Home Information Packs (HIP) Now Apply To All Properties

Here’s a quick recap..

1st August 2007: The home information pack will be required and become law for all homeowners with 4 bedroom properties and larger in England & Wales who put their home up for sale from the 1 August 2007.

10th September 2007: Home Information packs will apply to 3-bedroom homes.

14th December 2007: Home Information Packs rolled out to one and two-bedroom properties.

Unfortunately all properties on the market will now be liable to get a Home Information pack (HIP). When the packs were first introduced, estimated costs of £700-£1000 were being circulated. Now they have been reduced to £300-£500. Although that probably won’t deter a homeowner from putting a £500,000 property on the market, it still might affect vendors at the lower end of the market.

For those who can’t even remember why the packs were introduced (the majority of people are still wondering), it’s meant to make the process of buying and selling a home more secure, and reduce the fall through rate. I’m not quite sure how that’s calculated, but the government insists that it’s a proven formula, so I guess it must be. Here’s more on the packs: Home Information Pack- Quick Guide

The eliminated loophole

When the home information packs only applied to 3+ properties, there was an active loophole which allowed a vendor to market thier 3 bedroom property as a 2 bedroom property by simply declaring their 3rd bedroom as an alternative space e.g study. Now that Home Information Packs apply to 1 and 2 bedroooms, that’s that out the window.

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