Home Information Packs

The start of August marked the introduction of Home Information Packs (HIP) into the United Kingdom, initially for houses with four or more bedrooms in England & Wales, extending to three-bed houses on September 10, 2007, this will cover over 60% of the housing market. Scotland will introduce their own version of the HIP in 2008. Costing about £400 to compile, a Home Information Pack must include:

• Evidence of title
• Copies of planning, listed building or building regulations consents
• A local search
• Guarantees for any work on the property, and;
• An energy performance certificate

Energy Performance Certificates are created by energy assessors who complete an audit on the property taking into account measures that the owner has implemented to improve the efficiency, such as cavity wall insulation, double glazing and energy saving light bulbs. This data is then fed in most cases to a computer program which then produces a report and rating, displayed like that of energy labels on white goods. The Energy Saving Trust believe following the advice in the EPC report the average household could save £300 per year off their bills.

"Hips and EPCs can help families to save hundreds of pounds off their fuel bills, and cut a million tonnes of carbon a year"
Baroness Andrews, Communities Minister

The introduction of the Home Information Packs has been cited by many as a way to reduce house sales falling through, with the potential buyer receiving in advance basic clear information about the property. They also reduce the need for multiple people compiling the same information on the same property, and the government hopes will empower people to make simple but effective changes to their homes to improve the efficiency. Installing cavity wall insulation and filling your home with LED or energy saving bulbs will only cost a few hundred pounds and can be completed in an afternoon, but could mean the difference between an E or a C grade, and thousands of pounds in fuel costs to prospective buyers. They also ensure the government complies with an EU directive before the 2009 deadline.

"It will give the opportunity for people, for the first time, to understand their energy consumption. It will let them know - possibly for the first time - what level of energy standard a home is currently reaching and could be reaching."
Philip Sellwood, Chief Executive, Energy Saving Trust

My only hope is that they roll out the information packs to smaller properties within a reasonable time scale which suits market conditions, as these properties are most likely per capita producing more emissions than those of larger properties. Also if you are in the property industry, make your packs available electronically and save all that paper.