A Home Information Pack (HIP) is a set of documents providing important information about a property, its energy efficiency, boundary ownership and planning permissions. Home Information Packs have been introduced to improve home buying and selling for the consumer and as part of wider action to cut carbon emissions from homes. This means that every person selling a home must have commissioned a Home Information Pack before putting their property on the market.
What is in a Home Information Pack?
The Packs include the key documents that are normally required when homes are bought and sold. Potential buyers can receive this information at the start of the home buying and selling process. Some documents will be compulsory under the new legislation.
The compulsory documents include:
An index (i.e. a list of the contents of the Pack)
An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)
A sale statement (summarising the terms of sale)
Evidence of title
Standard searches (e.g. local authority enquiries and a drainage and water search)
Where appropriate, commonhold information
Where appropriate, leasehold information
There are also optional documents that can be provided as part of a Home Information Pack, including a Home Condition Report which gives details on the condition of the property.
Optional documents include:
A Home Condition Report (HCR)
A legal summary
Guarantees and warranties
Other searches relevant to the particular area
A Home Use Form
A Home Contents Form and additional relevant information
The seller has an obligation to obtain an EPC as soon as possible, and certainly by the time of exchange of contracts. Once the EPC is available, an HIP containing the EPC, sale statement, evidence of title and index must be provided, with local and drainage and water searches – or evidence that they have been commissioned.
How will Home Information Packs help the buying and selling process?
Home Information Packs aim to reduce the stress of buying and selling a home by providing key documents at the time a property is put on the market. Before the introduction of HiPs this information is not normally made available until after an offer has been negotiated, often causing sales to be renegotiated or collapse altogether. The Packs aim to increase confidence in the sale process from the start. The transparency of this process should lead to an increase in competition in the market. Estate agents marketing homes with Packs will be required, for the first time, to belong to an approved consumer redress scheme. This means more peace of mind and a better standard of service for consumers.
