Home Information Packs
Please note that under the Housing Act 2004 a Home Information Pack is now required for all properties. The packs will need to contain information for the Buyer to view, before an offer is made.
The packs will need to contain:
- Energy Performance Certificate
- A Home Condition Report (HCR) (this is currently optional)
- Sale Statement
- Title Information
- Local Authority search result and Water & Drainage Enquiries
- Additional Search reports
- Any additional relevant information
The Pack can then be updated at the time you wish to sell your property. This will speed up the sale of your property and you will not be able to offer your house for sale without an updated HIP. An Estate Agent must have these documents before offering your home for sale in the future.
The purpose of the HIP is to improve the speed and perceived complexity of the conveyancing process.
Please bear in mind that sellers of properties must provide a Local and Water Search for the HIP. Until the new Regulations came in, these search fees were always paid by a purchaser of a property so, provided you are buying another property and provided a HIP is available for that property, you will not have to pay the search fees on your purchase subject to them being up to date and subject to your mortgage lender accepting them. The only additional fee is for the Energy Performance Certificate which should cost between £95.00 and £135.00.
If the property is Leasehold, it may be necessary for an Official Copy of the Lease to be obtained from the Land Registry if the original Lease has been lost or if it is not held by you or your mortgage lender. This will cost between £10.00 and £25.00.
A Leasehold Management Pack will also be required from your Landlord and most landlords and managing agents will charge a fee for this. The landlord’s fees can vary from £100.00 to £300.00 depending on the company involved and the location of the property.
Taylor Haldane Barlex can prepare the HIP on your behalf so if you are thinking about selling your property and you require information about this and a note of the costs involved, please contact us. In addition to the preparation of the HIP, we can also deal with the conveyancing for the sale of your property and the purchase of another property. Again, we will be very happy to provide you with a Quotation Pack in respect of the legal work involved. Please call the office for an informal chat about this at your convenience. A Quotation can then be emailed and/or posted to you.
Clearly, it is in your best interests to have the same legal firm dealing with the HIP and the conveyancing as all the information will be already available and a contract can be issued as soon as a sale has been agreed.
