A house key being held between thumb and index finger

HIPs: Home Information Packs HIP Replacement: Latest Updates

Email this page

Contents:

Date Published:
27/05/2008

4Homes Essentials
Property Search
UK Region Ratings

A Home Information Pack

Home Information Packs (HIPs) now apply to all homes in England and Wales. That means, if your home went on the market after 1 August 2007, you will need to prepare an information pack for its sale. But what exactly are HIPs and how do they affect both us and the housing market?


HIPs: The Basics

What is in a HIP?

The packs include:

  • terms of sale
  • evidence of title
  • replies to standard preliminary enquiries made on behalf of buyers
  • copies of planning, listed building and building regulation consents
  • copies of warranties and guarantees for new properties
  • any other guarantess for work carried out
  • reaplies to local searches
  • a home condition report (voluntary)
  • an energy efficiency assessment (EPC), which will be produced by an accredited Domestic Energy Assessor (DEA). This sets out on a scale from A (best) to G (worst) the impact a property may have on the environment as well as recommendations for making cost-effective energy savings.

What is a home condition report?

The home condition report is an objective report on the condition of the property that can be relied upon by buyer, seller and lender. It covers matters of importance to a buyer - the general condition of the property, taking account its age, location and character; how energy efficient it is; and any defects or other matters requiring attention. The report needs to be produced by a qualified home inspector.

Is it like a survey?

The home condition report is similar to a homebuyer's survey and valuation, although without the valuation element. However, we would always recommend a building survey, too, and particularly for older properties, listed buildings and properties that have been constructed in an unusual way or have had extensive alterations.

Check out the mortgage calculator, loans, credit cards & savings comparison tools

Your Comments

Post your comment

Please note: In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in to Channel 4:

Sign In Here or Register Here

Comments closed

Comments are closed at the present time

Your comments

Post your comment
By posting on this website you are agreeing to abide by our Comments Policy.
Mandatory Fields are marked with *
Your Comment (Maximum characters: 4000) *
You have

Comments

Thank you for your comment!

Your message will be reviewed and the best ones will be published below.

If you intended to make an official comment to Channel 4 please contact us.

Comments

  1. The HIPS is of interest. If the property has had improvements e.g. conservatory(s) in the past and no planning / building approval obtained does this become a problem?
    Posted by vernon steel on 05/11/2009 10:23:45
    Offensive? Unsuitable? Report this comment
  2. HIP's , or PIP's in Scotland ?: What a complete con , just another way for surveyors and agents to screw a few more quid out of us. I just paid ?800 for one off these reports , and it is misleading and incorrect about my house.The EPC is ?2500 quid wrong on costs. It has no room for older houses without modern insulation or cavities , if you have just one room without insulation , the report will say the whole house has none. Useful only to line my cats litter tray.
    Posted by Islander on 20/08/2009 11:54:54
    Offensive? Unsuitable? Report this comment

Advertisement

More on 4Homes

4Homes Property Search

Over 300,000 properties to search, interactive maps, neighbourhood reports and more...

 

e.g. Notting Hill, SW3, Glasgow

Powered by: Nestoria

Rate Your Region

Mortgage Calculator & Money Tool

Win A Home Visit From Sarah Beeny

House Prices

Fun & Games

Beating The Credit Crunch

Advertisement


4Homes

Skip Channel4 main Navigation
Explore Channel4
Food
Homes
Film
4Car
News
See All

Channel 4 © 2009. Channel 4 is not responsible for the content of external websites.