Home Services

Today, Home Information Packs (HIPs) will become mandatory for one and two-bedroom homes.

This final phase of the roll-out means all properties will now require a HIP when they are put on the market.

The Association of Home Information Pack Providers, which has been campaigning to get HIPs rolled out for the benefit of consumers and the environment, believe that this is just the starting point for HIPs and the challenge now is to improve and add to the pack so that HIPs can become “exchange ready” and fulfil their ultimate potential.

Mike Ockenden, director general of AHIPP, said: “We welcome the full roll-out of HIPs today in particular because of the help they give to first-time buyers but this is only the beginning. We are now looking to work with all other industries involved in the home buying and selling process to develop and improve HIPs and their content, so that they can be fully incorporated into the house buying process.

“For HIPs to fully inform potential buyers about properties they are viewing it is vital that Home Condition Report (HCR) is made a mandatory part of the pack and that many of the searches which provide information on flooding, ground movement and contamination are included. By bringing this information back into the pack and certain documents that are required to complete the legal process, HIPs can be made exchange ready. This means that a buyer who has an offer accepted can pass the pack to his or her lawyer who can rely on the contents and move quickly to exchange of contracts.”

It is hoped that exchange ready HIPs will remove delays for the home buying and selling process and reduce the number of failed transactions.

However, Mike Wood, head of conveyancing at Burnetts Solicitors in Carlisle, has seen a continuing lack of interest in HIPs from the public. He said: “There is general apathy of the public at large. Buyers are not interested in HIPs. We have seen cases of properties being sold before the HIP has been obtained. In the long run Energy Performance Certificates will prove to be a good thing but the way things stand at the moment, HIPs don’t seem to benefit anyone – they just seem to be delaying the process and adding more costs to the process.

“The Conservatives have now said that if they came into power they would abolish HIPs which may make things interesting at an election.”

Tags: anc, director general, Environment, flood, Flooding, Lawyer, lt, properties, provide

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