1st Call DEA - Create Your Own HIP

1st Call DEA
Home Information Packs

Energy Performance Certificates

How to compile your own HIP pack

Property put on the market before the HIP was required (1st August for 4+ bedrooms, 10th September for 3 bedrooms and 14 December for studio, 1 and 2 bedrooms) wont need a HIP on the 1st January 2008. You will be able to continue marketing your property without a HIP until the government announces that property already on the market will need a HIP. This is called the "drop dead" date in some places.
However, if you take your property off the market, you'll need to get a HIP to place it back on the market.

Creating a pack yourself can reduce the costs but you will need an energy assessor to produce the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). Alternatively you can pay between £400.00 and £800.00 to an agent.

If you require an Energy Performance Certificate please call or mail me. Assessments carried out by a fully qualified DEA.

The best financial option is to simply purchase your own HIP independently. This gives you the freedom to market your property how you want, use any or multiple Estate Agents, and purchase your HIP for the cheapest Price. If you're marketing a property yourself, you must have a Home Information Pack and make copies of it available to potential buyers. However, even if you're using an estate agent, you can still put one together yourself. If you don't like the idea of putting a pack together, 1st Call DEA can arrange one for you, click here.

When do I have to make a Pack available?

The person responsible for marketing a property (this could be you, or in most cases, the estate agent) must have commissioned a Home Information Pack by the time that the property is on the market. As soon as you have received the Energy Performance Certificate (a compulsory part of the Pack), you must produce a Pack and provide potential buyers with a copy of the Pack, or any document from it on request. In most cases, this period is 14 days after the date of the request.

What should the Pack contain?

If you produce your own, you will need to ensure that you have all of the documentation. What's in a Home Information Pack?

What do I need to do?
You'll need to:

Contact a solicitor or conveyancer to arrange for the searches and legal documents you need or go to the appropriate local authority or a personal search company for the searches, and to the Land Registry for evidence of title.
A Domestic Energy Assessor will produce an Energy Performance Certificate for you.

Why you must be careful when instructing an agent to compile your pack. Please note 1st Call DEA will not conduct any of the following.

The worse financial option, is to let your Agent supply the Home Information Pack. BE AWARE!, you MAY be led into one or more of the following traps, the agent may:-

Offer a Free HIP - Then simply raise the commission level to Pay For It.
Offer a Free HIP - But if you leave, they will charge you under the clause 'You will pay any reasonable marketing expenses'. Expect a bill for £500 to £1000.
You will NOT be able to use multiple Estate Agents - You will be tied.
You will NOT be able to sell privately, thus pay £1000s in commission.
The Agent will own the HIP, so you will not be able to transfer it to another Agent. The HIP will have the agents logo and name printed on it.
You pay for the HIP at an inflated cost - Agents make large commission on every HIP they sell.
If you change agent, you will need to pay for another HIP, at another inflated price.