Home Information Packs
Home Information Packs became compulsory for all homes on 14 December 2007
Since 14 December 2007 it became illegal to advertise a house or flat for sale without first commissioning a Home Information Pack (HIP). A key component of the HIP is the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), which will rate the home’s energy efficiency, using graphs such as seen on fridges and washing machines. A Seller also must produce a copy of the lease if the property is leasehold.
Why have HIPs been introduced?
The government has introduced HIPs in an attempt to speed up the home buying and selling process by providing all the necessary legal documents at the start of the process when a property is placed on the market. HIPs were phased in from August and initially applied only to properties with four bedrooms or more but have now been extended to cover all residential properties.
What does a HIP contain?
The required documents that must be included in each HIP are:
· An index (i.e a list of the contents of the Pack)
· An Energy Performance Certificate
· A sale statement (summarising the terms of the sale)
· Evidence of title
· Standard searches (i.e local authority enquiries and a drainage and water search)
· Where appropriate, commonhold information (including a copy of the commonhold community statement)
· Where appropriate, leasehold information (including a copy of the lease)
· Where appropriate, a New Homes Warranty or a report on a home that is not physically complete.
Other authorised documents can also be included, such as a Home Condition Report, guarantees and warranties or other searches.
Why should you choose Gosschalks to provide your HIP?
In the lead up to the introduction of HIP’s we made the decision to meet this new challenge and develop our own bespoke system thus enabling us to produce HIP’s for our clients.
Our system has been developed entirely in house to enable clients’ needs to be met and to ensure the legislation is complied with. This has given us a great deal of flexibility and has allowed us to provide clients with a HIP quickly and at a competitive price.
HIPs contain a large amount of complex, legal information and solicitors are best placed to prepare and interpret these packs. At Gosschalks, we can offer HIPs created in house. We’re confident that our HIP is the right solution for your next sale and offers the following benefits:
· Guaranteed compliant with HIP legislation
· Flexible, allowing inclusion of additional authorised items to assist you in marketing your property
· Gosschalks branding offers the buyer’s solicitors further reassurance
· Seamlessly links into the conveyancing process
· Competitively priced
Estate Agents will often recommend a solicitor to act upon the sale of your property when taking instructions to market. Many of these agents will obtain a fee for this referral. By obtaining both your HIP and legal advice from Gosschalks you can be sure that you are selecting a legal team of your own choice, without paying extra for the privilege! We can then use our local knowledge and experience to help you select a suitable Estate Agent to market your property.
For existing clients of the firm we would be happy to apply a 10% discount off our fee to any future HIP’s you may require on the basis that we are also instructed to act upon the sale of your property. We hope that this will add further value to our relationship as the legal supplier of your choice.