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An Introduction to Home Improvement Packs

Posted On : Jun-10-2010 | seen (676) times | Article Word Count : 566 |

Home improvement packs or HIP are documents that need to be produced at the time when property or a house is being legally purchased or sold
Home improvement packs or HIP are documents that need to be produced at the time when property or a house is being legally purchased or sold. They were introduced for the first time in 2004 in England and Wales. The HIP includes documents such as the sustainability document, the sale document containing details of the seller and his capability, energy performance certificate and the proof of property ownership. The HIP documentation in England and Wales cost around 300 pounds to 600 pounds. The HIP needs to be presented at the time of the sale and purchase of a property. The failure to present it results in a fine of 200 pounds and the seller has to be responsible for the HIP. However, the HIP is not always compulsory like in cases of sale of vacation accommodations and non- residential property.

The Home Information Pack involves a number of features like Home Condition Report and Energy Performance Certificate. The Home Condition Report contains details about the condition of the property, which greatly benefit the buyer. Home Inspectors who are certified to carry out these types of investigations and provide reviews on the standard of properties produce the Home Condition Report. The Energy Performance Certificate is another important document that enables the purchasers of property to assess the property’s energy consumption conditions.

The entire survey and assessment is carried out by a third party. This survey offers the benefit of improving the energy consumption conditions of a property and in turn saving on energy consumption bills. These are the two most important features of HIP, but it is always advisable to carry out some research as the rules pertaining to HIPs might undergo changes from time to time. Reliable information on Home Improvement Packs is available on official government sites and the real estate agents can also be of great help in this regard. Often the purchasers and the sellers of the property contact HIP specialist providers for the HIP document if they feel the idea of involving a third party to assemble the pack is more feasible.

The introduction of Home Improvement Packs has bought the importance of home energy efficiency into the attention of both property buyers and sellers, and has further helped to bring the issues around cutting domestic carbon emissions into the mainstream. For property sellers, being able to certify how efficient a property is has allowed them to attach a concrete, financial value to their home improvement projects immediately. For buyers, knowing that one property will use energy more efficiently, and thus possibly result in lower energy, electricity or gas prices provides them with a further incentive to buy, or another category on which to judge one potential purchase against another.

An increasing number of people are undertaken home improvement projects based, at least in part, on a desire to improve the efficiency by which their property uses energy. Examples of such projects include wall and attic insulation, the installation of double glazing, home solar panels and, more particularly in rural areas, the installation of domestic wind turbines. A number of UK governments, including those in Germany and the UK, have either directly or indirectly encouraged homeowners to make these installations by offering them either grants for the work or the ability to sell the electricity they produce back to the main grid or supplier.

Article Source : http://www.articleseen.com/Article_An Introduction to Home Improvement Packs_21713.aspx

Author Resource :
The author regularly writes about improving home energy efficiency for a number of websites, including this one.

Keywords : home energy ,

Category : Home and Family : Home and Family

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