HIPS
Home Information Packs
A Home Information Pack provides information to a buyer about a property which they may wish to purchase. Since April 2009, the principle elements of the pack must be provided by the home seller or the seller's agent before any marketing commences. The pack is intended to improve the home buying and selling process in England & Wales, which is currently perceived as very slow and subject to a 30% failure rate.
The Government intends that by using a HIP, information will be provided up front enabling buyers to make an informed decision early on and avoid delays, uncertainties and unnecessary expense. The aim is that this system will be simple and more efficient.
A HIP remains valid for as long as a property remains for sale and there is no requirement to update any elements of the pack. If a property is taken off the market prior to sale then an existing HIP can only be re-used if it is less than 12 months old from the date of its original creation. The EPC currently has validity for 10 years unless the property has changed ownership.
The pack must contain:
- Index*
- Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)*
- Property Information Questionnaire (PIQ)
- Sale statement*
- Title documents *
- Title plan*
- Local Authority Search
- Drainage & Water Search
- * denotes a requirement before marketing can commence
Additionally, leasehold properties will need to provide:
- A copy of the lease
- Name and address of Landlord & Managing Agents
- Service Charge statements over last 36 months
- Financial requests made by Landlord over last 12 months
- Regulations or rules made under the lease
- Proposed amendments to the lease
- Summary of proposed building works
HIPs are not required when selling the following properties:
- non-residential property;
- mixed commercial and residential property;
- sales of tenanted properties;
- a portfolio of residential properties sold as a single lot
- residential properties which are unsafe or due for demolition
At Bill Tandy and Company we have arranged the provision of HIPs with a nationally recognised HIP supplier and can efficiently organise your HIP, in a timely fashion, to coincide with the commencement of marketing as soon as possible from the day of instruction.
Exchange-Ready HIPs
Moving home is currently a stressful experience because the house buying and selling process is too slow and too uncertain for everyone involved. The 'Exchange-Ready HIP' reduces delays and helps to improve certainty, by getting to exchange of contracts sooner. Currently, the average time from offer agreed to exchange of contracts is 81 days. With the 'Exchange-Ready HIP' this delay could be reduced to less than a week, subject only to the buyer arranging a mortgage and, in the case of leasehold property, obtaining required information from the managing agents.
HIPs have already been shown to reduce some of the time between offer agreed and exchange of contracts because some of the information is collected upfront. The Exchange-Ready HIP will reduce all or most of this time because all or most of the information to prepare the 'contract pack' will have been collected upfront. In addition to the documents in the standard HIP, the 'Exchange-Ready HIP' will contain:
- Contract for sale
- Seller Property Information Form
- Leasehold Property Information Form (where relevant)
- Fixtures & Fittings Form
- Documents referred to in the Register
- Environmental search
- Copies of planning permissions and building regulations consents supplied by the Seller
- Guarantees supplied by the Seller
The contract is prepared for Simply HIP by a firm of solicitors. The Property Information and Contents forms have been drafted by solicitors to meet the needs of most Buyer's solicitors and their clients. The Exchange-Ready HIP also contains a certificate by the same solicitors that “the Exchange-Ready HIP is sufficient to enable a Buyer's Lawyer to either proceed to Exchange of Contracts or raise additional enquiries if they feel they are appropriate”.
The Exchange-Ready HIP will in all sale transactions provide most, and in some cases all, the information which a Seller will need to provide to a Buyer's lawyer before contracts can be exchanged. In some cases, the Exchange-Ready HIP could be used to exchange contracts immediately the offer is accepted in the same way that the successful bidder at the auction becomes the owner of the property from the moment the hammer falls. There might be good reasons why contracts cannot be exchanged immediately, because for example, the lawyer needs to certify the title as good and marketable before the lender will release the mortgage money. Or further searches might be needed if the property is in a mining area or subject to common land. The managing agents for a leasehold flat will still need to provide information about proposed building works and arrears of rent or service charge, after they have been paid. But even when these circumstances apply, a Seller with an Exchange-Ready HIP and a Buyer with a mortgage agreed could still be moving in days and not weeks of the offer being accepted.
To order your HIP please contact your local Bill Tandy and Company Office.
