What are these then?
Crikey Moses where do I start? There's so much to talk about here that perhaps the best way to do it is to put down a series of questions and answers - if you think of anything else that you want to know let me know - Mark Slade


OK so I'll ask again - what are they?
Home Information Packs, or HIPs are exactly what they say on the tin - they are an information pack about your home. If your house was put on the market after 14th December 2007 then you will need a HIP so that potential buyers can have a look at it (until June 2008 you only need to have 'requested' a HIP to put it on the market. From then on you'll need to have the HIP in place before you can market the property). In April 2006 you also need to have a Property Information Questionnaire included in the HIP - a questionnaire filled out by the seller.

What's in a HIP?
I thought you'd never ask. It should include a copy of the title deeds, local authority search and drainage search, and energy performance certificate (EPC). If it's leasehold then it should also include a copy of the lease. Optionally it can also include the property information forms filled out by the seller, and a legal summary of the deeds. When it was first put forward, the rules were going to be that you couldn't market the property until the whole pack was prepared. Then this slipped so that as long as you've had the EPC done and applied for your searches, you could market it - you didn't have to wait until the searches come back. Most recently, as part of the slippage arising from the RICS court action, until the end of the year you are allowed to market the property as soon as you've started the HIP off.

What's in an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) ?
It's basically an energy report on your house. In assessing it they have to take into account the type of boiler, double glazing, insulation, even down to the type of light bulbs that are being used.


Why are they doing it - isn't the previous system OK?
There's two main reasons for this. Firstly the Government has been trying for some years to change the conveyancing system - it's commonly thought to be one of the most inefficient in the world (it's also one of the cheapest though) - they've been looking into doing this for the last 10 years. Secondly, a few years ago the Government signed up to the Kyoto protocol which basically says we've got to reduce our emissions by 2010. Now in order to reduce emissions you've got to measure them first, so that's what the EPC is all about - measuring the energy efficiency of our housing stock. Many people think that on the back of this will come a number of green policies/taxes linked to the energy efficiency of your house - we've seen a few in the budget of March 2007, but I think a lot more will come along once we've got this measurement system in place.


Is it a good thing?
It really depends who you talk to. It involves change, so many people are frightened of that and resist it. Many people also have a vested interest in preserving the status quo, and don't want this to be disturbed. As you go through the objections that most parties have raised however, there aren't many people who actually object to the idea of bringing in some sort of pack - what they all seem to object to is the detail of what is included - everyone's got their own ideas of how it could be done better. My own opinion is that the existing system is flawed, and to produce the information earlier should be a good thing. I felt it was much more useful and interesting when they were going to include a Home Condition Report in the HIP (a Home Condition Report is a survey on the physical state of the property) - with that you could really make up your mind on a property at the very start, instead of finding problems out 8 weeks down the line.


How much will it cost?
Again it depends. The price varies from about £350 up to about £800 depending on where you are in the country, and how many bedrooms your property has. It's worth bearing in mind that part of this cost (the searches) is merely moving from the purchase to the sale - in the previous world you're spending about £250 on searches on your purchase; in a HIPs world you will receive the basic searches already done and paid for, so overall if you're buying and selling it won't make a massive difference.


Can you offer me a HIP?
Yes. Initially get in touch with Matt Slade - he'll be able to take it on from there.


I thought they were going to be scrapped? - a history lesson
As Mark Twain once said "reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated". Originally the HIP was meant to include a Home Condition Report (or HCR) - to be prepared by a Home Inspector. As with any new initiative there were a lot of people moaning about the HIP and saying it was going to be a disaster. A lot of people had a vested interest in sticking to the existing flawed system. Whether that affected their opinions or not I have no idea. Anyway, one of the main arguments against HIPs that was being put forward was that there would not be enough Home Inspectors qualified by the time HIPs were due to start. In order to accommodate this problem, on the 18th July 2006, the Government removed this requirement but said that it would be added in later. However they said that the energy performance part of the report would still have to be prepared - this would be called an Energy Performance Certificate (or EPC - these acronyms just keep on coming don't they), and they would be prepared by a Domestic Energy Assessor (or DEA). This was big news. It also changed the focus of who was going to prepare these reports - previously it was aimed at the surveying world. The new reports did not require such a high level of training and consequently a lot of people started training as a DEA - people who would never have dreamt of going into surveying.
Then, about 10 days before it was due to go live the Royal Institute for Chartered Surveyors started legal action against the government to try and get the launch delayed. The court decided they were not convinced there would be enough Domestic Energy Assessors registered in time, so as a compromise they agreed that the launch would be put back to 1st August, and initially would only apply to properties with 4 or more bedrooms. Smaller properties would be brought on line as and when the required number of Assessors had qualified.
A few weeks later the government brought 3-bedroom properties on-line - with effect from the 10th September if you sold a 3-bedroom property then you needed a HIP
Finally it was expanded to include all properties with effect from the 14th December 2007.


I'm an estate Agent - what can you do for me?
We've developed a national HIP company called hiphomes (www.hiphomes.co.uk) - we will probably have a member in your area who can provide HIP services to your customers - if you get in touch via the hiphomes website then we'll be able to help you.


I'm a Domestic Energy Assessor - have you got any work for me?
Again if you'd like to get in touch via the hiphomes website (www.hiphomes.co.uk) then hopefully we'll be able to put you in touch with someone in your area looking for Energy Performance Certificate capacity