Home information packs.

Iotrez

Hi all,

Do I have to get a home information pack before I sell my house, or can I wait till I get an offer...i guess that would defeat the object?

Also, I've seen them advertised for between £150 and £270. Are they all the same or do they come in different versions?

Thanks.

keith969

You need one before it can be put on the market by your estate agent.

pie81

And they are all the same ( I think?) EXCEPT that some are much slower to come through than others... if you want to get your house on the market quickly it's worth finding one that will give you a HIP in a few days.

G_M

Do a search on 'HIPs' on the forum - LOTS of info!

Richard_Webster

I'm not sure that anybody is actually much quicker than anyone else, because most of the delays are probably outside the HIP provider's control.

The only area where some can be faster is the time it takes the energy inspector (DEA) to come to the property and for the seller to complete the Property Information Questionnaire (PIQ).

Those are time scales that can vary and to some extent are outside the HIP provider's control. If the seller is never in to receive the energy inspector or forgets to complete and return the PIQ there is going to be a delay in having the HIP market ready.

Once you have a market ready HIP it is then a matter of time before the HIP is completed with the searches in. These will vary from area to area either in the speed with which the Council deals with the search itself or how quickly it will allow access to a private search provider. if the Council is slow then the HIP will take a long time.

So to me it is daft to say that it company A was wonderful because it took 3 days to have a market ready HIP in area X and 5 days to have the complete HIP ready if in fact the seller co-operated and completed the PIQ quickly and allowed the DEA in within a day or so and Council X was very quick.

If Company B took 10 days to make it market ready because the seller didn't complete the PIQ quickly and it was difficult for the DEA to make a mutually convenient appointment, it is hardly Company B's fault. Equally if the complete HIP took 20 working days then it could be that is how slow the Council in question is at dealing with searches.

Yet people seem to be saying things like "Don't use Company B - they are slow" or "Company A was wonderful and fast - use them." Actually the positions could have been reversed with different sellers and different local councils!

not_loaded

I think it's time we stopped repeating ourselves here concerning HIPs, and let people search for the info. It's appallingly easy to find, and people just can't be bothered!