Things to Know About Home Information Packs (HIPs)

Since 14th December 2007, in UK it has been made compulsory for the sellers to produce the documents like home information pack (HIP) in front of the buyer. I must tell you that this is the document which contains all the information related to the house which is put on sale. And now in UK none of the property can be sold without this documentation.

I do feel that you will definitely be eager to know what actually the home information pack is. For this entire let me tell you that a home information pack is the document which contains the complete description of the home. For example there will be the implementation of any energy saving features like double glazed windows then this home information pack will definitely contain the information about it.

I do feel that the implementation of information pack which is now one and half years old has seen lots of good consequences in the recent times. I would definitely say that home information pack is the document which is proving to be one of the major sources of information which the buyers need about the house. However you must know that the home information pack does not contain extra documentation and the information made available can be time dependent too. For example the seller can only provide some of the information at first and then when the buyer agrees with the deal, then the seller can provide more information in the coming future.

The pack must contain the information which must not be more than three months old when the property is first marketed. It must contain the following things:

1.Index
2.Energy performance certificate
3.Sale statement
4.Title document for the properties
5.Local authority and drainage searches

If the property is common hold or lease hold then the documentation must contain:
1.Copy of the lease
2.Building insurance policy
3.Contact details for the land lord or management and any legal details
4.Regulations that apply
5.Recent service charge receipts

The pack may also contain some or all of these authorized documents:
1.Home condition report
2.Two seller questionnaire forms called the home use form and the home content form.
3.Legal summary
4.Other searches such as the mining search

Home condition report

It was earlier though that the report will also contain the home condition report. This was found necessary so that the buyer cannot complain during the later half of the deal. It was really decided to make clear to the sellers that they should provide the complete documentation about the home condition in the report. However this was postponed and nit included in the final decision.

Energy performance certificate

This is really an essential part of the information pack.
Hence I do feel that it is really a nice move by the UK government.