How Can I Get a Home Information Pack?

Buyers

If you are interested in buying a property and wish to see the Home Information Pack relating to it, you need to contact the person marketing the home. This may be the owner or an estate agent acting on behalf of the owner. The seller must provide you with the Home Information Pack within 14 days of you requesting it, although there are certain exemptions to this.

If the seller believes you have insufficient capital to buy the home, you are not genuinely interested in buying it or if the owner does not wish to sell it to you then the owner is quite within their rights to refuse you a pack. If you feel you are being unlawfully discriminated against you should contact the Trading Standards officer at your local authority.

The seller may charge you a small fee for providing you with a copy of the Home Information Pack. This is to cover teh owners costs in copying it and for postage.

Sellers

If you are selling your home on the open market and you live in England or Wales, you are now required by law to provide a Home Information Pack to prospective buyers. There are some exemptions to this but generally a typical residential home will require one. If you think your property may not need one, a solicitor can check this out for you.

Home Information Packs are a government scheme; however the government do not provide the packs. There are several ways in which you can get the necessary documentation put together.

  • If you are marketing your home through an estate agent they can provide this service for you.
  • You can compile the pack yourself.
  • You can hire a solicitor to do it for you.
  • You can use a specialist provider. These can be found in your local phone directory or via the Internet. Many new businesses have started up with the sole purpose of providing the packs.

The cost of compiling a pack will vary. A basic pack will cost around £300 - £400 plus VAT. Optional documents will cost extra, with a Home Condition Report adding an extra £200 at least.

Many pack providers will offer the option of paying for the pack once the sale is completed but this is usually more expensive.

Once the pack has been compiled it is the responsibility of the marketer to store it safely.