It is the person responsible for marketing the property, eg. the estate agent, or the seller themselves if the property is being sold privately, to arrange the HIP and this must be available on the first day the property is marketed. There is a £200 a day financial penalty if you market a home without a HIP and the local Trading Standards Officer will be checking to see that one is in place.

If estate agents breach their HIP responsibilities, this will be treated as an "undesirable practice" under the Estate Agents Act and they will be reported to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). An estate agent who deliberately flouts the HIP regulations will risk being banned by the OFT.

Find out more about Home Information Packs at  www.homeinformationpack.gov.uk