The UK Government has announced that Home Information Packs (HIPs) will be rolled out for all homes in England and Wales from 14 December 2007 and this will include studios, one and two bed properties.

At the same time as requiring a Pack for every property, the government has introduced related measures, including phasing the requirements on leasehold information and first day marketing.

The provision for first day marketing has been extended to 1 June 2008, meaning that a property can be marketed without a HIP provided one has been requested.

The obligation to have a HIP arises once the person responsible obtains an EPC. The EPC must be provided to the prospective purchaser before exchange in any event, but efforts to obtain the EPC should be ongoing throughout the process, including:

• before the property is put on the market;
• within 28 days of the property being put on the market; and
• on a continuing basis thereafter.

Once the EPC is available the HIP must be provided as soon as possible.

Government has said it will "assess the need for a drop dead date in the light of experience in the market". This means that there is now no date by which all properties on the market, regardless of when they were first marketed, will need a HIP.

A temporary provision has been introduced to require the lease document itself to be included within the HIP, but the rest of the information on the lease may be provided in the current manner - in practice usually at the request and expense of the purchaser. From 1 June 2008 the rest of the lease information will be required to be included within any new HIP.

Source: RICS