Is a HIP still valid if I take my property off the market ?

Regulation 3(3) of the HIP regulations provides that where a property is taken off the market, and then remarketed within one year, the date of the original first point of marketing is unchanged and the seller will not be under a duty to renew the HIP or any part of it. In other words, HIPs do not have to be renewed if marketing stops and then restarts within a year of first being put on the market. Sellers may wish to renew the HIP documents voluntarily, however, if they are so out of date as to be of little or no use to potential buyers or the buyer’s conveyancing lawyers.

HIP Regulation 3(4) confirms that, unless regulation 3(5) applies, where a property is remarketed more than 12 months after the original first point of marketing, a new first point of marketing is created. That date will be the date on which remarketing starts and the time sensitive contents of the HIP will need to reassessed with this date in mind and renewed if necessary.

HIP Regulation 3(5) provides that if the property is taken off the market because the seller has accepted an offer to buy it, the first point of marketing remains the point at which marketing originally started if the sale does not proceed (eg it has fallen through) and the property is put back on the market. This applies so long as the property is put back on the market within 28 days of the offer, or its acceptance, being withdrawn. The reason for this is to avoid creating a situation where sellers feel obliged to continue marketing once an offer has been accepted (in order to avoid any duty to renew time sensitive documents) and thus risk uncertainty or gazumping. Regulation 3(5) applies whether or not these events occur within 12 months of the property first being marketed.