Otherwise know as HIPS were introduced by the government in the summer of 2007, compulsory initially for houses with 4+ bedrooms and now including houses with 3+ bedrooms.

It is now necessary to compile the Home Information Pack when you want to put your 3+ bedroom house on the market for sale. It comprises of obtaining initial searches for the house and obtaining an energy efficiency rating for the property. A property can only be listed for sale with evidence the Home Information Pack has been applied for.

The cost is usually £ 300- £ 400 ( plus vat ), this can vary between the provider you choose and the Estate Agency you are listing with. We have access to several providers and have been using  local solicitors Breeze and Wyles who can compile the HIP with prices from £ 279 plus Vat ( if you use their conveyancing services for the sale of the property ) or £ 379 plus vat if using an alternative solicitor.

It is expected that Home Information Packs will be extended to the whole of the market and all properties in from 14th December 2007In all honesty the impact of providing a HIP has not been as controversial as first thought within the industry. It remains to be seen whether the actual process of buying a property will be speeded up and of course there will be probably less properties coming on to the market, thus keeping supply low whilst demand is still high. Will house prices be sustainable in 2008 ? that remains to be seen but personally I think they will remain level for some time yet…….. Rich

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 2nd, 2007 at 1:18 pm and is filed under Sales Market. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.