Home Information Packs
The Government is introducing a requirement that anyone putting a residential property on the market must have a Home Information Pack available for inspection by prospective buyers. The idea is that prospective buyers will have all the necessary information before they make an offer to purchase.
This will become compulsory in June 2007 but a far reaching pilot scheme is expected to be introduced next year. It is possible that people will be using Home Information Packs on a voluntary basis within the next few months so that prospective buyers may soon be expecting them to be available.
Who will prepare the packs?
A number of institutions have expressed interest in doing so, especially the large corporate Estate Agents. They see themselves as having the opportunity to do so, or to refer the seller to someone with whom they have a referral agreement, as Estate Agents have traditionally been the first port of call for someone wishing to sell a property.
There is no doubt however that the person best placed to prepare the packs is the seller’s solicitor. He or she already has the necessary expertise and experience of this type of work and will often already have the deeds and other relevant documentation (especially if he or she acted in relation to the purchase of the property).
Jacklyn Dawson have several solicitors who specialise in residential conveyancing and have the expertise, experience and facilities to prepare Home Information Packs quickly. This will enable you to market your property without delay once you make the decision to sell. If you intend to put your house or flat on the market speak to us first and we will give you all the information that you require and will be pleased to prepare the Home Information Pack in a professional and efficient manner.
Apart from the Home Condition Report (which is similar to a survey and for which the ‘Home Inspector’ will charge a separate fee) we will prepare the packs on a “no sale no fee basis”, so that the cost will come out of the proceeds of sale in the normal way.
Please contact David Whittaker for further information or if you have any queries.