Home Information Packs (HIPs)
1st August 2007 saw the introduction of the Home Buyers Information Pack (HIPs) and as from 14th December 2007 they apply to all residential properties that come on the market for sale. An obligatory tool aimed to make the sale and purchase of residential property more transparent, the HIP of the marketed property, will contain specific items of information. Crucial to the successful marketing of your property is the preparation of the pack and at Winterbothams we are preparing packs for our clients at a very competitive price. Because the pack contains legal papers we believe it is sensible and cost effective to ask your Solicitor to prepare it to ensure it contains the correct information.
Q. What is a HIP?
A. It is a Pack containing useful information about a residential property you wish to sell on the open market.
Q. Why has it been introduced?
A. To provide potential buyers with better information at the right time in order to improve the speed and certainty of transactions and to reduce wasted cost.
Q. Does it affect all property?
A. Yes. As from 14th December 2007 it affects all residential properties – both freehold and leasehold.
Q. What is in a HIP?
A. There are mandatory requirements as follows:-
- An index
- An energy performance certificate
- A sale statement
- Evidence of title to the property
- A local search and a water company search
- Leasehold properties have other compulsory requirements.
Q. How long will it take to produce a HIP?
A. By using us, from the date of giving instructions, it should not take more than 5-10 working days to produce most of the components of the HIP. Experience is showing that both the local authority and water company searches are taking longer to be produced but until June 2008 you are able to market your property straight away provided that preparation of your HIP is underway. i.e. the delay which may be experienced in receiving the results of searches should not prevent you or your estate agent from marketing your property for sale.
Q. When can I market my property?
A. The Government acknowledges that obtaining all the required information can take longer than it anticipated so for the first half of 2008, the rules allow a property to be marketed as soon as a pack has been commissioned rather than having to wait for all documents to be available. It must be shown that all reasonable efforts are being made to obtain these documents as soon as possible.
Q. What is an energy performance certificate?
A. The certificate is produced by a Domestic Energy Assessor. This assessor will be appointed as part of the pack service to you. The certificate will allow potential buyers to see the energy efficiency and therefore potential fuel costs of a property and enable buyers to compare with other properties.
Q. What will the HIP cost me?
A. If we produce your HIP, our current price is £295.00 plus VAT .
Q. Why are Winterbothams producing HIPs?
A. We have been offering a comprehensive residential property service for buying and selling property in Gloucestershire and beyond for generations. We are excited about this concept. The pack contains legal documents. It needs to be correctly prepared (there are penalties for including incorrect information in a HIP). We want to help you with your sale as soon as you have made that decision to sell your property. Contact us first – you have nothing to lose and much to gain by doing so.