The Law Society has urged UK homeowners to use qualified solicitors to provide their Home Information Pack. This encouragement is in light of government warnings that some rouge HIP providers are putting incorrect or incomplete documents in the packs.

Home Information Packs were introduced to the UK housing market in August 2007. Since then it has become compulsory for the pack to be made available by anyone in the UK who is selling their home. The pack should be made available at the time of the property being put up for sale. With the packs introduction it was hoped that instances of house sales breaking down at a late stage would be reduced.

Although the impact of the Home Information Pack has been mostly positive there has been concern that a minority of HIP providers are miss-selling the document. One example highlighted by the Law Society is that some providers are wrongly using photocopies of Land Register records as evidence of title. An evidence of title document is a compulsory requirement for every HIP. Home Information Pack regulations state that an official copy of the individual register and title plan from the Land Registry is required with a photocopy of Register Views being insufficient.

Paul Marsh of the Law Society stated that “Buyers as well as sellers need to make sure the property’s HIP contains the correct documents. If it later emerges that there was an error and the property’s HIP contains nothing more than a Register View, there is no recompense available from the Land Registry.”

“If you are selling up, choose a solicitor to compile your HIP. Solicitors understand the regulations and can therefore ensure the HIP meets the required standard.”

JMS Solicitors are a HIP provider based in Manchester. If you are selling your property and require a Home Information Pack please contact us on 0800 781 7057 or alternatively complete our enquiry form.