if you are buying

If you are buying, your seller will hand you a HIP right at the start of the transaction.

Or not!

Preparing the HIP has to be started before the property goes on the market, but it does not have to be completed.

If your seller does hand you a completed HIP, that doesn’t mean that you can sign the contract straight away. For a start, a draft contract is not part of the HIP.

There are other reasons too:

• You’ll still need one key document that isn’t in the HIP: the survey
• You’ll still need other documents that aren’t in the HIP, including:
  • Copies of planning and building regulations consents
  • Guarantees
  • Fixtures and fittings lists
  • Copies of documents referred to in the Land Registry title
• You – or somebody acting for you – will have to decide whether you are satisfied by the information in the HIP.

As with any transaction, the seller has incentives to give the best possible interpretation of the facts… and the buyer should beware. Some lenders have suggested that they will not pay much attention to the contents of HIPs, and require the buyer to carry out independent searches and enquiries.