Getting a Hip
Where do you get your Hip and what do you need to know?
Where do you get your Hip and what do you need to know?
Home Information Packs (Hips) are made up of a set of documents providing information about a property for sale.
The scheme finally came into force for four-bedroom homes on 1 August 2007 after being dogged by delays and controversy. Hips have been required for three-bedroomed properties since September 2007, and from December 2007 a Hip is needed to market any property.
The government says Hips will speed up the process of buying a house. But critics say the scheme has been watered down and that there are insufficient trained inspectors to compile them.
Initially, Hips included a mandatory property survey, but this was dropped in 2006 because the government said the industry wasn’t ready.
We think that the Hip in its current, reduced form is disappointing, and of limited value to people buying and selling houses.
A Home Information Pack is expected to cost around £300-£400 for a typical three-bedroomed semi.
As more than 90% of people in England and Wales use an estate agent to sell their property, it’s likely that many sellers will arrange their Hip through an agent.
However, this won’t be your only option: many mortgage lenders, solicitors and conveyancers will be offering Hips alongside specialist providers, and you’ll also have the option to compile your Hip yourself.
Hips from an estate agent in England and Wales have to be backed up by an approved redress scheme. The government has approved three schemes: the Ombudsman for Estate Agents (OEA) scheme, The Surveyors Ombudsman Service run by The Ombudsman Service Ltd (TOSL) for estate agents who are members of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the PACS scheme run by IDRS dispute resolution services.
If you get your Hip elsewhere, make sure you check that there is a redress scheme in place in case something goes wrong.
A Hip is expected to cost between £300 and £400 for a typical three-bedroom semi. This could rise to between £600 and £800 if you top it up with a home condition report (see What's in a Hip?) – although the market will ultimately determine prices.
Apart from the EPC, most of this cost already exists under the present buying and selling process; the key difference is that it will be transferred from the buyer to the seller – a move that will certainly help cash strapped first-timers.
Sellers who get their Hip from an estate agent are also likely to find that, far from having to fork out upfront for a Hip, they’ll pay for it only once the sale is completed.
Purchaser’s Information Packs (Pips) will be introduced in Scotland in 2008. Like Hips, key information about a property and an EPC will be included, but Pips will contain a mandatory survey document, bringing real benefits to consumers in Scotland.
Hips are not considered necessary in Northern Ireland as its housing market does not suffer the same delays and problems experienced in England, Wales and Scotland. However, from January 2008, EPCs will be rolled out in NI in line with an EU directive.
Home Information Packs website The government's official Hips website.
Purchasers' Information Packs Information about plans for Pips on the Scottish Executive website.