Home Information Pack

A Home Information Pack used to be a legal requirement for anyone wishing to market their property. Introduced in August 2007 it was intended that a Home Information Pack would reduce the risk of buyers being surprised by undisclosed information during the buying process.

A Home Information Pack is compiled using a variety of documents, some compulsory and some optional. Compulsory documents that were to be provided within the Home Information Pack included Home Information Pack Index, Property Information Questionnaire, Energy Performance Certificate, sustainability information (for new homes) and sale statements, to name but a few. Optional documents included home condition report, legal summary and home use/contents form, amongst other specialist documents.

The Government envisioned that a Home Information Pack cost approximately £600, though the cost for complex and large properties would have been higher. The government established however that the majority of the documents that were provided in a Home Information Pack would already have to have been provided before Home Information Packs were introduced.

The requirement for a Home Information Pack before the marketing of a property was removed in May 2010, and once legislation has changed, they will be completely abolished. Though Energy Performance Certificates were not scrapped and still remain a legal requirement for anyone wishing to place their property onto the open market.