy Performance
Certificate, the sales statement and evidence of title.
For the other compulsory documents - the local property searches
and certain documents for leasehold properties - the Government
is initially allowing flexibility. Marketing can begin provided
the missing documents are added to the Pack as soon as possible.
There must be evidence in the pack that these documents have
already been commissioned.
Optional documents in the HIP include the Home
Condition Report (HCR) which the Government strongly encourages
sellers to include.
The HIP may also contain a Legal Summary, which would normally
be at the front of the pack. The Legal Summary is a legal
advisors view of the contents of the pack and should identify
any issues that a potential buyer may wish to take into consideration
when purchasing the property.
The HIP can be prepared by your solicitor, chosen estate
agent, national pack provider or through our partnering arrangements
with 'The
Hippd Network'.
From the 1st August 2007 an inspection is required by law
for the Energy Performance
Certificate (EPC) and it is extremely cost effective to
commission the Home Condition
Report (HCR) at the same time.
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