A Buyer looking for a house or flat to buy in a particular location may end up with a number of copy HIPs to consider.

In a lively housing market there may be a number of flats or houses of a similar type on the market.  The cautious buyer will want to compare what he is getting for his money in respect of each property.

The buyer will therefore need to have the time and the patience not just to view a number of properties but also to study the packs for each one and weigh up the respective pros and cons.

In some respects this will not be difficult where, for instance, one house has been fully modernised and another needs a lot of remedial work to bring it up to a modern standard.  The Buyer will be able to work out whether the unmodernised house is worth buying if he knows he can modernise it for less than the price difference.

For some of the information in the pack though the Buyer may need some specialist advice.  If the query relates to a Home Condition Report (HCR) or the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) the Home Inspector or Domestic Energy Assessor who prepared it may be able to help.  The estate agent marketing the property for the seller may also have some of the answers but the best source of help is likely to be the legal adviser the buyer intends to instruct on the legal aspects of the purchase.

This professional will have no interest other than the buyer’s to protect.  Taking advice early on in a transaction may well save costs, delay and disappointment later on.

As a buyer, early interaction with your solicitor or licensed conveyancer will also help you judge whether the pack you have been given is one of value which will save time and cost at a later stage or merely the basic pack containing only compulsory documents which will not.

Even if an HCR is included it will not contain a valuation of the property so reliance will still be on the estate agents valuation and the buyer’s knowledge of prices in the locality. 

The lenders representative body, the Council of Mortgage Lenders, has not yet agreed to accept the HCR in place of a survey and so you may have to pay for a survey and valuation in addition to the cost of the copy HIP.