Home Information Packs - No Drop Dead Date

No fewer than 12 sets of statutory Home Information Pack regulations have implemented since 2006. Some of these regulations repeal earlier ones, and there are different dates when different requirements came into force. The latest changes came into effect on April 6, 2009. Many of these regulations relate to exceptions to the requirement for a Home Information Pack.

At Fridaysmove we are still asked on a weekly basis to advise whether a seller requires a Home Information Pack as their property has been on the market for over a year.
There have always been some specific exceptions to requiring a HIP, even dating back to the introduction of Home Information Pack in the Housing Act 2004 . One original major exception was that a property that was on the market before the relevant commencement dates in 2007 did not need a HIP. The exception is set out in Regulation 33 of the Home Information Pack (Amendment) Regulations 2007 ( i.e. all properties marketed before the deadlines of 1st Aug (4 bed +), Sept 11th (3 beds) and Dec 14th (1/2 beds)). Guidance to Trading Standard officers warns them to look out for sham arrangements where the seller has only nominally kept the property “on the market” since 2007. You will therefore have to be able to prove that your property has continuously been on sale for the whole of the past two years.

The Government initially announced that this dispensation " drop dead date " would be temporary, and that Regulation 33 would be withdrawn once market conditions were favourable

The "drop dead date" is yet to be determined. The intention was to set a date by which all properties would need a pack — a date that was described in official departmental guidance documents as the “drop dead date”. It would be prudent if you are currently marketing your property for sale without a HIP that you make sure this is not seen as detrimental compared to newly listed and equivalent house which will have the HIP pack available.

To make matters really complicated, the Government has only partially carried out this plan. Since last year, the HIP regulations have required all properties on the market to have an energy performance certificate, no matter when they first went on sale. The Government has not said when it will set the “drop dead date” for other elements of the Home Information Pack - and the most recent HIP regulations are completely silent on the issue.