The Home Information Pack contains important information that buyers and sellers need to know and from the 6.4.09 anyone selling a property will be legally required to have a Home Information Pack. A copy of the pack will have to be available for any potential buyers of the property free of charge.

The Home Information Pack will contain :

• Home Information Pack Index
• the new Property Information Questionnaire (PIQ), from 6 April 2009
• Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) or Predicted Energy Assessment (PEA)
• sustainability information (required for newly built homes)
• sale statement
• evidence of title
• standard searches (local authority and drainage and water)

• all the compulsory documents above
• a copy of the lease

If any documents cannot be obtained in time (such as searches, leasehold information etc) the property can still be marketed with a Home Information Pack which includes Index of Contents, Sale Statement, Evidence of Title and an Energy Performance Certificate, as long as it can be shown that the missing information has been requested.

A Home Information Pack must be available on the first day a property is marketed for sale and certain documents within the Pack must be no more than three months old when the property is first marketed. The pack will then valid until the property is sold.