HIP help is at hand

It’s more or less common knowledge now that should you wish to market any residential property for sale then you will need a Home Information Pack (HIP).  There are certain exceptions but in most cases, you won’t be able to put your home or residential investment on the market without one. But just how complicated is the process?  Mike Wilson, partner and conveyancing solicitor based in our Lymington office explains all.

Whilst the Government originally proposed that a HIP would include a large range of documents, including a Home Condition Report, in actual fact the current required documents are relatively few.  There are even provisions in place which mean that, for example, on the sale of a leasehold property, the management company information is not required. This is for a very practical reason as it is often extremely difficult to obtain the information from landlords and managing agents within any reasonable timescale.

Nowadays it seems you can’t pick up a newspaper without reading various quotations and comments as to why home information packs have been introduced by the Government and why they think they are a very good idea.  The reality is that the Government has an obligation by virtue of our membership of the European Union, which obliges them to have a means of obtaining energy assessments on the housing stock of this country. Introducing Energy Performance Assessments (EPAs) as part of a HIP is probably the most cost effective way as far as the Government is concerned of achieving this. 

Prior to the arrival of HIPs and during their implementation, there were many opinions as to whether they will be useful and whether they would include many “authorised documents” as well as “required documents”.  The reality, particularly in light of current market conditions, is that HIPs are seen by the public at large as a requirement to market their property but a requirement that they want to obtain as cheaply and as quickly as possible so that marketing of the property can commence.  This attitude is reinforced by the comments of most estate agents - they have rarely, if ever, been asked by a buyer to produce a HIP on a property that they are interested in purchasing. 

Here at Moore Blatch, we have invested in the latest IT technology which means that we can  produce HIPs efficiently and cost effectively and allows us to make these available to estate agents, solicitors and clients by a link to our website, or where required as hard copy documents.

We appreciate that producing a HIP is yet another cost in the moving process so to ensure our clients are able to market their properties as easily and cost-effectively as possible, we do not make any charge for our own time in the preparation and production of the HIP - we simply charge the fees that we incur, which currently stands at £251.14*.

Ordering your HIP from Moore Blatch could not be simpler - you simply pick up the phone and provide us with the necessary property and contact details and we will arrange for the Assessor who will inspect your property for the purposes of the Energy Performance Certificate to contact you, and where convenient to you, probably carry out the inspection within 24 hours of instruction.  In the meantime, once we have commissioned the HIP we can advise your estate agent and marketing can commence immediately.

The way in which we produce HIPs really mirrors the way we carry out property work in general, which is to ensure that the legal work does not stand in the way of you being able to buy or sell your home.

For further information please contact Mike Wilson on 01590 625872.

* Home Information Pack price containing personal searches and assuming you use Moore Blatch for the conveyancing.