Homeownersales was formed in 2000 to address the then new concept of a sellers pack. The introduction of the Home Information Pack in August of 2007 has enabled us to comply with the Government’s legislation by providing EPC’s by our qualified team of home inspectors, whilst giving the added bonus of offering a for sale by owner service.

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This Government has introduced two new abbreviated words into our lives if we are thinking of selling our home, HIPs and EPCs. How many of us know what they stand for, and what is their purpose.
The HIP or Home Information Pack is a folder containing a number of documents which have always been required in the conveyancing process, but now are required 
earlier than at exchange of contracts.

Why do we need a HIP. This government is pledged to speed up the house buying process, which is one of the longest in Europe, and probably anywhere.
The main reason is that you can make an offer on a property without having the ready cash, and most offers are subject the purchaser selling their own home. Add to that, in order to exchange contracts you need a whole range of documents, and if there is a hold up in obtaining these, more time wasting.
So it does make sense to have the vital documents on the table when someone makes an offer, less chance of a purchaser pulling out later on when they discover a problem.

So, what’s in a HIP
The compulsory documents include:
(1) A Home Information Pack Index, listing the documents contained in the Pack.
(2) Sale statement, The sale statement should provide some basic information about the property.
(3) Standard searches ( i.e. local authority enquiries and a drainage and water search ).
(4) Evidence of title: An official copy of the individual register and an official copy of the title plan.
(5) The only new document required, an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). This provides an A-G rating on the energy efficiency of a home, plus advice on how to make energy savings. This certificate can only be prepared by a qualified and accredited Domestic Energy Assessor.

The above has to be compiled by everyone selling a property, and in addition to this the following has to also be done where appropriate.

(1) Commonhold information such as name of managing agents, regulations and rules etc.
(2) Leasehold information such as a copy of the lease, regulations and rules etc.

The following documents are optional but need to be completed for exchange of contracts

(1) Home use/ contents form, formally the sellers information form and fixtures and fittings.
(2) Guarantees and warranties for work already carried out on their property.
(3) Planning permissions for extensions etc.

The legal requirement from the 14th December is that all homeowners selling a property in England and Wales must order a HIP and an EPC at the point of marketing. 

How do you go about this.
You can either:
· Create a pack yourself, which will cost around £250 once you have paid for the searches and the EPC.
· Pay £400 to £800 to a ‘HIP Provider’ to create the pack for you.
· Allow an estate agent to supply the pack but beware:
· He may offer a FREE HIP – but then simply raise the commission level to pay for it.
· The agent will own the HIP, so you will not be able to transfer to another agent, instruct multiple agents, sell privately, and if you want to leave you will have to pay any reasonable marketing expenses, anything from £500 to £1000.
· The fourth and possibly the most cost effective is to instruct your solicitor to put together the HIP, and either they or you can organise the EPC. Your solicitor will have to provide the other documents listed as optional, so why not use them to do the whole job. You are then free to sell to whoever offers the best price. [back to top]

What is an EPC
An energy performance certificate is produced by inputting data collected by the energy assessor into software called RDSAP, which will then deliver a rating of between 0 and 100. 0 is the lowest and the national average is 39. At the same time a CO2 impact rating is produced and both ratings will be given a potential improvement figure, if certain measures are carried out.

THE MAIN AREAS OF IMPORTANCE FOR RDSAP ARE:

1. Boiler/fuel and hot water supply. 
2. Heating controls.
3. Roof (insulation)
4. Wall construction (insulation)
5. Windows (double glazing)
6. Lighting (low energy)

Some recommendations are useful, and can be carried out the assistance of grants for a relatively small amount of money. The DEA will go through the EPC with you to explain the ratings, and if necessary point you in the right direction if you want to carry out any of the recommendations.                                                [back to top]

The energy efficiency rating is a measure of the overall efficiency of a home. The higher the rating the more energy efficient the home is and the lower the fuel bills will be The environmental impact rating is a measure of a home’s impact on the environment in terms of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions. The higher the rating the less impact it has on the environment.