Home Information Packs
Key facts about Home Information Packs when listing your property for sale with Barns Etc
Home Information Packs currently only apply to properties for sale in England and Wales
Unconverted properties are exempt from HIPs
Since the 1st of August, anyone selling a property with four or more bedrooms has been required to commission a Home Information Pack before marketing begins. An Energy Performance Certificate (see below) must be provided before contracts are exchanged, although there is no set time limit on when the rest of the HIP should be provided.
From the 10th of September, the above requirement has been extended to three bedroom properties too and from the 14th of December it will be extended to all residential properties in England and Wales.
From thje 1st of January 2008, a HIP including the EPC must be available to anyone interested in the property from the time it is first placed on the market.
Properties that are genuinely on the market before the above commencement dates (ie the 1st of August for homes with four or more bedrooms) will not need a HIP. This exemption will apply for as long as marketing continues but the Government may appoint a date at which all properties on the market will be subject to the HIP duties, regardless of when they were first marketed.
What is a Home Information Pack?
A Home Information Pack is intended to speed up the buying process. Buyers will be able to make more informed decisions about purchasing a home based on the information in a Home Information Pack.
Home Information Packs can be prepared for you by estate agents, solicitors, HIP providers - and you can prepare a HIP yourself. The seller is responsible for paying for the pack and its contents - depending on where you live, if you pay someone to prepare it for you it will cost in the region of £300 to £1,000.
Once prepared, there is no obligation to update the Pack as long as your property remains on the market.
Some documents can be no be more than three months old when marketing starts and no component of the Pack should be more than 12 months old on the day the property goes on sale.
What does a Home Information Pack need to contain?
A Home Information Pack must contain the following compulsory documents:
Home Information Pack Index
The Index provides a simple checklist of what the Pack contains for sellers, buyers, estate agents and enforcement authorities. Where a document that must be included in the Pack is unavailable, the Index must say so, give the reason it is missing, and indicate what steps are being taken to obtain it. Where documents are added to or removed from the Pack at a later stage, the Index should be revised accordingly.
Energy Performance Certificate
Energy Performance Certificates tell you how energy efficient a home is on a scale of A-G. The most efficient homes - which should have the lowest fuel bills - are in band A. The Certificate also tells you, on a scale of A-G, about the impact the home has on the environment. Better-rated homes should have less impact through carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
The average property in the UK is in bands D-E for both ratings. The Certificate includes recommendations on ways to improve the home's energy efficiency to save you money and help the environment.
An Energy Performance Certificate must be provided by an accredited Energy Assessor.
Please note: If you are marketing a barn conversion that hasn't been completed, you will have to provide a predicted assessment of the energy efficiency of the property, but a full Energy Performance Certificate should be provided to the buyer when the home is completed.
Sale statement
The sale statement should provide some basic information about the property, including:
The name of the seller and the address of the property being sold
Whether the property is freehold, leasehold or commonhold
Whether the property is registered or unregistered
Whether or not the property is being sold with vacant possession
Standard searches
The local land charges register relating to the property being sold. If the search is carried out by the local authority, an official search certificate will be provided. Alternatively a personal search company can be used.
Other records held by the local authority on matters of interest to buyers, such as planning decisions and road building proposals. These are referred to as local enquiries in the Home Information Pack regulations. Again, a local authority or a personal search company can be used.
The provision of drainage and water services to the property. The local water company or a personal search company can be used.
Evidence of title
These documents prove that the seller owns the property and therefore has the right to sell it. Where the property being sold is registered, certain documents that are available on request from the Land Registry must be included in the Pack. These provide an up-to-date official record of who owns the land, and consist of:
Official copies of the individual register (made up of a property register, proprietorship register and, typically, a charges register)
An official copy of the title plan
In the case of the sale of a commonhold interest, official copies of the register and title plan should be produced for both the unit and common parts. The Land Registry has details of additional requirements for sales of commonhold properties.
That completes the compulsory requirements of a Home Information Pack.
You can also include any of the following documents, but they are not required.
Home Condition Report
A Home Condition Report contains information about the physical condition of a property, which sellers, buyers and lenders will be able to rely on legally as an accurate report.
Legal summary
Home Information Packs will contain some complex documents that can be difficult to understand. The optional summary of the legal content of the pack could therefore be very helpful to buyers, although it will not remove the need for buyers to take their own legal advice as well.
Home use / contents forms
Home Use and Home Contents Forms let sellers give buyers information on a range of matters relating to the property.
These include information on boundaries, notices, services, sharing with neighbours, planning permissions and other matters of interest to potential buyers.
It is usual for sellers to declare which fixtures and fittings and other contents of the property are included in the sale, are excluded from the sale, or are subject to negotiation.
Other documents
Sellers could speed up the sale if they include non-standard searches in the Home Information Pack where appropriate.
For example, it's standard practice to obtain a mining search in areas where coal mining has taken place. Sellers in these areas will save time if they provide this search in the Pack.
Other searches cover rights of way, ground stability and actual or potential environmental hazards such as flooding and contaminated land.
Sellers will also want to include guarantees and warranties for work already carried out on their homes.
Who should you give a copy of your Home Information Pack to?
Potential buyers should usually be entitled to a copy of the Pack if they want it and if they are prepared to pay a reasonable fee for the copying costs, but the seller or estate agent can turn down requests without incurring a penalty where it is believed that:
The person could not afford the property in question. The seller might, for example, want to exclude people who cannot demonstrate that they have arranged an 'in principle' mortgage
The person making the request is not really interested in buying the property - for example, a journalist posing as a buyer to gain access to the Pack relating to a celebrity's home
The potential buyer is not a person to whom the seller would wish to sell the property. The current position is that sellers can refuse to sell to a particular person, and do not have to give a reason. It should be emphasised, however, that this does not affect anyone's rights under legislation governing discrimination on the grounds of race, sex or disability.
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