Home Information Packs (HIPs)

from Chester Energy Assessors

What is a HIP?

HIPs are now required on nearly all properties in England and Wales that are advertised for sale, though there are a few exceptions where a HIP is not needed (see bottom of page). Hips consist of a pack of documents, typically around 55 pages in total; it can be delivered either as a paper copy or, more usually, electronically in PDF format by email or on a CD. Government regulations determine what exactly should be included; there is more background on HIPs on the government HIP website.

Since April 2009 an "interim" HIP (or "mini-HIP") has to be ready in the hands of the estate agent (or with the seller in the case of a private seller) before the property can be marketed. It must have all the required documents present, except for the searches (and also the lease in the case of leasehold properties). These remaining documents are then expected to be added within 28 days. Searches can sometimes take up to 2 or 3 weeks (though we average less than 10 days) so the government agreed that it was unreasonable to delay putting a property on the market whilst waiting for them. The actual documents required depends on whether a property is registered or not, and whether it is freehold or leasehold. The following lists what is required for registered freehold homes. For other types see more on unregistered and leasehold properties.

Documents required for HIPS on registered freehold properties

  • Index
  • Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) or (for newly built homes) a Predicted Energy Assessment (PEA)
  • Sale Statement
  • Land Registry documents providing proof of ownership
  • Standard local authority and drainage and water searches
  • Property Information Questionnaire completed by the seller, asking for information, for example, on boiler servicing and planning permission approvals
  • (For new properties only) a Code for Sustainable Homes Certificate if one exists

What's not included

  • Any information on the state of repair of your home
  • Copies of Planning Permissions or Building Regulations Completion Certificates (though potential purchasers will usually want to see these eventually)
  • Copies of boiler services, though there are questions on this on the Property Information Questionnaire

Are HIPs a waste of money?

This, sadly, is a question that is often asked given that house buying and selling has been going on OK for many years without them. However, it is worth pointing out that around two thirds of the price of a HIP is due to the cost of obtaining the standard local searches and Land Registry documents. Before HIPs arrived, these same documents still had to be bought, but it was paid for by the buyer once an offer had been accepted and was included in the buyers solicitors fees. So HIPs have simply shifted a pre-existing cost from the buyer to the seller. Having the searches and Land Registry documents available has two other advantages: firstly, the time taken from offer to exchange is shortened by the two weeks or so that they take to order; secondly, a problem with the old system was that when sales fell through as they commonly do, the buyers had often already paid for the searches and so had wasted their money.

The remaining part of the cost of a HIP is mostly down to providing the EPC. This is a new cost, but its part of Britain's effort, along with the rest of the developed world, to reduce its fossil fuel usage and carbon dioxide emissions. See more about the EPC.

"Don't feel obliged to get your HIP through your estate agent"

Situations where HIPs are not required

Most sales of residential houses and flats will require a HIP pack. However, in a few cases they are not. The following is a partial list of situations where a HIP is not needed:

  • Where the property is to be sold privately (but an EPC will still be required at exchange)
  • Residential properties that are being sold as part of a complex or unit which are mainly agricultural or commercial, e.g. flat above a shop being sold as one unit
  • Properties that have planning permission to be demolished or are considered unsafe
  • Properties that are being sold as part of a portfolio of properties where it is clear that offers on individual properties will not be accepted
  • Mobile homes
  • Single properties being sold without vacant posession

Email us for prices or more information on HIPs
or telephone 01244-351644