HIPS

Home Information Packs [HIPS] were introduced on the 1st August 2007.Currently properties with 3 or more bedrooms can only be marketed once a HIP has been commissioned. The scheme will eventually extend to all properties marketed for sale, irrespective of the number of bedrooms it offers, and the HIP will have to be ready before the property can go onto the market. Very simply a HIP is a collection of documents, some of which are mandatory and some which are optional. We would be more than pleased to show potential vendors a sample HIP, and explain its contents, during a valuation appointment. Potential buyers can request to inspect the HIP for any property they are interested in. There are various methods of commissioning a HIP. We strongly recommend that the legal representatives engaged to conduct the conveyance also prepare the HIP if possible. It helps with continuity and keeps the progress of the transaction within one vision, from start to finish. HIPS are having a completely detrimental effect on the natural functioning of the UK property market, although Government propaganda would have you think differently. Electronic conveyancing and internet facilities should be employed rather than the HIP procedure which was outdated even before its implementation. Energy Performance Reports should be carried out on all properties immediately and not as part of the house selling mechanism. Otherwise, it will take years to gather any meaningful national statistics, and advise enough people on how to assist in the battle against climate change. The Government have seriously misread the way that the house selling process needed reforming.We can only hope that common sense will prevail over arrogance, before it’s too late.