What is in a HIP?

What is in a HIP?

Mike Ockenden (Director General) gives expert video advice on: As a buyer what does a HIP mean to me?; As a seller what does a HIP mean to me?; What are the benefits of the home information pack? and more...

A Home Information Pack contains a number of documents. First of all, there is an index to say what's in it. Secondly, there is an Energy Performance Certificate, and that will come straight after the index, and that tells you about the energy efficiency rating of your house, how much carbon it uses, and so forth. You'll then have a search of the Land Registry, which effectively tells you that the person who's selling the house owns it, where the boundaries are, and so forth. In a HIP you'll also have Local Authority searches, and those are searches around things like Planning Permissions, and whether there's going to be a road put through your back yard, or whether there's any particular information you should know that may impair the value of the house. Those are the documents you have to have in a Home Information Pack. There are other documents you can have, which are what they call authorised; they're voluntary. Those are things like a Home Condition Report, which is a bit like a survey on your house before you sell it, and other searches. One which would be very topical in recent times is flood information, for example. You might want to put in warranties and guarantees that you have on work you've had done in the house, maybe to do with dry-rot, or installing double-glazing - those sorts of issues. There are a number of documents you must have, and other documents you can include, as well, in a Home Information Pack.