Top 10 Tips for Home Information Packs

Use a reputable Home Information Pack provider

You need to ensure that you are using a Home Information Pack provider that is regulated by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers ( who regulate conveyancing lawyers ) or the Law Society ( who regulate conveyancing solicitors ) as well as being HIP Code compliant.  It is obviously best to use a Home Information Pack provider that is both regulated and HIP Code compliant.

Is the Home Information Pack necessary?

There are certain properties and circumstances in which you will not require a Home Information Pack.  Given the penalties involved in not having a Home Information Pack it is always worth double checking the situation with a conveyancing solicitor or a conveyancing property lawyer as they are experts on the law.  A common exclusion for a Home Information Pack is a situation where you are selling to a friend or family member and you have not marketed the property.

The Cost of a Home Information Pack

You should always be wary about a situation where the cost of providing the Home Information Pack is paid for by the estate agent.  Remember there is no such thing as a free lunch.  You should really be looking to pay no more than £250 for a Home Information Pack but do shop around as there are some Home Information Pack providers, such as Fridaysmove , that do start from as little as £175 plus VAT.

The contents of a Home Information Pack

The Home Information Pack should contain an index, an Energy Performance Certificate, a Property Information Questionnaire, proof of title, Local Authority Searches, Water Search, a sales statement and, where appropriate, a copy of the lease.

First day marketing

It is worth bearing in mind that you will not be able to market the property until most parts of the Home Information Pack are in place.  The main delay on the HIP  will be the Energy Performance Certificate as this requires a surveyor to attend the property, conduct an inspection and then produce the survey results.  The reality is that very few buyers actually take notice of the energy results but nevertheless from a seller’s perspective the sooner you can make the property available for an inspection the better as this does directly affect the speed at which the property can go on the market.

PIQ 

PIQ is an abbreviation for Property Information Questionnaire and is one of the newest elements of the Home Information Pack.  It is a check list to be compiled by the seller with information on such things as parking, history of fire or flood damage.  It is important that the information in the Property Information Questionnaire is accurate as inaccurate information, which is relied upon by the buyer before placing their offer on the property, can result in the buyer suing you for out-of-pocket expenses.

Indemnity Insurance of the Home Information Pack

Ensure that your Home Information Pack provider has indemnity insurance that if any omissions result in a legal claim that you are adequately indemnified.

Keep it all under one roof

Logic dictates that it makes sense to limit the number of parties in the conveyancing process.  It is sensible to ensure that the Home Information Pack provider also carries out the conveyancing of your transaction.  This is because the Home Information Pack contains legal documents which will be required in the conveyancing process.  By ensuring that the Home Information Pack is compiled by your conveyancing lawyer there is much more of a chance of the conveyancing lawyer being familiar with the legal documentation prior to the time that the purchaser is found.  The best conveyancing lawyers will actually identify some of the issues highlighted within the Home Information Pack and in particular the Property Information Questionnaire and start to address them whilst the property is being marketed.  This could dramatically speed up the conveyancing transaction once a buyer is found and greatly reduce the chances of a property aborting, gazundering or gazumping.

The Myth of Exchange Ready HIPs

Don’t believe any Home Information Pack Provider that says that they produce a HIP that will result in the buyer being ready to exchange contracts. No matter what the HIP provide states, you will still need to go through the conveyancing process. Why not challenge the provider offering an “exchange ready HIP“ and ask them if they will refund the cost of the HIP if the conveyancing process does not result in an exchange within 10 days  of an offer being accepted.

Time is off the essence

Check with your Home Information Pack provider how long it will take to get your HIP. If they advice that it will be more than 2 weeks instruct another HIP provider