Things to know about HIPS before 1st August 2007

If you plan to put a residential property, with four bedrooms or more, up for sale on or after 1st August 2007 in England or Wales you will need to acquire a Home Information Pack (HIP) before your property goes on the market.

If your property has four bedrooms or more and is already on the market on 1st August 2007 you will not need to acquire a HIP to continue marketing your property.

HIPs will be phased in for properties with three bedrooms or more, followed by the rest of the market – exact timings for this have not yet been announced and are dependent on the number of accredited energy assessors who are available to produce the Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) required in HIPs. However, industry experts predict that HIPs will be mandatory for all homes put on the market by the end of the year.

The responsibility for acquiring a HIP rests with the person responsible for marketing the property, usually, the estate agent, developer or auctioneer, or indeed the seller themselves if the property is being sold privately.

The HIP will provide potential buyers with information about the property – the pack will include legal documents, local searches, title deeds and an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) that will rate your homes energy efficiency and contain recommendations to improve the energy efficiency of your home and reduce energy bills.

You can purchase your HIP through an estate agent, solicitor or other pack provider - although your estate agent will probably be your first point of contact and they should be able to offer you advice about the pack and will be able to produce the pack for you or recommend a pack provider.

You do not have to purchase your HIP through your estate agent or their recommend provider.

If you do purchase your HIP through your local estate agent it is likely that you will not have to pay for the HIP until after the sale of your property.

If you decide to switch agents or take your home off the market you will then have to pay the agent for your HIP upfront, although you will then have ownership of the HIP and it can be transferred for use with another agent.

You will have the option of including a voluntary Home Condition Report (HCR) as part of your HIP – this will provide information on the condition of your property and will identify any areas that may impact on the asking price or that could be repaired before the house goes on the market, saving you time further down the line and providing all information on the condition of your property upfront.

The Association of Home Information Pack Providers (AHIPP) has introduced a set of standards for pack providers – the HIP Code.

The HIP Code, which is subscribed to by over 90% of the pack providing industry, sets out minimum standards for subscribers and will ensure stringent regulation and redress for all those who obtain their HIPs through a registered provider.

Consumers are urged to only purchase a pack from a HIP Code compliant provider, enabling them to put total faith in the pack and offering reassurance that they will have a single point of redress should any issues arise.

A list of providers adhering to the Code can be found at: propertycodes.org.uk
If you have a complaint regarding your pack provider, an energy assessor or Home Inspector or the survey they have carried out, in the first instance you are advised to contact you pack provider, if the matter is not resolved then you can contact the Property Codes Compliance Board (PCCB) . Contact details will be available on all packs and on the PCCB website.

The above information is provided by the Association of Home Information Pack Providers (AHIPP).