Frequently asked questions about Home Information Packs 

Q. When do HIP regulations 2007 come in to force?

A. The cost of the HIP will vary according to the size and type of property. The basic cost of the HIP for a standard sized property that has been registered at the Land Registry will be less than that for unregistered, leasehold, commonhold, large or unusual properties.

The seller can choose to include extra searches and a Home Condition Report at an additional cost.

Your solicitor will provide you with a no-obligation quote for the total cost of your HIP once they have full details of the property you intend to sell.

Q. What will the HIP consist of?

A. The Home Information Pack (HIP) will consist of ‘required’ documents, i.e. documents that are required by law to be included in the pack, and ‘authorised’ documents, i.e. documents that the regulations allow you to include in the pack. Apart from the ‘required’ and ‘authorised’ documents you must not include any other information or documents in the pack.

The ‘required’ documents consist of:

1. A HIP index.

2. An Energy Performance Certificate and recommendation report, or for recently built properties, an Interim Energy Assessment or for incomplete properties, being bought off plan, a Predicted Energy Assessment.

3. A Sale Statement.

4. A Local Authority Search.

5. A Drainage and Water Search.

6. Evidence of legal title. For properties that have been registered with the Land Registry this will consist of Official Entries of the individual register relating to the property and the filed plan. For unregistered property this will consist of a Certificate of an Official Search of the Index Map and an Epitome of Title (copies of the unregistered legal documents which prove the seller’s title to the property).

7. If the property forms part of a sub-divided property, part of which is sold with vacant possession and part of which is sold subject to a tenancy, a copy of any lease or licence affecting the property.

8. For Leasehold property – a copy of the lease, copies of the most recent management information relating to service charge, insurance and ground rent.

9. For Commonhold property – a copy of the commonhold community statement and copies of the most recent management information relating to commonhold community charges.

The ‘authorised’ documents consist of:

1. A Home Condition Report (a type of mid-range survey carried out by a Home Inspector).

2. The Property Information Form and Fixtures and Fittings Form (or similar forms).

3. Additional conveyancing searches.

4. Any guarantees, receipts, warranties or insurances that relate to the property or its contents.

5. Any plans, photographs or maps which identify the property.

6. Official copy documents relating to the property.

7. Additional leasehold or commonhold documents relating to the property.

8. A legal summary of the HIP documents.

9. Information referred to in the search documents such as planning and building regulations consents, enforcement notices, road and sewer agreements etc.

10. Any other information relating to the property which would be of interest to a prospective purchaser.

Q. Who will be responsible for supplying the HIP?

A. The legal owner of the property is responsible for supplying the HIP. When a property owner appoints an estate agent to act for them then the estate agent becomes responsible for supplying the HIP.

Q. Who is responsible for paying for the HIP?

A. The property owner is responsible for paying for the HIP. Most HIP suppliers will, however, offer a variety of payment methods including deferred payment so that the seller does not have to fund the cost of the HIP before the property is sold. The contract to supply the HIP will be between the seller and the solicitor.

A. The seller or their estate agent can be fined £200 per day for every day that the property is on the market without a compliant HIP.

Q. Where can I buy a HIP?

A. A number of organisations will be offering the HIP including: solicitors, conveyancing firms, estate agents, lenders and private companies.

Q. Why should I buy my HIP from a solicitor rather than my estate agent?

A. A quality HIP that complies with the regulations at all times will give you and your buyer peace of mind.

It is important to ensure that you buy your HIP from a trustworthy and experienced source. Research has shown that buyers and their solicitors are more likely to trust and accept a HIP that has been supplied by a qualified solicitor or property lawyer. Solicitors and property lawyers are best placed to understand the regulations and ensure that the HIP complies with those regulations.

Independence

Buying your HIP from your solicitor rather than an estate agent or mortgage lender will give you the independence to make free choices when choosing your selling agent or mortgage supplier. When you buy a HIP from your solicitor you are free to shop around for the best estate agent and mortgage deals and free to change estate agents if you are unhappy with the service you have received.

As you will be obliged to pay several hundred pounds for the HIP it is important to make sure that the information contained in the HIP is useful to the buyer and their solicitor. Using a solicitor to supply your HIP ensures that the HIP is actually helpful in the conveyancing procedure. Your solicitor will be able to advise you what additional searches would enhance the HIP and what additional information will be needed for the conveyancing. Your HIP should be a useful conveyancing tool that brings clarity to the transaction at an early stage, meaning that your buyer should have less reason to withdraw from the transaction. Once an offer is made and accepted your HIP should ensure that the conveyancing procedure moves more quickly as a result of the information contained in the HIP.

Q. How long will the HIP take to prepare?

A. The early trials have shown that the average is 10 – 14 days although some HIPs are being prepared in just 3 -5 days. It is predicted that there may be delays in obtaining some of the required searches and it has also proved difficult to obtain leasehold information from management companies. The regulations provide that you can put your property on the market  provided you have ordered your HIP. 

It is therefore of vital importance to instruct a solicitor and order your HIP as soon as you decide to sell your property. Do not wait until you have found that dream home to buy, as any delay in getting your property onto the market may cost you your purchase.

Q. What information will my solicitor need from me to prepare the HIP?

A. Your solicitor will need to know:-

• The full address of your property and the post code.
• The full names of all legal owners.
• The details of the sale (i.e. are you selling the whole property or just part).
• Details of any rights or restrictions you wish to impose.
• The name and address of your mortgage lender and your mortgage account number.
• The Land Registry title number of the property.
• Whether the property is being sold with vacant possession. If not, they will need copies of any leases or licenses affecting the property.
• Whether the property is freehold/leasehold or commonhold.
• If the property is leasehold or commonhold the name and address of the landlord and any agents responsible for managing the property.

It will also be helpful if you collate the following documents ready to pass on to your solicitor:

• Any guarantees, warranties or insurances that relate to the property or its contents.
• Any planning or building regulations documents.
• Any notices affecting the property.
• Copies of any listed building notices or consents.
• Any wayleave agreements.
• If the property is leasehold or commonhold copies of the service charge accounts and receipts, the ground rent receipts and the insurance receipts for the past 36 months preceding the date of sale.
• If the property is leasehold or commonhold copies of any notices, letters, rules or regulations received from the landlord or the managing agents.
• A copy of the lease or commonhold community statement if they are in your possession.

The solicitor will ask you to complete a Property Information Form and a Fixtures and Fittings Form (or similar forms) and a sale questionnaire. It is important that you complete these documents fully and accurately as they will form part of the contract eventually.

A. A qualified Home Inspector will visit your home to inspect its energy performance. All Home Inspectors must belong to a certification scheme which is responsible for ensuring that they are ‘fit and proper persons’ qualified to carry out the inspection. It is important to ask for identification and evidence that the inspector belongs to such a scheme. The certification scheme also provides a redress scheme so that if you have any complaints about the inspector, the inspection or the report you can contact them directly. Details of the inspector, the certification scheme and the redress scheme will all appear on the energy report. 

The inspector will use a standard method to assess how energy efficient your home is. They will check whether you have double glazing, adequate loft insulation, cavity wall insulation and whether the hot water pipes and tank are properly lagged. At the end of the inspection the inspector will be able to advise you on ways to make your home more energy efficient.

The inspector will provide you with an Energy Performance Certificate which will give your home an A-G rating for energy efficiency. This rating is similar to the rating that you see on household appliances such as fridges and washing machines. You will also be provided with a recommendation report on how to make your home more efficient.

If you would like to obtain information on how to improve the energy efficiency of your home prior to the inspection visit www.est.co.uk. This is the website for the Energy Saving Trust where you can obtain lots of useful information and arrange for an independent assessment of your home.

Q. Should I include a Home Condition Report in my HIP?

A. The regulations do not oblige you to include a Home Condition Report in your HIP. However, it is thought that home owners who sell their property with the benefit of a Home Condition Report will have an advantage over those who don’t include the report.  Research has shown that buyers like to have this information up front at the early stage of the transaction. It saves everyone the stress of having to wait weeks for a survey only to find that there are problems and the deal collapses.  If you have a Home Condition Report carried out you will be alerted to any problems before you market your property and can choose to rectify them, obtain estimates or adjust the asking price accordingly. The buyer will know the score from the very outset and it will be more difficult for them to try to re-negotiate the price several weeks into the sale. The more information you provide to the buyer at the outset the less likely it is that your sale will fall through later on.

The Home Condition Report and Energy Performance Certificate Register

When a Home Condition Report is carried out it will be stored on a central register. The HCR can then be viewed online and the seller will be given the unique URL and reference number to access the report. The keeper of the register can make the report available to government agencies and other interested parties such as estate agents, buyers, solicitors, lenders etc. but the seller must give his consent. If a third party is in possession of the URL and reference number the keeper of the register is entitled to assume that the third party has the seller’s consent to view the register.

The Energy Performance Certificate will also be stored on the central register and will be available to view by interested third parties. As the EPC is a required document under the HIP Regulations 2007 the seller does not have to give his consent for disclosure of the EPC documents.

Q. Should I include additional searches in my HIP?

A. It is tempting to provide a basic HIP that meets with the regulations to save on costs. However, by including any necessary additional searches you should save time during the conveyancing procedure. If all of the searches are provided in the HIP, and they are still current when the property is sold, then the buyer’s solicitor will not need to make those searches again. Searches can take two to three weeks to obtain and this is time that you would save by providing them.

Q. What happens if my sale falls through or I take the property off the market?

A. If your sale falls through or you decide to take your property off the market, provided you put the property back on the market within one year you will not have to update the HIP. If you put your property back on the market after that one year you will have to pay to update some or all of the HIP documents.

Q. My property was on the market before 1^st August 2007 – do I need to supply a HIP.

A. The regulations provide that if a property was on the market before the 1^st August 2007, provided the property was actively marketed then the seller is exempt from having to provide a HIP. You may continue to market the property without a HIP until 31.12.2007. If you have not sold the property by that date and wish to continue to market after 1 January 2008 you will then need to supply a HIP.

If your property was on the market before 1st August 2007 but you took it off the market because a sale was proceeding and that sale fails to proceed then, provided you return the property to the market within 28 days, this exemption continues to apply.

It is thought however, that many sellers will provide a HIP, even where the regulations do not oblige them to, simply because buyers will choose to buy properties that do have a HIP.