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Hip facts to know before August 1st

Monday, 30 July 2007 12:00 AM

Please note this is archive material. Home Information Packs - or HIPs - were suspended on 21 May, 2010.

Home information packs for all properties for sale may have been pulled from the housing market at the last minute in May of this year, but they are set to be compulsory in just a few days time.

With this in mind the Association of Home Information Pack Providers (Ahipp) has put together its top facts for people selling their home after August 1st 2007.

What you need to know about Hips before August 1st 2007:

  • You need have commissioned a home information pack before you put your home on the market if you live in England or Wales and the property has four bedrooms or more
  • However, you do not need a Hip if your property with four or more bedrooms is already on the market on August 1st
  • When Hips will become compulsory for properties with less than four bedrooms is unknown, though it is set to be phased in by the end of the year. This is because of there not being enough qualified energy assessors available for Hips to be rolled out to all properties
  • The responsibility for acquiring a Hip rests with the person responsible for marketing the property, usually, the estate agent, developer or auctioneer, or indeed the seller themselves if the property is being sold privately
  • As before, the Hip will provide potential buyers with information about the property - the pack will include legal documents, local searches, title deeds and an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) that will rate your home's energy efficiency and contain recommendations to improve the energy efficiency of your home and reduce energy bills
  • You can purchase your Hip through an estate agent, solicitor or other pack provider - although your estate agent will probably be your first point of contact and they should be able to offer you advice about the pack and will be able to produce it for you or recommend a pack provider
  • You do not have to purchase your Hip through your estate agent or their recommend provider
  • If you do purchase your Hip through your local estate agent it is likely that you will not have to pay for the Hip until after the sale of your property
  • If you decide to switch agents or take your home off the market you will then have to pay the agent for your Hip upfront, although you will then have ownership of the Hip and be able to transfer it for use with another agent
  • You will have the option of including a voluntary Home Condition Report (HCR) as part of your Hip - this will provide information on the condition of your property and will identify any areas that may impact on the asking price or that could be repaired before the house goes on the market, saving you time further down the line and providing all information on the condition of your property upfront
  • The Association of Home Information Pack Providers (AHIPP) has introduced a set of standards Hips - the Hip Code - subscribed to by around 90 per cent of pack providers. This ensures stringent regulation and redress for all those who obtain their Hips through a registered provider
  • You are urged to only buy a pack from a provider signed up to the Hip Code. A list of providers signed up to the code and who to contact if you have a complaint can be found at www.propertycodes.org.uk

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