Since October 2008 all properties – residential, commercial and public buildings – need an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) when they are bought, sold, built or rented. The purpose is to inform owners, potential buyers and future tenants about the energy efficiency of a property and any measures needed to improve it.
If you are buying or selling a home you now need a certificate by law. The certificate provides a rating for a building which goes from ‘A’ through to ‘G’, with ‘A’ being the most energy efficient rating and ‘G’ being the least. The average rating for properties in the UK is D rating.
Home Information Packs (HIP)
For any homes being sold in England and Wales the Home Information Pack or HIP as it is commonly abbreviated is compulsory. The Home Information Pack (also known as the HIP) is compulsory for most homes on the market in England and Wales.
The pupose of the Home Information Pack is that it allows a potential purchaser to see critical information about a property for no cost in order that should they move forward with the purchase there are no hidden, unwanted suprises at the end of the processes. The HIP is about increasing the transparency of information between seller and buyer about a specific property. An additional benefit of the HIP system is that it can speed up the conveyance anhd reduce costs for both parties involved.
What is in a Home Information Pack?
The HIP comprises of two sets of documents. Firstly there are those which are compulsory and therefore have to be provided and secondly there is a further set of documents which are voluntary.
Compulsory documents
Freehold properties
- Home Information Pack Index
- the new Property Information Questionnaire (PIQ), from 6 April 2009
- Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) or Predicted Energy Assessment (PEA)
- sustainability information (required for newly built homes)
- sale statement
- evidence of title
- standard searches (local authority and drainage and water)
Leasehold properties
- all the compulsory documents above
- a copy of the lease
Optional documents
- Home Condition Report
- legal summary
- home use/contents form
- other documents like specialist searches (for example, the seller may choose to include a mining search in a mining area)
Who provides the Home Information Pack?
The seller is responsible for either compiling the documents for the HIP themselves or hiring a suitable provider such as a solicitor, estate agents or specialist HIP provider. It is always important to ensure that the company you use to provide your HIP is associated with a governing code of practice such as the HIP Code or the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. You can compile it yourself or you can hire an estate agent, solicitor or HIP provider to do it for you. Always make sure that your HIP provider is signed up to a code of practice, like the HIP Code. For more information on Commercial Energy performance Certification please contact Wilbourn Associates Limited the UK’s leading providers of Energy Performance Certificates.
