The Home Information Pack
The government has introduced a new law designed to speed up the home buying process to approximately six weeks, with the hopes of reducing gazumping. The vendor will be required to produce a 'home information pack' (also known as a 'sellers' pack' or HIP) before putting a property on the market.
From 1 August 2007, every home that was put on the market with four or more bedrooms was required to have a Home Information Pack, with the packs gradually phased in to include all houses - for example, homes with 3 or more bedrooms were required to obtain a pack from 10 September 2007.
What in the Pack?
The pack includes a number of mandatory documents:
- Energy Performance Certificate, containing advice on how to cut carbon emissions and fuel bills
- Sale statement
- Standard searches
- Evidence of title
- Information for leasehold and commonhold sales (where appropriate)
The pack may also contain number of optional documents. These include:
- Home Condition Report (containing information about the physical condition of a property)
- Legal summary of the pack's content
- Home use/contents forms (information on boundaries, services, planning permissions, included fixtures and fittings and other matters of interest to potential buyer)
- Other documents, such as non-standard searches
What You Need to Do
The person responsible for marketing a property (usually the estate agent) must have commissioned a Home Information Pack by the time that the property is on the market. A domestic energy assessor and/or home inspector will inspect your property and issue an Energy Performance Certificate (compulsory) and an optional Home Condition Report. As soon as you have received the Energy Performance Certificate, you must provide potential buyers with a copy of the Pack, or any document from it on request.
Do remember that when selling a house there are certain things that you must disclose by law. You must disclose any history of flooding, and any problems that aren't apparent, such as a long-running dispute with a neighbour. If you've made any changes without obtaining planning permission, you must also inform a potential buyer, although a survey would bring to light any illegal alterations.
