Home Information Packs (HIPs) were introduced by the government for 4 bedroom+ properties in August 2007. The scheme was then extended to cover three-bedroom homes from September, with all other residential properties requiring a HIP from December 2007 including properties with one, two or no bedrooms. The intended purpose of the packs is to speed up the buying and selling process as well as providing energy performance certificates for each home.
The Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is an energy assessment and rating of a property. The EPC contains graphs similar to those found on new electrical appliances (see image below). It comprises two elements; an Energy Efficiency rating and an Environment Impact (CO2) rating. Both ratings are awarded two values; the first value is for ‘current’ ratings and the second value is for the ‘potential’ rating the property could achieve if it were to be modernised to current building/energy regulations.
At the moment, the marketing of a property can start when the HIP is ordered, but from December 2008 the Government requires that the completed pack is ready before the marketing begins. The ending of this so-called 'First Day Marketing' was postponed from June 2008 by Housing Minister, Caroline Flint, after SPLINTA attracted over 9,500 signatures to an on-line petition on the Number 10 Downing Street website. The SPLINTA (SELLERS PACK LAW IS NOT THE ANSWER) campaign is supported by Caldwells and over 1,900 firms of estate agents, surveyors and solicitor/conveyancers with some 4,000 offices in England and Wales. For more information please visit http://www.splintacampaign.co.uk
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