What are the"Authorised" Documents?

Home Condition Report

A Home Condition Report contains information about the physical condition of a property, which sellers, buyers and lenders will be able to rely on legally as an accurate report.

The Report is an important part of the Pack, and can be included by sellers on a voluntary basis. Sellers who provide a Report will have an early opportunity to carry out repair work on the property or obtain quotes prior to marketing.

Buyers can use it at the beginning of the home-buying process to minimise the possibility of being faced with unexpected repair bills and other surprises.

Lenders can benefit by using the Reports to inform their valuations, reducing the need to repeat a detailed on-site inspection at the buyer's expense.

The Government believes there will be significant benefits to home sellers if they top up their Packs to include full Home Condition Reports, and that this is a product that the market can deliver. Communities and Local Government is working with stakeholders to facilitate the voluntary take-up of the full Report, and has invested resources in promoting and developing it for consumers.

You can see a sample of a Home Condition Report here.

Legal summary

Home Information Packs will contain some complex documents that can be difficult to understand. The optional summary of the legal content of the pack could therefore be very helpful to buyers, although it will not remove the need for buyers to take their own legal advice as well.

Home use/contents forms

Home Use and Home Contents Forms let sellers give buyers information on a range of matters relating to the property.

These include information on boundaries, notices, services, sharing with neighbours, planning permissions and other matters of interest to potential buyers.

It is usual for sellers to declare which fixtures and fittings and other contents of the property are included in the sale, are excluded from the sale, or are subject to negotiation.

Other documents

Sellers could speed up the sale if they include non-standard searches in the Home Information Pack where appropriate.

For example, it's standard practice to obtain a mining search in areas where coal mining has taken place. Sellers in these areas will save time if they provide this search in the Pack. Other searches cover rights of way, ground stability and actual or potential environmental hazards such as flooding and contaminated land. Sellers will also want to include guarantees and warranties for work already carried out on their homes.

Source: www.homeinformationpacks.gov.uk