Where to get a HIPS?

roger215

Evee2000 wrote: »

Yes, I agree that anyone can put together their own HIP. All I asked about was the title documentation that you downloaded. Where did you download it from, does it have a disclaimer at the top of it and it is watermarked with the landregistry logo?

Do you have a PIQ?

Re HIP providers not including your FENSA info and guarantees in a HIP - any HIP provider worth his salt will ask you if you have any further warranties or guarantees that would be useful information for a potential buyer. All of these documents can be copied and included in the HIP (at no extra cost) - in the authorised document section.

I did not require a PIQ as pre April 09, but that would have been really simple, as for the Land Registry docs anyone whether they own the property or not can download the deeds and plans for a £6.00 fee from the Land Registry web site.

Evee2000

roger215 wrote: »

I did not require a PIQ as pre April 09, but that would have been really simple, as for the Land Registry docs anyone whether they own the property or not can download the deeds and plans for a £6.00 fee from the Land Registry web site.

Okay, this is what I thought you had done, and unfortunately, you have the incorrect documents (and your HIP is therefore non compliant).

You must include OC1 title documentation. This is not freely downloadable from the Land Registry site. OC1 means 'Official Copy' - these documents are fully guaranteed and indemnified by Land Registry - they are also watermarked. The documents which you have downloaded from the main Land Registry site state at the top that they cannot be relied upon in a court of law (ie they are NOT official copies). Please check - your HIP will not be acceptable by conveyancers (estate agents will probably not be aware).

For future reference, unless you have an account with Land Registry Direct, you can only order paper copies of the OC1 - they cannot be downloaded by general members of the public.

As a measure of goodwill - I would be happy to send you the correct OC1 documents, in order that your HIP become compliant. The price is the same £6.00 (that is what I will be charged). PM me if that helps.

roger215

Sorry but you appear confused, or mabye it is the way I have described compiling a Hips that has confused you. You are correct regarding neeeding an official copy of the LR documents, but these are not required in my case although I downloaded the deeds and plans as already stated I do have the original deeds which have also been copied and included, so my HIP is fully compliant.
I note by your previous posts that you seem to provide HIPS and therefore must have been trained, however you should be aware that working in Local Goverment and speaking to the land registry on a regular basis gives me a great deal of knowledge regarding the content of Hips etc. I can assure you that the LR documents required for a HIPS pack are no longer watermarked but are as you state marked 'Official Copy' these can be obtained from the LR by simply downloading a OC1 and then paying the said fee.(anyone can download this form)
In legal terms a Hips would/should contain an official copy of the deeds etc as the downloaded ones are for information only. The official copies of the plans are also to scale which can be more informative. For your informationI have included the following from the LR site.
Copies of the registers and title plans obtained from this service are for information purposes only and are not guaranteed copies. If you require a guaranteed copy, please apply for a Land Registry Official Copy. To do that you will need to print and complete a form OC1 application and post it, together with the relevant fee, to the appropriate Land Registry office. Click ... to find the address of the Land Registry office that serves the area where the property you are interested in is located. If the title register and/or plan are not shown as available, please apply for an Official Copy as referred to above.
I hope with your knowledge as a Hips provider and my many years experience we have together provided the information to enable someone to complile a DIY **Compliant*** Hips pack.
Please do not hesitate to PM me if you require any future advise regarding Hips etc...........

G_M

There seems to be some confusion/dispute about what title documents are acceptable to comply with HIP requirements.

There are several ways the Land Registry makes title documents available:
1) electronic download, available to all for £3 (+ £3 for a Plan). Although informative, these are not 'Official Copies' and do NOT comply. Available here.
2) Paper version of the 'Official Copy', obtainable by downloading form OC1 (available here), completing it and returning to the Land registry with £6 (+ £6 for Plan). This DOES comply with HIP requirements.
3) Those with an account with the Land Registry (not available to Joe Public and me), can obtain an electronic version of the 'Official Copy', again £6 + £6.

So solicitors, HIP providers etc can get it electronically, but you and I can only get a paper copy by snail mail.

Whether Evee or Roger is right about what Roger put in his HIP is really irrelevant, so long as those following this thread (& considering DIYing their HIP) understand the requirement.

Hope that helps!

ps - 'original deeds' which you may have had for years since buying the property would not be a substitute for a recent 'Official Copy' in a HIP as they would be out of date.

Evee2000

roger215 wrote: »

Sorry but you appear confused, or mabye it is the way I have described compiling a Hips that has confused you. You are correct regarding neeeding an official copy of the LR documents, but these are not required in my case although I downloaded the deeds and plans as already stated I do have the original deeds which have also been copied and included, so my HIP is fully compliant.
I note by your previous posts that you seem to provide HIPS and therefore must have been trained, however you should be aware that working in Local Goverment and speaking to the land registry on a regular basis gives me a great deal of knowledge regarding the content of Hips etc. I can assure you that the LR documents required for a HIPS pack are no longer watermarked but are as you state marked 'Official Copy' these can be obtained from the LR by simply downloading a OC1 and then paying the said fee.(anyone can download this form)
In legal terms a Hips would/should contain an official copy of the deeds etc as the downloaded ones are for information only. The official copies of the plans are also to scale which can be more informative. For your informationI have included the following from the LR site.
Copies of the registers and title plans obtained from this service are for information purposes only and are not guaranteed copies. If you require a guaranteed copy, please apply for a Land Registry Official Copy. To do that you will need to print and complete a form OC1 application and post it, together with the relevant fee, to the appropriate Land Registry office. Click ... to find the address of the Land Registry office that serves the area where the property you are interested in is located. If the title register and/or plan are not shown as available, please apply for an Official Copy as referred to above.
I hope with your knowledge as a Hips provider and my many years experience we have together provided the information to enable someone to complile a DIY **Compliant*** Hips pack.
Please do not hesitate to PM me if you require any future advise regarding Hips etc...........

Thanks for clarifying Roger. I believe then that it must be the downloaded OC1 by LR account holders (like me) that are watermarked (to show that they are the genuine article). I download these on a daily basis, and they still have the watermark. Regardless, you are quite correct, and as I stated originally an OC1 can be ordered online, and received by post by anyone.

Happy to assist anyone to compile their own HIP, but also for clarity, by going to an approved independent pack provider you would have paid less than £250 and saved yourself a bit of hassle. Not touting for business (as I work to a specific geographical area only), but I charge less than this (no VAT to pay).

Evee2000

G_M wrote: »

There seems to be some confusion/dispute about what title documents are acceptable to comply with HIP requirements.

There are several ways the Land Registry makes title documents available:
1) electronic download, available to all for £3 (+ £3 for a Plan). Although informative, these are not 'Official Copies' and do NOT comply. Available here.
2) Paper version of the 'Official Copy', obtainable by downloading form OC1 (available here), completing it and returning to the Land registry with £6 (+ £6 for Plan). This DOES comply with HIP requirements.
3) Those with an account with the Land Registry (not available to Joe Public and me), can obtain an electronic version of the 'Official Copy', again £6 + £6.

So solicitors, HIP providers etc can get it electronically, but you and I can only get a paper copy by snail mail.

Whether Evee or Roger is right about what Roger put in his HIP is really irrelevant, so long as those following this thread (& considering DIYing their HIP) understand the requirement.

Hope that helps!

ps - 'original deeds' which you may have had for years since buying the property would not be a substitute for a recent 'Official Copy' in a HIP as they would be out of date.

I'm not entirely convinced that this is true (although I will endeavour to find out). For intance, where there is no registered title available (unregistered property) a good 'root of title' is acceptable. This can be made up from very old conveyancing documentation, going back about 30 years.

G_M

Evee2000 wrote: »

I'm not entirely convinced that this is true (although I will endeavour to find out). For intance, where there is no registered title available (unregistered property) a good 'root of title' is acceptable. This can be made up from very old conveyancing documentation, going back about 30 years.

Apologies. My 'clarification' referred only to the various Land Registry documents and was intended only to clarify the position for Registered Land.

As you had stated "although I downloaded the deeds and plans" I assumed you meant from the LR, thus implying your property was registered. In this case any historic deeds you held from years ago would be irrelevant.

Unregistered properties (increasingly rare these days) would obviously not have records at the Land Registry at all hence none of what I wrote applies to them. For HIP requirements for unregistered land, see here.

wolfman1

Evee2000 wrote: »

I'm not entirely convinced that your HIP was compliant.

compliant with what? you can do your own, provided you follow the guidelines and include all the relevant information.

G_M

wolfman1 wrote: »

compliant with what? you can do your own, provided you follow the guidelines and include all the relevant information.

I assume Evee means compliant with THE HOME INFORMATION PACK

REGULATIONS 2007 (see here )

In particular, schedule 5 states:

" The commonhold documents and information required to be included in the pack are found in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Schedule 5. These include:

• an official copy of the individual register and title plan for the common parts. This is in addition to official copies for the unit (which are required under regulation 9(f), also see guidance on regulation 9(h), above).

• an official copy of the commonhold community statement.

These documents can be obtained from Land Registry.

The official copies listed above are the key commonhold documents of interest to potential buyers. Because any amendments to the CCS are not effective for the purposes of commonhold legislation until they are registered with Land Registry, an official copy will be the most definitive version. "

Note the emphasis on 'official copy'.

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Just a line to say that I used Hips4u recently and was very pleased with them

I avoided the hassle of worrying about compliance myself and paid a fair price

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