Home Information Packs: The Facts

chriserenity

I'm posting the following information about Home Information Packs as there seems to be alot of confusion out there about who needs one, what they are etc. If anyone has any questions about HIPs please post them here and I'll try my best to answer them (I am an EPC/HIP provider).
Please be aware some of the information on this site regarding HIPs though it was accurate at the time is now out of date. Please look at forum post dates when relying on information posted here. Particularly watch out for posts before the following crucial dates when changes to HIPs regulations occurred:

18th July 2007 - Home Condition Report changed from a mandatory to a voluntary document (it’s now up to you whether to have one included)

1st June 2007 - HIPs introduction delayed until August 1st.

1st August 2007- HIPs introduced for properties with 4 or more bedrooms.

10th September 2007- HIPs introduced for properties with 3 or more bedrooms.

1st Jan 2008'Drop dead date' for when properties marketed without HIPs before 1st August/10th September will need them is removed temporarily to be redesignated at a later date. Properties CONTINUOUSLY marketed without a hip will not need one even a change of agent occurs as long as there is no 'gap'.

There will be an important change to HIPs on 1st January 2008. Currently, the HIP must only be ordered for property marketing to commence but from this date as a minimum the following HIP documents must be available before property marketing can commence:

• The Index
• The Sale Statement
• The Energy Performance Certificate
• The Registry Information (unless unregistered)

The rest of the HIP documents must be supplied no more than 28 days later.

THIS INFORMATION WAS CORRECT AS OF 11th November 2007

Kind Regards

Chris Lane DipDEA; BScHONS

Mrs_Thrify

Hiya Chris, I am sure I am only the first to ask. But what is involved in a HIP? Just askin as my house has been for sale since July and as you say will not need the £350 expence as long as we do not take it off the market untill sold. My house is band C and I pay £74 per month for duel fuel. Is this the type of info on this new pack?
Another question - should we ever sell !!! and decide on a new home :rolleyes:
Do we need to ask to see the HIP before we put in an offer? Or is the info not avalible to viewers - not that I realy know what is in them.

Is it a booklet or just paper in a plastic wallet type thing?

Thank you for offering to help and put folk in the know.

Romani_Ite_Domum

Thanks for the info.

I was unaware that the 1st January date no longer applied to properties marketed before the HIPs dates.

loveandlight

Posted by chriserenity
Contact me through my profile page. Happy to help

I have checked your profile page. Em, isn't this also known as soliciting for business? The rules on this board don't allow it.

chriserenity

Hi Julie,

A Home Information Pack is basically all the documents buyers normally pay for now but instead the seller pays for it. So at a minimum:

Index - Always good!
Sale statement (basic info like is it being sold with vacant possession)
EPC (explained below)
Registry information from the Land Registry - e.g. what is the boundary of the property
Local Authority and Water Authority searches - mostly for a solicitor

Other documents may be required depending on the situation e.g. if the property is leasehold or if its a new build property sold for the first time.

So HIPs are nothing new except all the documents you need are available right at the start instead of at the end with surprises lurking resulting in the sale falling through.

The only new compulsory document is the Energy Performance Certificate. The EPC gives properties an efficiency score of A-G (like you see on light bulbs and fridges) with A being the best (costs the least to run). The EPC then tells you to what extent you can raise your score by making improvements that save energy/money. The EPC also gives a parallel score in terms of a property's carbon footprint (a current rating and potential rating). The EPC gives an estimate on how much money you will save per year if you were to undertake a given improvement so you can work out if it’s worth doing or not once you found out how much it will cost to do.

Rather than going into too much detail about what sort of info is in the EPC an example can be found here:

http://www.laneenergyassessors.co.uk/epcexplained

If your house has been on sale since July and has been continuously marketed it is true you will not need a HIP.

You should definatly ask to see the HIP if you are thinking of putting in an offer (of course the property may not have one depending on its size and when it was put on the market like your property). The seller or seller's representative has a legal obligation to allow you access to the HIP (but they are entitled to charge a small fee if you want a hard copy). The HIP is intended for the buyer but provided by the seller.

There is a growing site where you can access them for free kind of like rightmove except for HIPs: www.hipview.co.uk or your provider may give you a paper copy. Hard copies tend to be ring bound A4 with front cover and some sort of front and back protection (ours are at least)

Hope this helps

chriserenity

loveandlight wrote: »

I have checked your profile page. Em, isn't this also known as soliciting for business? The rules on this board don't allow it.

Well, I'm not soliciting for business I'm just providing information.

Yes, I am in the HIPs business but I'm here for info only - you'd be surprised what % of my time is taken up taking calls from people confused about EPCs/HIPs etc!

chriserenity

Romani_Ite_Domum wrote: »

Thanks for the info.

I was unaware that the 1st January date no longer applied to properties marketed before the HIPs dates.

Yeah - its not well publicised but they actually pulled it when they announced the phased roll out.

Best info is that they will re-announce the drop dead date probably six/seven weeks after the introduction of one and two bedroom properties into the HIPs scheme but don't quote me on that

mountainchrisriver

chriserenity... think you need to change your signature as loveandlight has suggested... check the site rules... cheers :beer:

chriserenity

mountainchrisriver wrote: »

chriserenity... think you need to change your signature as loveandlight has suggested... check the site rules... cheers :beer:

Understood - have changed it.

Doozergirl

Apologies for making it look like we are bullying you but you musn't include weblinks that might be for personal gain. You are obviously linking to your own website.

No doubt is it possible to gain business from this site but not in an overt manner please!

chriserenity

Yes, I was linking to my own site as it has an example EPC. I don't think any commercial intent was implied. I won't link to my site anymore if this is a problem?

If preferred, an EPC example not my site can be found here: http://www.homeinformationpacks.gov.uk/consumer/17_Energy_Performance_Certificate.html