Home Information Pack.

An Overview

Home Information Packs are launching on 1 June 2007, after this date home owners, or their selling agents, will be required to have a Home Information Pack (HIP) when marketing homes for sale.

A copy of the HIP must be available to prospective buyers on request. The HIP requires estate agents, marketing homes for sale, belong to an approved redress scheme. The Home Information Packs are intended to make the process more efficient, clearer and easier for consumers. This means less risk of transactions collapsing, less wasted expenditure and greater certainty for everyone earlier in the process. Introducing the home information pack is a key part of a package of measures to reform the home buying and selling process.

Home information packs will comprise a collection of documents relevant to the home being sold. It will include a Home Condition Report and will ensure that important information is provided up front at the very start. The Government plan that electronic conveyancing will speed up the conveyancing process thereafter.

Content of Home Information Pack

The Home Information Pack Regulations 2006 set out provisions on the "required" and "authorised" content of the Pack. Required documents must be included in the pack where appropriate and authorised documents may be included at the seller��s discretion. The required documents are:

An index (i.e. a list of the contents of the Pack)
A sale statement (summarising terms of sale)
Evidence of title
Standard searches (i.e. local authority enquiries and a drainage and water search)
An Energy Performance Certificate
Where appropriate, common hold information (including a copy of the common hold community statement)
Where appropriate, leasehold information (including a copy of the lease, information on service charges and insurance)
Where appropriate, a New Homes Warranty
Where appropriate, a report on a home that is not physically complete
A Home Condition Report *

The authorised documents include:

Guarantees and warranties
Other searches

* The Regulations will be amended so that as from 1 June 2007 the Home Condition Report will also become an authorised part of the Pack.

An authorised document means that sellers can use them to top up their Packs voluntarily to include additional material where they judge that to be of interest to prospective buyers. Although the Government has indicated it will make Home Condition Reports voluntary as from 1 June 2007, it strongly believes that these are likely to prove valuable to both sellers and buyers, and is working with the industry to ensure that there is active take up.

For leaseholders the pack will also include:

The lease
Details of the landlord or managing company
Regulations made by the landlord or management company
Details of service charges and recent requests for payments for ground rent and insurance Information about current and planned works

The above information is taken from the official Home Pack Information website, more detailed information can also be found here www.homeinformationpacks.gov.uk

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