Purchasing Rental Property: The Home Information Package

[Shamir Debnath]

A property lawyer is paid to sort through mountains of paperwork in search of a deed title. This guide explains the fundamentals of what he looks for and how you can do the same. The seller's Home Information Pack (HIP) should be sufficient for basic inquiries. Additional searches will be required if you want to delve deeper. To find out the Best property lawyer in Kolkata, click here


The seller's lawyers will enclose responses (in the HIPs), which will reveal the nature of the property's current and past legal history.

A. Fittings and fixtures

The items that remain in the property are known as fixtures and fittings. As a general rule, if you turned the property upside down, they would be what remained rather than falling out. The seller fills out a fixture and fittings form, indicating which items will remain in the property but will not be fixed down. However, people do remove items that are also fixed, so this document has grown in size over time, mentioning every item that will remain in the property.

When a specified item, fixture, or fitting is removed, the buyer may sue the seller for its return or for a sum of money sufficient to cover the cost of replacement up to the item's new or second-hand value, depending on its condition and age. Obviously, this can be a time-consuming and unsuccessful procedure if the seller has left the country or has left no forwarding address.

Dangers

If you have any suspicions about potential problems with fixtures and fittings, you must notify your lawyer as soon as possible. You can plan to be at the property on the morning of completion to prevent the removal of items listed on the form. This does not prevent the items from being removed the night before, or even a week before, but completion may be delayed if the items are not present at the property.

While a morning inspection is a prudent precaution, a late-morning completion can cause problems further down the chain. It is possible that funds will arrive late to the sellers, resulting in a late completion. In this case, you may be liable not only for interest and potential claims from the seller, but also from people further up the chain. Inform your lawyer of any problems so that a solution can be worked out ahead of time.

Form B for Property Information

The property information form contains all pertinent information about the property. This could include details about boundaries, disputes, party walls, rights of way, gas, water, electricity, drainage, telephone, and cable TV services.

Form C: Leasehold Property Information

In the case of freehold property, however, it will also include services such as ground rent and service charge.

Planning

This will determine how the property will be used. If you are purchasing a home to live in, you must ensure that it can be used as a residence. As part of his various investigations, including the local search, your lawyer will confirm the use of the property.