What do the HIP mean for me if I am selling
For sellers
How will Home Information Packs affect me?
Homeowners in England and Wales will have to prepare a Home Information Pack before putting their home up for sale as of 1st August 2007.
The Pack will bring together key information needed by buyers and sellers at the very start of the home-buying process.
When marketing begins, the Pack must contain at least the following:
If marketing stops and then starts again, this would normally trigger the need to assemble a new Pack and to update the time-sensitive documents where necessary. However, the seller can carry on using the same Pack without the need to update any of the time-sensitive documents in the following circumstances:
Should the pack include a Home Condition Report?
A Home Condition Report could help you sell your property more quickly if it shows that it is in good condition, or because it highlights any problems straight away for potential buyers, avoiding nasty shocks later in the process.
How much will it cost me?
The cost to sellers of Home Information Packs will vary depending on the supplier. To see what Less2sell are charging please click here.
When you send a Pack to a prospective purchaser, you must not charge for the Pack itself, but you may make a reasonable charge for copying and posting it.
The only new cost in the buying and selling process is that sellers now have to pay for an Energy Performance Certificate, but this is a small fraction of the overall cost of buying and selling a home, and opens up the possibility of lower fuel bills and more energy-efficient homes in the future.
All buyers get the information for free – so the Pack will be of particular benefit to first-time buyers.
You can put one together yourself even if you’re using an estate agent.
If you produce your own, you will need to ensure that you have all of the documents listed in Content of Home Information Packs. Once you have the required list of contents go to our construct your own HIP guideline page.
Contact a solicitor or conveyancer to arrange for the searches and legal documents you need. Alternatively, go to the appropriate local authority or a personal search company for the searches, and to the Land Registry for evidence of title. For the Energy Performance Certificate, you'll need to locate a Domestic Energy Assessor or a Home Inspector. If you also want a Home Condition Report, you'll need to appoint a Home Inspector.
Potential buyers should usually be entitled to a copy of the Pack if they want it and 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:
Some documents are compulsory and others optional – although it’s possible that some of the optional documents will be requested by the buyer’s conveyancer later in the process, so it might save time to get them now. Guidance on how to get different items can be found in our compile your own pack section.
New builds
Sellers of newly built homes will have to provide a Home Information Pack for potential buyers. As most new homes are sold ‘off plan’ before they’re built, there might be differences between the Pack for a new home and one provided for an older home.
For example, depending on what stage of construction has been reached when the property is sold, the title information and searches might not be site specific, and could cover an area wider than the site of the property being sold.
Sellers may also provide a predicted assessment of the energy efficiency of the property: a full Energy Performance Certificate should be provided to the buyer when the home is completed.
Properties where there is no marketing (e.g. sale to member of the family)
Non-residential properties
Seasonal and holiday accommodation
Mixed sales (e.g. shop with flat)
Right to buy sales
Sales of portfolios of properties
Properties not being sold with completely vacant possession
Unsafe properties and properties to be demolished.
The Pack will bring together key information needed by buyers and sellers at the very start of the home-buying process.
When marketing begins, the Pack must contain at least the following:
- An index of contents
- A sale statement
- Evidence of title (for registered properties)
- An Energy Performance Certificate
- Searches and leasehold/commonhold documents (or proof that these have been commissioned).
- Evidence of title (for unregistered properties)
- Searches
- Leasehold/commonhold documents.
Where do I get a Pack?
You will usually need a Home Information Pack if you’re selling a private residential property on the open market, but if you want to check, see As a seller, there are a number of options:- Use an estate agent
- Get a solicitor to do it
- Use a specialist Pack provider
- Do it yourself
- Enlist the help of other businesses, such as financial advisers
- Some supermarkets have also indicated that they might provide Packs.
How long does a Pack last for?
If a property is marketed continuously, there is no duty to update the Home Information Pack; the market decides whether the documents remain acceptable and up to date.If marketing stops and then starts again, this would normally trigger the need to assemble a new Pack and to update the time-sensitive documents where necessary. However, the seller can carry on using the same Pack without the need to update any of the time-sensitive documents in the following circumstances:
- Where marketing stopped because the seller accepted an offer and wants to restart marketing because the sale has fallen through, provided that remarketing starts within one year of the date when marketing first began or, if later, 28 days of the sale falling through.
- Where marketing has stopped for any other reason, the seller may remarket the property with the same Pack provided that remarketing starts within one year of the date when marketing first began or, if later, 28 days of the date on which marketing stopped.
Questions I need to ask
What should I do if searches or leasehold documents are still needed? If any documents are still outstanding towards the end of the 28-day period, you may wish to look into the delay.Should the pack include a Home Condition Report?
A Home Condition Report could help you sell your property more quickly if it shows that it is in good condition, or because it highlights any problems straight away for potential buyers, avoiding nasty shocks later in the process.
How much will it cost me?
The cost to sellers of Home Information Packs will vary depending on the supplier. To see what Less2sell are charging please click here.
When you send a Pack to a prospective purchaser, you must not charge for the Pack itself, but you may make a reasonable charge for copying and posting it.
The only new cost in the buying and selling process is that sellers now have to pay for an Energy Performance Certificate, but this is a small fraction of the overall cost of buying and selling a home, and opens up the possibility of lower fuel bills and more energy-efficient homes in the future.
All buyers get the information for free – so the Pack will be of particular benefit to first-time buyers.
Compiling your own Pack
If you’re marketing a property yourself, you must have a Home Information Pack, and make copies available to potential buyers.You can put one together yourself even if you’re using an estate agent.
If you produce your own, you will need to ensure that you have all of the documents listed in Content of Home Information Packs. Once you have the required list of contents go to our construct your own HIP guideline page.
Contact a solicitor or conveyancer to arrange for the searches and legal documents you need. Alternatively, go to the appropriate local authority or a personal search company for the searches, and to the Land Registry for evidence of title. For the Energy Performance Certificate, you'll need to locate a Domestic Energy Assessor or a Home Inspector. If you also want a Home Condition Report, you'll need to appoint a Home Inspector.
Potential buyers should usually be entitled to a copy of the Pack if they want it and 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.
Some documents are compulsory and others optional – although it’s possible that some of the optional documents will be requested by the buyer’s conveyancer later in the process, so it might save time to get them now. Guidance on how to get different items can be found in our compile your own pack section.
New builds
Sellers of newly built homes will have to provide a Home Information Pack for potential buyers. As most new homes are sold ‘off plan’ before they’re built, there might be differences between the Pack for a new home and one provided for an older home.
For example, depending on what stage of construction has been reached when the property is sold, the title information and searches might not be site specific, and could cover an area wider than the site of the property being sold.
Sellers may also provide a predicted assessment of the energy efficiency of the property: a full Energy Performance Certificate should be provided to the buyer when the home is completed.
Do I need a Pack?
You do not need a Home Information Pack for: