Private sales and Home Information Packs

Selling your property without a Home Information Pack

Looking to avoid having to buy a Home Information Pack ?

An interesting recent article in The Times has pointed out that residential property sellers are becoming increasingly innovative when trying to sell their property.

Simon Brooke of The Times comments " While blogs devoted to a single house remain a relative rarity, property websites are multiplying at a prodigious rate, even if the number of houses and flats being sold is close to historic lows. They are also becoming more sophisticated: once little more than shop windows for estate agents, they now offer a wealth of add-on features, many borrowed from the world of Facebook and Twitter. One of them, Mouseprice.com, has even introduced the concept of 'property flirts' — owners can gauge interest before formally putting their house on the market, obviating the need for a Home Information Pack."

But can you avoid the need for a Home Information Pack in this way?

One certainly needs to be careful. The OFT are on the look out for estate agents and members of the public seeking to avoid supplying a Home Information Pack. This is especially pertinent after the Conservative Party came out with the rather sensationalist ( and no doubt inaccurate ) suggestion that 50% of properties do not have a Home Information Pack. The penalties are very high at £200 per day per breach.

Flouting the law

If you are going to try and get round the law then you will have to be exceptionally vague about location of the property ( and even then you are on rocky ground ). One would certainly be unable to show pictures, & may also run the risk of someone disclosing the address on a blog. You need to remember that as soon as it becomes clear that you are marketing the property, a Home Information Pack is required. The best advice is try not be ‘ penny wise pound foolish ‘. The cost of Home Information Packs have come down dramatically. The chances are that any buyer will insist on a Home Information Pack in any event. In the circumstances you are only delaying the cost – and potentially flouting the law.