Home Information Packs (HIPs)
A property cannot be put on the market or advertised for sale until its owner has prepared a Home Information Pack or HIP. HIPs remove the wasteful and repetitious process of different potential buyers commissioning surveys and searches of the same property. The responsibility has shifted to the seller to provide this information, produced once and then available for all potential buyers.
New Legislation
From April 6 2009, if you are involved in buying or selling a house in England or Wales, there are three key changes to HIPs:
- The removal of the first day marketing exemption. The HIP must now be available to buyers as soon as the property is marketed. Local searches must be included in the HIP within 28 days of the first date of marketing the property
- An end to the use of insurance in personal searches to cover missing data
- The introduction of a new Property Information Questionaire (PIQ), to be completed by the seller. This aims to provide buyers with the answers to common questions about a property before viewings
Documents which must be in place prior to marketing are: Index, Property Information Questionnaire, Energy Performance Certificate, Sales Statement and Evidence of Title.
Property Information Questionnaires (PIQs)
PIQs should be completed by sellers, but estate agents will be reponsible for ensuring that a completed PIQ is in the HIP. Estate agents may wish to encourage sellers to complete these as soon as possible. PIQ is available to download from Business Link. The inclusion of a blank PIQ will not comply with the HIP duties.
There is an updated Guide to Home Information Packs published by Communities and Local Government.
Home Information Pack information:
- A plan of the property
- Local searches and ownership information
- A drainage search
- A detailed visual inspection of a property
- Ownership status information, see sliding scale of charges for freehold, leasehold etc
- A property's energy efficiency through its assessment for an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)
For information on the detailed contents of HIPs, see the answer to our HIPs question.
Home Information Packs are required for all domestic properties being sold in the UK. Midlands HIPs provides a complete HIPs service across all property types.
Scale of charges
The charge for a HIP depends on the status of the property ownership, as this dictates the extent and the complexity of the searches:
Freehold £180.00
Leasehold £218.00
Unregistered freehold £275.00
Unregistered leasehold £314.00
Floor plans for your property £12.50
Please note that an EPC is chargeable in addition to the HIP. For example, a three bedroom freehold house would cost £180.00 + £70.00 for an EPC, total £250.00. Please refer to scale of charges for EPCs.
For more information, contact Midland HIPs today on 0800 612 6208.
