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Home Information Pack (or HIP as it is better known) is a set of documents that provide necessary information about a property (in England and Wales) put up in the open market for sale.

Also referred to as the 'Seller's Pack', Home Information Pack is essentially a set of documents that the owner of a property will have to produce if he/she intends to sell the property. The Energy Performance Certificate, Sale Statements, local authority searches, title documents, etc. are some of the most important documents included in an HIP.

Why Do You Need Home Information Packs?

Home Information Packs were originally introduced to check the gazumping, the rampant mismanagement and delay in home buying/selling process. HIP's will make the transactions transparent and speedy.

Until the time that Home Information Packs were not mandatory, the home buying and selling process was full of flaws and uncertainties. Most of the time, buyers were in the dark because of lack of proper information; the sellers, similarly, faced difficulty in arriving at a realistic asking price for the property. Many property deals fell through because of this ambiguity. Researches proved that the estimated loss resulting from such unproductive property-sale attempts added up to some £350 million in a year.

Following the provisions of the Housing Act 2004, property-owners are now obliged to provide an HIP (from August 2007) for advertising a property. This has vastly changed the scenario and there has added to the number of successful transactions. With the ready information, it is no more a trying time for the seller to quote for a property.

The transparency of the entire process, at the same time, satisfies the buyer on all accounts. This leaves no need for any re-negotiations and the whole affair is usually wrapped up quite fast without any ill feelings between the two parties.

What Does A Home Information Pack Include?

Information provided under the HIP's can be divided under two definite heads - required and authorised. The Home Information Pack Index, Energy Performance Certificate, Local Authority and Drainage Searches, Sale Statement/Terms of Sale and the title documents for the property comprise the 'required' or compulsory information.

A person putting up his property for sale must submit these documents containing the 'required' information. Of course, one can only produce those documents that have been issued three months ahead of the date the property is marketed for the first time.

If a property is on leasehold, then the seller will be required to provide some additional information in the form of building insurance policy, contact details for the property owner/management, copy of the lease, legal details, recent service charge receipts and accounts as well as all applicable regulations along with the 'required' Home Information Pack documents.

These apart, the seller may also produce other 'authorised' information contained in documents like the Home Condition Report, Legal Summary & Other Search Reports. (The inclusion of search reports like mining search reports are case specific, depending on the area, etc.) Two sellers questionnaire forms - the Home Use Form and Home Contents Form - can also be included in the HIP.