Home Information Packs have been suspended
The Government has announced the suspension of Home Information Packs with immediate effect from 21 May 2010.
Homes marketed for sale on or after 21 May 2010 will no longer require a Home Information Pack (HIP).
The Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) will be retained. Sellers will still be required to commission, but won't need to have received an EPC before marketing their property.
OFT Report on the Search Market
On 21 September 2005, the Office of Fair Trading published its report on the property search market. The report makes a series of recommendations aimed at improving competition and access to property information, including:
- requiring local authorities to provide access to the information needed to complete a home information pack,
- providing local authorities with clearer guidance on how they should set prices for providing property information,
- agreeing revised targets with local authorities to ensure that this information is made available quickly, and
- allowing local authorities to provide electronic local searches to other third parties, in addition to the NLIS channels.