A Home Information Pack is a set of documents, provided by a seller, which will give a potential buyer key information about the property for sale.
In the past, once a sale had been agreed, solicitors were instructed and they gathered the information needed to agree the contract and complete a sale.
Today, Home Information Packs provide key information at the very start of the home buying process, making transactions more efficient and less likely to fall through between offer and exchange.
What does a HIP contain?
Compulsory documents
The following documents must be included in your HIP:
Home Information Pack Index
Property Information Questionnaire (PIQ),
Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) or Predicted Energy Assessment (PEA)
Sustainability Information (required for newly built homes)
Sale statement
Evidence of title
Standard searches (local authority and drainage and water)
A copy of the lease (leasehold properties)
If the following documents are unavailable when marketing begins, they should be added to the HIP as soon as they are available. These documents must be included within 28 days of the date the property was first placed on the market:
Standard searches (local authority and drainage and water)
A copy of the lease (leasehold properties)
Commonhold documents, where appropriate
Optional documents
Other documents can be included within your HIP, but these are optional. If they are included, it could help to speed up the sale and ensure that the process goes more smoothly. These include:
Home Condition Report
Legal summary
Home use/contents form
Specialist Searches (for example, the seller may choose to include a mining search if the property is in a mining area)
How long does a HIP last for?
While the property is on the market, there is no need to update the HIP. If the sale of your property stops and then starts again, you may have to compile a new HIP and provide up-to-date documents.
However, you can carry on using the same HIP without the need to update any of the documents where:
Marketing stopped because an offer was accepted and the sale has fallen through (but remarketing must start within one year of the date when marketing first began or, if later, within 28 days of the sale falling through)
Marketing has stopped for any other reason and the seller remarkets the property within one year of the date when marketing first began.
The effect of this is that the HIP has a shelf-life of at least 12 months for the seller.
Exceptions to the Home Information Pack
You don’t need a HIP for:
properties where there is no marketing, for example if you are selling to a member of your family
non-residential properties
properties limited by law to use as holiday accommodation or occupation for less than 11 months per year
mixed sales, for example a shop with flat
sales of portfolios of properties, for example selling two properties together
properties not being sold with completely vacant possession, for example with a sitting tenant
unsafe properties and properties due to be demolished
properties sold through the ‘Right to Buy’, ‘Right to Acquire’ and ‘Social HomeBuy’ home ownership schemes
If there is anything else that you need to know about Home Information Packs please don’t hesitate to contact us.
