Home Information Packs suspended! What are the implications?

Homes marketed for sale on or after 21 May 2010 will no longer require a Home Information Pack (HIP). The Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) will be retained. Sellers will still be required to commission, but won't need to have received an EPC before marketing their property.

This means that a seller or a person acting on their behalf i.e.an estate agent must have instructed an accredited Energy Assessor to carry out an energy performance assessment. Remember, the duty to provide an EPC falls on the seller. The EPC is now valid for 10 years even if you're selling.

Agents will have to include energy information in written particulars, as was the case before the suspension of HIPs. The seller and estate agent must use all reasonable efforts to ensure that the EPC is available within 28 days of the property going on the market. An EPC has to be made available at the earliest opportunity and, in any event, no later than exchange of contracts. Non compliance will mean strict penalties.

The penalty for not ensuring that an EPC is available or has been commissioned and failing to include energy information in written particulars is £200. The enforcement of these requirements is the responsibility of Trading Standards Officers.