Home Information Packs - a brief explanation

From 1st August 2007 it has been compulsory for all homeowners in England and Wales with a property of 4 bedrooms or more to order a Home Information Pack before putting their home up for sale and to make a copy of the pack available to any prospective buyer upon request.

From 10th September 2007 this has been extended to 3 bedroom homes and on a phased implementation basis (to be decided on by the government) will over time extend out to all homes.

From 14th December 2007 this will be extended to 1 and 2 bedroom homes.

Under the "old" system most of the information that will be included in the pack is only produced after an offer has been made and accepted so if there are any problems these only come to light several weeks later by which time the parties may have incurred legal and survey fees, search fees etc. This can cause frustration and delay and may result in gazumping or the terms being renegotiated or even the sale falling through altogether.

Home Information Packs will ensure that all of the important information will be provided upfront at the outset. This will create a faster and more efficient home buying system and the main benefit to the seller is that any buyer is much less likely to pull out if they have all of the required information from the very beginning.

What is in the HIPS pack?