Compiling my own HIP: My experience.

Essexdelboy

After deciding to put my house up for sale and speaking to my estate agent I starting doing a little research regarding the Home Information Pack (HIP). A colleague at work informed me that you are allowed to compile your own pack, so in true MSE style I set about some thrifty moneysaving.

It all started at http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/BuyingAndSellingYourHome/Homeinformationpacks/DG_171807 where I found out about HIPs and optional/compulsory items, and then I read up on how to compile your own HIP http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/BuyingAndSellingYourHome/Homeinformationpacks/DG_171806

Now let me take a step back and use some hindsight, HIPs are normally carried out by private search companies (HIP providers), conveyancers/solictors and estate agents, however as a seller, you can compile your own HIP as long as you get all the documents from the appropriate sources, but (and this is the biggy) local councils, water companies, estate agents etc are not really in the know about this and 1 they think your mad and 2 they think that it’s not above board. However after a little talking around most people I dealt with were very helpful.

Ok back to the beginning, my first steps was to complete the Property Information Questionnaire (PIQ), very self explanatory and available from http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/housing/propertyinformationquestionnaire.

The 2nd thing on the list was to find a local Domestic Energy Assessor (DEA). This was found on the https://www.hcrregister.com/ website and I found a DEA 1 mile from my house that was willing to come round the next night and complete the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). I have a 2 bed bungalow and was quoted and charged £45 for the 30 minute visit. He emailed me the retrieval number and I downloaded the EPC the same night.

The 3rd thing on the list was to complete my sale statement, download the form here http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/doc/salestatement1.doc, again very self explanatory and straight forward.

The 4th thing was to provide evidence of title and as such is made up of 2 parts, the official copies of the individual register and an official copy of the title plan, both of which can be downloaded from the land registry website for £3 each (£6 total) http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/

The 5th thing was to conduct my standard searches, which is made up of 3 parts. 1) a search of the local land charges register, a search of the records of the local authority and 3) details of provision of drainage and water services. The local charges (searches CON29R) completed, this cost £15 from my local borough council however they do not hold records of any highway records and as such couldn’t answer question 2 and 3.2 - 3.6, for this I was referred to Mouchel who work on behalf of Essex County Council who conducted theses searches totalling £26. For the drainage and water searches (CON29DW) I used http://www.geodesys.com/ as they covered my local area (Anglian Water for drainage and Essex and Suffolk Water for supply). To be honest they were'nt that keen in doing this as they normally do HIP packages as a whole, however I talked them round and for £50+VAT they conducted the searches and emailed them to me in 5 working days.

The last thing on my list was to complete the index, which is supposed to be a working document, as you can market the property without completing your searches as long as they are made available within 28 days. As such when they come available you can amend the index. The index can be downloaded from here http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/doc/hipindex1.doc.

And that was that. I emailed all the documents to my Estate agent and he was then able to market the property. I marketed the property without 2 of my searches and updated the index accordingly when they arrived. Now I am not saying that I have done a job as good and as thorough as a search company or estate agent but my HIP cost me 1 week of time (1hr a day at most), some phone calls, a few emails and £150. The estate agent was impressed as in his experience HIPs take 10 working days in the norm, unless you pay the extra and get them for £500 ish and a 48 hr service.

So if you are a true MSE and want to get your HIPs done at a fraction of the cost and more importantly at such a stressful time as selling a house, be in control of the HIP then I would recommend giving it a go.

Good luck

Doozergirl

It's not really a fraction of the cost.

On a five bedroom house, mine ended up costing £230 DIY. It was cheap at the time because HIPs were brand new and I think the prices of them have been driven down now. The next one I will buy from a cheap provider because it really doesn't come in at much more than DIY and I don't have to worry about it.

boots_babe

Certainly found your post interesting to read through. I wouldn't say it is much cheaper though; we did our HIP via an online provider (selected after much research) for £170.

We are due to exchange on Friday, and there were no issues with our HIP so certainly happy with the price paid.

Japtastic

Great work and interesting but again for the saving of £20 it wouldn't be worth it for me. I also got my HIP for £170

Essexdelboy

Well a £170 deal is very good, who did you use? Did it take long? My bungalow was on the market after 1 day of it being valued and as I said you have complete control, i.e. the HIP's is not in a backlog of hundreds with a large company. But I agree, if time and the small cost difference is not an issue then it seems like a perfectly suitable alternative.

However £20 is still £20, I have shopped around to save more I can tell you.

pinkshoes

£20 is almost 7 pints of beer, so don't mock it!!

(although did you add your own time spent onto the cost, as 7 man hours on minimum wage would put the cost over what you could buy a HIP for...)

Essexdelboy

pinkshoes wrote: »

£20 is almost 7 pints of beer, so don't mock it!!

(although did you add your own time spent onto the cost, as 7 man hours on minimum wage would put the cost over what you could buy a HIP for...)

It was done on a purely voluntary basis, ha ha

I suppose my OCD and Control Freaky-ness meant that doing it wasnt an issue

alared

If you can hang on to when the Tories romp home after the next election,they plan to scrap this idiotic, revenue raising law.
But I do admire that you gave it a bash and saved money.

Evee2000

Essexdelboy wrote: »

The 4th thing was to provide evidence of title and as such is made up of 2 parts, the official copies of the individual register and an official copy of the title plan, both of which can be downloaded from the land registry website for £3 each (£6 total) http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/

Unfortunately, you CANNOT download 'Official copies' from the Land Registry website, unless you have an account with them. Please check your documents, as they will have a disclaimer on them, which confirms that they are NOT official 'OC1' copies. If this is what you have used, your HIP is non compliant. You can order an OC1 over the telephone - but you cannot download it. Oh, and the price of these increase as of tomorrow.

Essexdelboy

i have an account luckily

Evee2000

Great! It took me 2 months to get mine! However, for the ordinary man in the street (non search agent/HIP provider like us), they will need to ring up.