Home Information Packs - You must have a Home Information Pack (HIP) if you want to sell your property

If you are selling your house you will have to commission a Home Information Pack (HIP) before you can advertise your house for sale or accept any viewings. The aim is to increase transparency, give buyers more information up front and reduce the number of people pulling out of property chains once the transaction process has begun.

A HIP will include:

• Results of searches
• Information on leases
• Title documents
• An energy efficiency rating

It could take up to 14 days to produce a HIP. During that time the seller will be unable to market the property in any way. It is entirely the seller's responsibility to obtain the HIP and, if the property takes a long time to sell, and the searches or other elements become out of date, the buyer may no longer be able to rely on them. In this case, the seller will have to replace those parts of the Pack.

There are likely to be a variety of 'HIP providers', who can put together the packs for sellers. Before choosing a provider, it's wise to ensure that they are insured, have legal knowledge and are regulated by a national body. An incomplete HIP could cause you delays once the sale has been agreed.

We can prepare a Home Information Pack for you at a very competitive rate. If you instruct us to prepare your HIP you can relax in the knowledge that the same has been prepared by legal professionals with the required knowledge to produce a fully comprehensive and compliant document.

Regulated by SRA, HilliersHRW are well-placed to provide HIPs for our clients and we can also advise on any changes to the legislation at the same time.

Call us today on 01234 858033 or 01438 346000 to find out more.