The Home Information Pack (also known as the HIP) is compulsory for most homes on the market in England and Wales. Important changes were made to HIPs on 6 April 2009. You can now get a HIP for a property as soon as it comes on to the market.
A HIP is a set of documents that provides the buyer with key information on the property and must be provided by the seller or the seller's agent. It is a legal requirement to have a HIP and you can't market your property without one.
The HIP lets buyers see important information about the property at the start of the process, free of charge. This means there is less chance of buyers becoming aware of any surprises at the end of the process. The HIP can help reduce delays and extra expense to the buyer and seller.
The HIP is made up of required (compulsory) and authorised (optional) items.
There shouldn't be any marketing or advertising material in the pack, so make sure it contains official information only.
Listed below are all the compulsory documents that need to be
included.
Compulsory documents
The following documents must be included in your HIP:
Freehold properties
Leasehold properties
Optional documents
Other documents can be included within your HIP, but these are
optional. If they are included, it could help to speed up the sale and
ensure that the process goes more smoothly. These include:
As of 6 April 2009, the HIP must be available on the first day a property is marketed for sale. If you are buying a property, just ask whoever is advertising it for sale for a copy of the Home Information Pack. This is usually an estate agent, but could be another business or individual.
They must give you a copy of the pack free of charge. However, they may make a reasonable charge to cover the costs of copying and posting it.
As of 6 April 2009, the 'responsible person' (in most cases, the
estate agent) must not market your property unless the HIP is
available. You'll need to make arrangements to have a HIP compiled
(including paying for it) along with other preparations for selling
your home. However, if there's a delay in getting certain documents,
like the local searches, these can be added after your house is put on
the market.
You can compile it yourself or you can hire an estate agent, solicitor or HIP provider to do it for you.
The seller is responsible for the cost of a HIP.
There isn't a standard 'look' for a Home Information Pack. However, it must include all of the compulsory ('required') items. Certain important documents must be no more than three months old when the property was first marketed for sale.
Source of this information: www.communities.gov.uk