1st June is confirmed as the 'Go Live' date for Home Information Packs (HIPs)

The latest statement from Ruth Kelly, Secretary of State and Yvette Cooper, Housing Minister confirm that HIPs will go ahead on 1st June 2007 as planned.

Government propose amendments to HIPs following dry run feedback

The Government has announced proposed amendments to the regulations for Home Information Packs in a consultation paper issued on 25th January 2007 . The paper clearly sets out the ongoing timetable for HIP implementation as follows:

27th March 2007 – Energy performance of buildings directive regulations laid.
29th March 2007 – HIP regulations laid
19th April 2007 – HIP regulations come into force
1st June 2007 – HIPs 'go live'

The Dry run so far

The Communities and Local Government ( the government department responsible for HIPs) have referred to some statistics from the HIPs baseline survey to support their proposals:

- The average sale took 6 ½ months from marketing to completion with one in four taking in excess of 8 ½ months.
- It takes 81 days from agreed offer to exchange of contracts.
- 23% of buyers that complete a sale have at least one failed transaction.
- 20% of failed transactions are due to survey results and a further 57% to a collapse elsewhere in the chain. Using the assumption that other chain failures result from the same reasons it is assumed that 46% of failures are survey related.

From the dry run the CLG have noted specifically that it is typically the searches and leasehold information that are delaying the prompt completion of the HIP.

Examples quoted show the fastest Local Authority search is completed in less than 8 hours and the longest can take 45 days!

With leasehold information, the landlord has to be identified and contacted, management agent fees have to be determined and paperwork has to be checked, collated and loaded into the HIP.

Findings from the dry run suggest that on average it has taken 10 days for a HIP to be prepared with leasehold adding a further 7 days.

What changes have been proposed?

There will be a transition period during which a property can be marketed on an incomplete HIP. This is where the only outstanding required documents are related to searches and leasehold information. In these cases it must be clear that the information has been commissioned.

The minimum required information for an incomplete HIP will be:

- Index
- Sale Statement
- Evidence of Title
- Energy Performance Certificate
- Evidence that other documents have been commissioned

Properties on the market before 1st June can continue to be marketed until 31st March 2008 instead of the previous declared date of 31st October 2007, this reflect the time it currently takes to complete on a property.

Properties temporarily removed from the market will not need new documents within the HIP within one year of the original marketing date, as opposed to the current requirement after 28 days.

It is also proposed that the fine for not complying with the HIP regulations will increase to £500 per instance for Estate Agents.

To down load an example of a HIP pack please click the image below. Be warned the pack is 146 pages long and 18 Meg File

Request Home Information Pack (Hip) Information