Home Improvement Packs

As of the 21st May 2010 you no longer need to pay out for a Home Improvement Pack (or Home Information Pack) when you are selling your home. This is welcome news to sellers as the packs can cost between £200 and £400 and can increase the time taken to complete on a sale.

HIP's were introduced in the 2007 with the aim of making the sale of a property safer for the buyer by requiring the seller to disclose certain information about the property, including evidence of property ownership and sustainability info (for new properties). The HIP also included the Energy Performance Certificate and this alone remains as a requirement for anyone selling a property.

Good news for both sellers and estate agents, but probably not so good for the thousands of companies that sprang up to supply HIP's to the housing market.

You can find out more info about the suspension of HIP's and what is still required of sellers Here.