Are Home Information Packs (HIPs) Coming Back? The 2026 Rules, Explained

Quick answer: No — Home Information Packs (HIPs) are not coming back under that name. But the June 2026 home buying and selling reforms revive their core idea in a modernised form: sellers in England will have to provide key information upfront in a sales pack at the point of listing, supported by a digital property logbook that stays with the home for life. Same goal as HIPs — fewer fall-throughs, faster sales — but digital, standardised, and phased in gradually rather than imposed overnight.

A quick history: what HIPs were

Home Information Packs were introduced for England and Wales in 2007. Sellers had to compile a pack — searches, evidence of title, an Energy Performance Certificate and sometimes a Home Condition Report — before marketing a property. They typically cost £300–£400, buyers and lenders largely ignored them, and the incoming government suspended HIPs in May 2010, days after taking office. Only the EPC requirement survived.

What the 2026 reforms bring back — and what's different

On 18–19 June 2026, the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government published its Home Buying and Selling Reform roadmap. Like HIPs, it moves key information to the start of the sale. Unlike HIPs:

• Digital, not paper — information flows through digital property logbooks and standardised data that conveyancers, agents, buyers and lenders can access in real time.
• The record persists — a HIP died with the transaction. A property logbook stays with the home, so the next sale starts from a complete history rather than from scratch.
• Phased introduction — guidance and voluntary provision first, with legislation to follow by the end of this Parliament, rather than a hard switch-on date that the market isn't ready for.
• Agents are regulated too — a Code of Practice for property agents accompanies the information requirements, which HIPs never had.

For the full contents of the new packs — condition, leasehold costs, chain status and more — see our property sales pack guide.

Will it work this time?

The honest answer: the failure modes of HIPs are well understood, and the 2026 design addresses most of them — but execution risk remains. We've written a full analysis: Will property logbooks succeed where HIPs failed?

What sellers and landlords should do now

Nothing is mandatory yet. But the direction is set, and the documents the new packs will draw on are the ones well-run homes already keep: title documents, EPC, gas and electrical certificates, building-regs sign-offs, guarantees and works history. Gathering them into one place now — a property logbook — means you're ready whether you sell next year or after the legislation lands. Our free sales pack readiness checker shows you what you're missing.

FAQs

Are HIPs legally required again?

No. HIPs were abolished in 2010 and are not returning. The 2026 reforms introduce sales packs and digital property logbooks instead — same upfront-information principle, different mechanism. Follow our reform tracker for current legal status.

When do sales packs become mandatory?

The government will publish guidance and voluntary standards first, with comprehensive legislation planned by the end of this Parliament (2029). Nothing is compulsory at the time of writing.

Does this apply outside England?

The reform roadmap covers England. Scotland has had Home Reports since 2008 — the closest thing HIPs left behind anywhere in the UK. See property logbooks across the UK.

Last reviewed 2026-07-09 by Jamie Dawson, Editor.