WHAT IS A HIP?

A Home Information Pack (HIP) contains detailed information about a property and is designed to make the process of buying or selling a home more efficient.

These packs will be compulsory for all homes placed onto the market from June 1st 2007, whilst all of those homes listed before this date will not require one. If a property listed before June 1st 2007 remains unsold by March 31st 2008, then it will need to have an HIP beyond that date. The packs will help towards saving millions of pounds that are wasted each year when house sales fall through.

There was originally an intention that a Home Condition Report (HCR) be included in the report, but the government decided to suspend this, intending to introduce it once the down sized HIP’s have been introduced. The final Regulations of the pack are still under consultation and the final regulations should be published on March 29th 2007. We shall endeavour to refresh this page as soon as new information becomes available. In the meantime, the proposals include the following:

For a transition period (at least until December 2007), a property can be marketed provided a HIP contains: an Energy Performance certificate (EPC), Sale Statement, Title documents, Index Search and evidence from the HIP provider confirming that other “required” documents have been ordered, i.e. searches and leasehold information.

For a transition period until April 2008, personal search companies can use insurance to cover the gaps in information which is provided in a personal search when compared to the information available in an official local authority or water & drainage search.

HIP contents which are “time sensitive” (e.g. Office copies, search reports) need NOT be refreshed where the property is remarketed by the same seller within one year of the original marketing date.

Home Use and Contents Forms are to remain authorised documents.

ENERGY PERFORMANCE CERTIFICATES (EPC’s)

As part of the government’s obligations under the Kyoto Agreement to assess a minimum number of residential units in the UK by a deadline date, or suffer large financial penalties, it was decided that information regarding emissions and insulation in domestic dwellings could be gathered at the time of sale by a suitably qualified Energy Inspector. Only now at the beginning of 2007 has the government specified minimum qualifications so that enough inspectors can be put into place by June 1st 2007. It is proposed that homes be rated, rather like fridges, so that consumers can compare the energy efficiency of different homes. It is likely that these reports will cost £150 - £350 depending upon the size of the property.

HOME CONDITION REPORTS

Although not yet compulsory, many believe that without these forming part of the HIP that the HIP will lack weight and purpose. Sellers should be encouraged to provide these as eventually they will probably be compulsory. The report, which is a brief overview of condition, can be undertaken by a qualified surveyor at the same time as providing an EPC, thus saving costs to the consumer. A report might cost only £150 - £350 more than an EPC and would make a pack more informative.

WHY YOU NEED A HIP?

Although a HIP will be compulsory for houses newly on the market from June 1st 2007, we at Crank Peach & Co will be offering all new clients the opportunity of obtaining one, together with an HCR before the compulsory deadline, if clients so wish. In partnership with several local solicitors, we will be offering a range of legal packs right now and with their involvement from June 1st, all of our clients will be able to obtain from us the necessary pack that will enable their homes to be listed on to the market, faster than any of our competitors. We will also be able to produce through our sister company Crank Peach Energie an EPC for inclusion in the HIP. Many other estate agents are farming out the production of HIP’s and EPC’s to large national HIP providers, and those companies are making possibly wild claims as to how quickly they can produce HIP’s and EPC’s. Should a vendor use one of these larger companies, it will follow that the same company will choose for the client which solicitor will be doing the conveyancing. This will take the control of the sale to a panel solicitor, possibly not known to us locally, thus potentially delaying the transaction.

HOW CAN CRANK PEACH & CO ASSIST YOU?

We will be at the forefront of the latest technology associated with HIP production. We will be offering HIP’s in a reduced format entirely FREE of charge up until June 1st 2007. Thereafter, we have formed an association with several highly regarded local solicitors, to provide packs at competitive rates (following government guidelines) which will include EPC’s provided by our own in house inspector. We will have a better idea of the price of the HIP in the next couple of months and our clients will have the opportunity of paying up front for the pack, or taking an inclusive commission (probably 0.25% higher than our usual base rate) to include the HIP, which Crank Peach & Co will then cover the cost of. We want to be as flexible as we can be to assist consumers come to terms with this new legislation.

PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE

Crank Peach & Co will be happy to supply further information on HIP’s at the time of carrying out our pre market appraisal/valuation, without obligation or charge.