Kent and East Sussex
Kent and East Sussex
Featured Homes
Your Home
£ SAVED
Your Address
STANDARD HIP £281.00 INCLUSIVE OF VAT
Since 14th December 2007 every home put on the market, no matter what size, must have a Home Information Pack. For Sellers providing a pack up front reduces the likelihood of any nasty surprises in the selling process that could delay the sale and the Buyers are provided with essential information about the home they wish to purchase.
HIP Providers
A traditional estate agent will offer a HIP free of charge, which on the face of it seems like a really good deal. The only problem is that if an Estate Agent pays for the HIP he also owns the HIP, consequently if you decide to change Agents you will need a new HIP or you will have to pay for the existing HIP at a higher rate.
A Standard HIP consists of the following compulsory items:
Home Information Pack Index lists the documents contained in the Pack and provides a checklist for sellers, buyers, estate agents and enforcement authorities.
Energy Performance Certificate tells you how energy efficient a home is on a scale
of A-
Sale Statement The address of the property being sold; whether the property is freehold, leasehold or commonhold; whether the property is registered or unregistered; whether or not the property is being sold with vacant possession.
Standard searches These consist of the local land charges register relating to the property being sold. Official search certificate, local enquiries, such as planning decisions, road building proposals, the provision of drainage and water services to the property.
Evidence of title These documents prove that the seller owns the property and therefore
has the right to sell it. These documents comprise an up-
EXCHANGE READY HIP £320.00 INCLUDING VAT
The Exchange Ready Pack is an enhanced Home Information Pack which reduces delays and helps to improve certainty by getting to exchange of contracts sooner.
HIPs have already been shown to reduce some of the time between offer agreed and exchange of contracts because some of the required legal information is collected up front. The Exchange Ready Pack reduces all, or most, of this time because all, or most, of the legal information to prepare a solicitors contract pack' is collected up front.
Currently, the average time from offer agreed to exchange of contracts is just under
12 weeks. With the ' Exchange-
In addition to the documents contained in a standard HIP, the ' Exchange Ready HIP' contains:
- Contract for sale prepared by a solicitor
- Seller Property Information Form
- Leasehold Property Information Form (where relevant)
- Fixtures & Fittings Form
- Documents referred to in the Register
- Environmental search
- Copies of planning permissions and building regulations consents
- Guarantees
- Solicitor certificate confirming the HIP is exchange-
ready
The Exchange Ready Pack also comprises of a draft contract for sale, Property Information & Fixtures and Fittings Forms, Environmental Search, Conveyancer Certificate (which validates the contract), Building/Planning Consents (where applicable), Guarantees and Warrantees, and any documents such as transfers that are referred to within the Title Information. These additional documents enable you to exchange as soon as a purchaser is found subject to their Mortgage offer being received.
PROPERTY INFORMATION QUESTIONNAIRE
NEW PROPERTY QUESTIONNAIRE A HIT WITH HOME SELLERS
A survey of 1,000 home sellers shows:
96% of sellers completed the questionnaire in less than 30 minutes
98% found the questionnaire straightforward or very straightforward to complete
86% believe the information provided in the questionnaire will be useful to buyers
A month to the day since new legislation, requiring vendors to include a completed copy of the new Property Information Questionnaire (PIQ) in their HIP came into effect, a survey of almost 1,000 home sellers reveals that consumers were able to complete the form without delay or difficulty and, further, they recognise the value it adds to the sales process.
Conducted by Simply HIP, one of the largest providers of HIPs in England and Wales, the survey shows that the vast majority of vendors completed the PIQ in less than 30 minutes, with 52% taking less than 10 minutes to finish the form. In addition, not a single seller found the PIQ complicated to complete.
The PIQ gives upfront detailed information about the property on such things as parking arrangements, rights of access, structural alterations carried out to the property and Council Tax banding. A hefty 86% of sellers believe the information provided in the PIQ will prove useful to buyers and 85% say they will ask to see the PIQ when buying their next home.
Ashley King, managing director of Simply HIP, comments: “While many were apprehensive
about the introduction of the new PIQ, it has been received very positively by vendors
and has not caused unnecessary delays to the sales process. Sellers have completed
the user-
“Far from hindering the process, it is encouraging to see that vendors believe the PIQ is a valuable addition to the Home Information Pack, providing buyers with further useful, upfront information about their future home. Having completed the form themselves, a greater number will now be keen to view the HIP for any properties that they are interested in buying.
“With the continued commitment of consumers, we hope to see this promising start maintained and improved upon, enabling the HIP to speed up the home selling process as it was intended to do.”
