Date:  7 April 2009

NEW REGULATIONS

HOME INFORMATION PACKS – A FURTHER UPDATE

As from the 6 April 2009 it is compulsory for your HIP pack to include a Property Information Questionnaire. This is a simplified form of the pre-contract enquiries which a solicitor would usually raise in acting on the purchase.  The questions are prescribed by the new regulations and there will be separate types for new build and existing properties.

This Property Information Questionnaire must be included in the pack at the first point of marketing for all properties that are put on the market on or after the 6 April 2009. 

It is also worth looking back briefly at the changes to the requirements of a HIP pack that took effect as from the 1 January 2009.  These were essentially:-

• In relation to leasehold properties it is compulsory to include a copy of the lease itself in the HIP.  It was originally intended that a number of other documents relating to the leasehold would be required to be included but this is no longer the Government’s intention. 

• It used to be the case that a property could be put on the market where certain documents had been commissioned but not yet received (for example the Energy Performance Certificate).  That temporary concession was extended to the 5 April 2009 but is no longer permitted.

Finally it is now clear that if you are selling a portfolio of properties, whether or not let, then a HIP is not required. 

Gas Safety Register –Landlords beware

As from the 1 April 2009, CORGI (Confederation for the Registration of Gas Installers) ceased to be as the official gas safety regulation body, and has been replaced by the Gas Safety Register. 

As from that date engineers must be registered with the Gas Safety Register if they are continue to carry out their regulated work.  Registration as a CORGI registered engineer will not be sufficient.

A landlord instructing gas engineers must check that the engineer is registered under the new scheme. You can check quickly on line by inputting either   the engineer’s ID number or the business’ registration number at www.gassaferegister.co.uk

Gas safety certificates issued by CORGI engineers prior to that date will remain valid beyond the 1 April 2009 but when they expire they must be replaced by a certificate that conforms to the new scheme.  Obviously a certificate produced by an engineer who is not registered with the new scheme will not be valid.

Clive Vernon