HIPS – No Longer Needed To market Your Property

From May 21st 2010, homes being marketed for sale will no longer require a Home Information Pack or ‘HIP’. This timely government intervention has been positively received by estate agents and homeowners alike, and should further bolster an already recovering housing market.

HIPs were first introduced between May and December 2007 and since then, anyone looking to sell their home had to pay up to £500 to obtain theirs, prior to marketing their property for sale. The idea behind HIPs was that they would contain useful information about a property and so save time when it came to conveyancing. The packs included local authority searches and a 'green' rating in the form of an Energy Performance Certificate or EPC.

However the main problem with them was, they required a large upfront fee that put some people off attempting to sell their property, where they might have tested the water before. This was not good news in a slower housing market.

Peter Bolton King, chief executive of the National Association of Estate Agents, said of the HIP: 'Few house buyers have paid much attention to these pointless packs.” As a result they quickly became viewed by all concerned, as just another piece of annoying government legislation.

In what has been described as “a hallelujah moment” the new government of the day has seen fit to do away with home information packs. Housing Minister Grant Shapps is quoted as saying, “The new Government wanted to waste no time in cutting away pointless red tape that is strangling the market'.

It is estimated that around £1bn pounds was spent on these packs and that some 2.7 million sellers had to pay for one.

One very useful element of the pack remains: the Energy Performance Certificate which rates the energy efficiency of a property. It is part of European law that an EPC be obtained within 28 days of placing your home on the market. Homeowners who do not have one, face a fixed penalty fine of £200.

The certificates, which are valid for 10 years can be arranged through Jonathan Waters Estate Agents. On instruction, we will order this for you and we will even pay the £75 fee – although certain terms and conditions apply. For more information, please call our Ipswich or Clacton office.