Home Information Packs explained

A Home Information Pack, or HIP, is something that was touted by the government for many, many years, before finally coming in during the course of 2007.

So what is a Home Information Pack, and what is its purpose?

Well, they are designed to make it quicker to go through the sometimes drawn out process that is bying a house, and also to stop the practice of gazumping whereby you think you have agreed to buy a property only for someone else to offer a higher price before the deal is finally done in the legal sense and therefore have the annoyance of losing out on the property, and possibly losing money in the process.

The Home Information Pack is something that has to be purchased by the person or persons who are selling the property, and the cost is around Ł300, and this must be done before the house is allowed to go up for sale on the market.

The idea is that some of the key information that the buyer will need to know is available for them to see readily in the HIP and therefore that because they don't need to go through the process of finding it out themselves it should add a little transparency to the home buying process and speed it up. In this sense it is good for a buyer, and particularly a first time buyer, as they won't have their own home to prepare a HIP for and therefore save a small amount of money that they would have spent otherwise getting some of the basic information that is covered in the HIP.

Because of the money involved at Ł300, it is also hoped that it will deter most people who are simply interested in finding out what their house is worth, or opportunists hoping for someone to offer them a really high price for their property but who otherwise aren't really serious about moving.

There is also the option to include something called a Home Condition Report in the HIP, which is again useful for buyers as it provides valuable information upfront.

In terms of the future of the Home Information Pack, they have their fans and their critics as is the case with many new entities; it is possible that a non-Labour government might even get rid of them. Overall they do offer some useful information and a little more security to buyers than previously. For details of the actual contents of the HIPs, then read the accompanying article on HIP contents.

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Home Information Packs explained