Home Information Packs Rolled Out to Cover All UK Properties
As of this week all properties in England and Wales will have to provide a Home Information Pack (HIP) to prospective buyers.
The introduction of HIPs will help buyers get an engery rating for the house as well as gain useful advice on how to cut fuel bills and carbon emmissions.
Estimated costs of obtaining the pack will cost homeowners in the region of £300 to £500 and could in some cases be adding on to the sale asking price of the house.
Cristics say they could distort the housing market and lead to a fell in the number of starter homes put up for sale. They added that it will make it harder for people to get on to the property ladder.
Housing Minister Yvette Copppe said “Those buyers with low rated homes will also be able to get grants to help put in things like loft insulation or a new boiler”. She added, “HIPs will also help buyers, especially first time buyers, by giving them important information about their homes they previously had to pay for”.
The pack will include an Energey Performace Certificate (EPC) which will contain advice on how to cut carbon emmissions and fuel bills. It will also include documents such as evidence of title, sale statement and searches.
Reports on Home Information Packs from August 1st
The HIPs for homes with four or more bedrooms was introducted in England and Wales on August 1st and three bedroomed properties on September 10th.
Since the HIPs came into fruition earlier this year it has been reportedthat the packs are already beginning to bring benefits to consumers with average property search costs starting to fall with the new competition from HIPs, and a reduction of £30 in 85 local authorities has taken place.
Hundreds of pounds on energy bills are been saved by consumers and those homeowners who are receiving low green ratings of ‘F’ and ‘G’ (which relate to homes who score poor energy ratings) are especially targeted for support and grants to make improvements to cut their costs and carbon emissions.
HIPs are now taking on average between 7 to 10 days to prepare and drainage and water searches for the majority of properties being delivered within 5 days. EPCs are averaging 2-4 days to produce.
Estate Agents say that with the introduction of HIPs prospective buyers will be helped with straightforward decisions based on facts and would be much less likely to back out of sales due to unforeseen problems.
Sales of houses could go through much quicker without having to wait for separate reports coming back from an array of offices.
