HIPs will completely change the existing conveyancing process in England and Wales.

 

The established system is based on "caveat emptor", where the onus is on the buyer to make sure that they carry out their due diligence when buying a property. The only obligation on the seller is not to misrepresent any facts when the buyer asks them questions.

 

The introduction of HIPs means that this changes, to put the seller under a duty to provide certain documents to the buyer at the outset, which the buyer can then rely on.

 

From the conveyancers point of view, many of the procedural parts of the current process will not be necessary following the introduction of HIPs. The seller’s conveyancer will not have to assemble the contract package and the buyer’s conveyancer will not have to request searches. However, the principle of caveat emptor will still remain, resulting in the buyer’s conveyancer having to check the HIP in detail and raising any other queries as necessary.