Rogue home information pack (HIP) providers are flouting the law by using invalid title documents, solicitors were warned this week.


The Department for Communities and Local Government has raised concerns that some pack providers are using 'register views' - photocopies of Land Registry records - as evidence of title. It pointed out that the HIP regulations require an 'official copy' from the Land Registry of the individual register and title plan. These are, it said, encrypted documents that the Land Registry will stand by if there are any errors in the register; register views do not provide such protection.



Law Society Vice-President Paul Marsh said: 'This is further proof that some HIP providers do not understand or choose not to understand the regulations. The result is that sellers and buyers are being short-changed with substandard HIPs that will be quite rightly thrown in the dustbin by the buyer's solicitor.'



He advised lawyers that when acting for a purchaser the first thing they should do is check whether the contents are adequate to enable them to do the conveyancing job.



Mr Marsh said solicitors who were asked to compile HIPs should not buckle under financial pressure to cut corners. Peter Ambrose, director of pack provider The Partnership, said: 'Invalid and substandard documentation is being used by HIP providers seeking to reduce their costs.'



Mike Ockenden, director general of AHIPP (Association of Home Information Pack Providers), said solicitors should only instruct providers registered with the Property Codes Compliance Board.



Catherine Baksi