Home Informaton Packs (HIPs): what's in them?

From 1 June 2007, anyone who is marketing a property for sale, or representing a vendor, is legally required to have a Home Information Pack, or HIP, and make it available to potential buyers of the property.

Contact Estate Agents for information on HIPs

For buyers, the HIP provides essential information about properties they are considering buying, free of charge.

The home information pack or HIP must include a HIP Index listing the documents contained in the Pack, as well as indicating why any compulsory documents are not included and the steps taken to obtain them. The home information pack or HIP will include an Energy Performance Certificate, which tells you how energy-efficient a home is on a scale of A-G and the impact the home has on the environment. HIPs or home information packs, must contain the sale statement, which provides some basic information about the site, including the name of the seller and address of the property being sold.

Home information packs or HIPs will also include details of tenure and whether the property is registered or unregistered; standard searches, including the local land charges register relating to the property, details of the provision of drainage and water services and other records held by the local authority such as planning decisions; and Evidence of Title, documents proving that the seller owns the property and therefore has the right to sell it; and additional information for leasehold and commonhold sales, where appropriate.

Optional documents include: a Home Condition Report, which contains information about the physical condition of a property and which sellers, buyers and lenders will be able to rely on legally as an accurate report; a summary of the legal content of the pack which, although it may be helpful to buyers, will not remove the need for buyers to take their own legal advice; home use and home contents forms, on which sellers give information on such matters as boundaries, notices, services, sharing with neighbours, planning permissions and other matters of interest to potential buyers; and other documents such as non-standard searches for mining, rights of way, ground stability and actual or potential environmental hazards. Sellers would also be well advised to include in this non-compulsory information any guarantees and warranties for work already carried out on the home.

If certain documents (i.e. searches, evidence of title for unregistered home and leasehold/commonhold information) cannot be obtained in time, sellers can start marketing with a Home Information Pack that includes an index, sale statement, evidence of title and an Energy Performance Certificate only. However, the seller must be able to show that the missing items have been commissioned, and are expected to arrive as soon as practicable - certainly no later than 28 days of the property being put on the market.

Further information and downloadable forms can be found at homeinformationpacks.gov.uk

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