The Home Information Packs (HIPs) - What you need to know

If you are selling or buying a home from August 1 2007, you must learn all about the Home Information Packs, also known as HIPs. From that day, the government has made it a legal requirement that homes that come to the market for sale must have a set of information relating to the property.

The home information pack is estimated to cost more than £600, and will contain title deeds, local searches and a certificate that will rate the energy efficiency of a house.

The set of information in a pack is what is called the Home Information Pack or HIPs. This will change the way homes or houses are sold in England and Wales for everyone involved in the property market.

HIPs will initially apply to houses offered for sale that have 4 or more bedrooms. The legal requirement to have the Home Information Pack will apply to every home at a later date. However, the government has  recently announced that from September 10, 2007; the home information pack will rollout to houses with 3 bedrooms. 

The content of the Home buyer Information Pack will include an Energy Performance Certificate for the home and other important documents such as the evidence of title, local authority, drainage and water searches and if applicable, the key leasehold documents.

Failure to provide the home buyer information pack may attract heavy fines and penalties for home sellers and their representatives.

There will be specially trained home inspectors and energy assessors regulated by the government to provide the content of the home information packs.

This site contains everything you need to know about the home information packs and how it affects you. Here are some of the information home buyers, sellers and those involved in the property market will find very useful on this site: 

• Contents of the home information packs
• Benefits to home sellers and buyers
• Home information pack providers
• Home information pack training providers