ProSurv Home Inspections - Energy Performance Certificates (EPC), Home Condition Reports (HCR) and Home Information Packs (HIP) - Covering East Sussex

The Home Condition Report contains information about the physical condition of the property on which sellers, buyers and lenders will be able to rely legally as an objective and authoritative report.

Home Condition Reports inform prospective purchasers, helping to reduce the potential for the sale falling through or difficult renegotiations.

Home Condition Reports help sell your property.

Buyers will be more receptive to properties with a HCR.

Home Condition Reports will speed up the process of buying and selling.

Home Information Packs

The requirement to have a Home Information Pack (HIP) has been extended to all homes marketed for sale from 14 December 2007.

Containing information previously obtained by the buyer after an offer has been accepted for the property, the HIP will ensure that the necessary preparation is undertaken to enable the transaction to proceed smoothly. Providing all the information up front, at the time of marketing a property, will make the home buying and selling process more efficient and transparent.

What’s in the HIP?

The Home Information Pack Regulations set out provisions on the “required” and “authorised” content of the Pack. Required documents must be included in the pack where appropriate and authorised documents may be included at the seller’s discretion.

The required documents are:

Index (i.e. a list of the contents of the Pack).
Energy Performance Certificate
Sale statement (summarising terms of sale).
Evidence of title.
Standard searches (i.e. local authority enquiries and a drainage and water search).
Where appropriate, commonhold information (including a copy of the commonhold community statement).
Where appropriate, leasehold information (including a copy of the lease, information on service charges and insurance).
Where appropriate, a New Homes Warranty.
Where appropriate, a report on a home that is not physically complete.

The authorised documents include:

A Home Condition Report*
Legal Summary.
Guarantees and warranties.
Other searches (relevant to the area).
Home Contents Form.

An authorised document means that sellers can use them to top up their Packs voluntarily to include additional material where they judge that to be of interest to prospective buyers. Although voluntary the Government strongly believes that Home Condition Reports will prove valuable to both sellers and buyers, and is working with the industry to ensure that there is active take up.

HIPs take the stress out of moving. Presenting information at the start of a transaction will avoid the problems that late availability of condition information and problematic search results frequently cause. Government figures indicate that, under the pre 2007 system, just under half of all failed transactions were, as a result of problems identified by a condition survey or valuation inspection, after terms have been agreed. This resulted in the purchaser having wasted several hundred pounds, the seller possibly having to remarket their property, and a good deal of unnecessary stress and concern for both parties.

The government estimates around £1million per day is wasted on aborted house sales. Indeed, even when transactions did not fail they were frequently subject to delays whilst renegotiations took place.

ProSurv HIP alliance

ProSurv Home Inspections are able to produce the Energy Performance Certificate and Home Condition Report for inclusion in the HIP.

We can also arrange your complete HIP through established local solicitors.