Home Information Pack (or HIP) explained
What Is the Home Information Pack?
Home
Information Pack (or HIP as it is better known) is a set of documents that
provide necessary information about a property
(in England and Wales) put up in
the open market for sale.
Also referred to as the 'Seller's Pack', Home Information
Pack is essentially a
set of documents that the owner of a property will have to produce if he/she
intends to sell
the property. The Energy Performance Certificate, Sale
Statements, Title documents, Local Authority searches, etc. are
some of the most
important documents included in an HIP.
Why Do You Need Home Information Packs?
Home Information Packs were originally introduced
to check the gazumping, the
rampant mismanagement and delay in home buying/selling process. HIP's will make
the transactions
transparent and speedy.
Until the time that Home Information Packs were not mandatory, the home buying
and selling
process was full of flaws and uncertainties. Most of the time, buyers
were in the dark because of lack of proper information;
the sellers, similarly,
faced difficulty in arriving at a realistic asking price for the property. Many
property deals
fell through because of this ambiguity. Researches proved that the
estimated loss resulting from such unproductive property-sale
attempts added up
to some £350 million in a year.
Following the provisions of the Housing Act 2004, property-owners
are now obliged
to provide an HIP (from August 2007) for advertising a property. This has vastly
changed the scenario
and there has added to the number of successful
transactions. With the ready information, it is no more a trying time
for the
seller to quote for a property.
The transparency of the entire process, at the same time, satisfies the
buyer on
all accounts. This leaves no need for any re-negotiations and the whole affair is
usually wrapped up quite
fast without any ill feelings between the two parties.
What Does A Home Information Pack Include?
Information provided under the HIP's can be
divided under two definite heads -
required and authorised. The Home Information Pack Index, Energy Performance
Certificate,
Sale Statment, Title documents, Local Authority and Drainage
Searches comprise the 'required' or compulsory information.
A
person putting up his property for sale must submit these documents containing
the 'required' information. Of course,
one can only produce those documents that
have been issued three months ahead of the date the property is marketed for
the
first time.
If a property is on leasehold, then the seller will be required to provide some
additional
information in the form of building insurance policy, contact details
for the property owner/management, copy of the lease,
legal details, recent
service charge receipts and accounts as well as all applicable regulations along
with the 'required'
Home Information Pack documents.
These apart, the seller may also produce other 'authorised' information contained
in documents like the Home Condition Report, Legal Summary & Other Search
Reports. (The inclusion of search reports
like mining search reports are case
specific, depending on the area, etc.) Two sellers questionnaire forms - the Home
Use Form and Home Contents Form - can also be included in the HIP.
