HOME INFORMATION PACK

Properties marketed for sale from 14 December 2007 in England and Wales require a Home Information Pack (HIP), which includes a home energy rating. The HIP includes an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), containing advice on how to cut carbon emissions and fuel bills. Also included are documents such as a sale statement, searches and evidence of title.

Noble Hardy Ltd has anticipated this legal requirement and in partnership with local conveyancers and solicitors, their team of certified Surveyors are able to provide the full range of reports.

BACKGROUND

Home Information packs are intended to improve the home buying and selling experience for consumers and to reduce the carbon emissions from homes.

BENEFITS

Reforming the home buying and selling process
Reforming the home buying and selling process to provide consumers with a better deal is long overdue. Home Information Packs, together with reforms to conveyancing, local authority searches and consumer redress, are at the heart of these changes.

Under the Housing Act 2004 homeowners or their selling agents must produce a Home Information Pack when the property is marketed for sale. Home Information packs will create a more transparent and efficient market where costs are shared more fairly between buyer and seller.

The benefits Home Information Packs bring to consumers
The Home Information pack will ensure that important information about a property is available to buyers and sellers early in the home buying and selling process, drawing attention to any problems before they delay the transaction or, possibly, cause it to fail.

WHATS IN A HOME INFORMATION PACK?

A HIP includes documents that are required when homes are bought and sold. Some documents are mandatory and others optional.

The mandatory documents are:

An index (ie: a list of the contents of the HIP)
A sale statement (summarising the terms of sale)
Evidence of title
Standard searches (ie: local authority enquiries and a drainage and water search)
An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)
A copy of the lease (where appropriate)

Optional documents include:

A Home Condition Report (HCR)
Additional leasehold information
Guarantees and warranties
Other searches relevant to the particular area

DO YOU NEED A PACK?

You do not need a Home Information Pack for:

Properties where there is no marketing (e.g. sale to member of your family)
Non-residential properties
Seasonal and holiday accommodation
Mixed sales (e.g. shop with flat)
Right to buy and similar sales
Sales of portfolios of properties
Properties not being sold with completely vacant possession
Unsafe properties and properties to be demolished

FORMAT (ELECTRONIC OR PAPER)

The pack can be held in any format. Where a potential buyer asks the responsible person for a copy of the Pack, this can be an electronic copy if this is acceptable to the buyer. However, if the potential buyer insists of a paper copy, they must be given one (with the exceptions described for estate agents).

A reasonable charge can be made for copying and posting paper copies of the Pack, but the legislation does not allow charging for electronic copies.

WHAT DOES AN ENERGY PERFORMANCE CERTIFICATE LOOK LIKE?

The Energy Performance Certificate is broadly similar to the certificates found on many domestic appliances.

A Certificate for a building gives the building an asset rating based on its energy efficiency, but doesn’t take into account how the home is used by the occupiers. The Certificate will give the building a rating from A to G. An A rating shows it’s very efficient, meaning lower fuel bills, while G is inefficient, meaning higher fuel bills. The Certificate will also show the building’s environmental impact by indicating its carbon-dioxide emissions.