Everything a buyer will ask, answered before the home is on the market.
An upfront sales pack is the set of information and documents about a home that is gathered before it is listed for sale, so buyers, conveyancers and lenders have the facts before an offer rather than weeks after it. England and Wales are moving to make the pack a legal requirement.
This site explains what goes in a pack, what the law already asks of a seller today, what the government's reforms change and when, and what preparing a pack costs and takes.
Independent and written in plain English. Covers England and Wales; Scotland has had its own Home Report since 2008. Not legal advice. Last reviewed 7 November 2026.
The portal In development
Upfront Sales Packs is building a portal where the pack is gathered, checked and shared before a home goes on the market. Nothing is available to buy yet. Agencies, homeowners and service providers can register now and will be invited in stages.
A complete pack on every instruction
Your seller guided and chased for you; a material information summary for the listing; the full pack to the buyer's conveyancer on offer.
For estate agentsGet your sale ready before it starts
Gather everything a buyer will ask once, in plain English, then use it with any agent or sell privately. Planned to be free to start.
For homeownersConnect your service to the pack
Searches, surveys, EPCs, identity checks, conveyancing, floor plans and leasehold information: ordering, suggestions by postcode and free connections.
For service providersWhat is an upfront sales pack?
It is the information a buyer, their conveyancer and their lender will need in order to buy a home, collected by or for the seller before the property goes on the market and made available from the first day of marketing.
Today most of that information is gathered after an offer is accepted: the seller completes the property information forms, the leasehold pack is requested, and the buyer orders searches and a survey. Surprises then arrive when both sides have already spent time and money, and about one in three sales fall through.
A pack moves the same work to the start. It is not a new idea; Scotland has required a Home Report before marketing since 2008, and England and Wales briefly had Home Information Packs between 2007 and 2010. The government's June 2026 roadmap sets out a digital, phased version built on open data standards.
Why the government wants packs before listing
The reform roadmap published on 19 June 2026 gives four figures for home sales in England and Wales, and names late, missing or inconsistent information as a leading cause.
- About 120 days
- Average time from an accepted offer to completion, around 60% longer than in 2007.
- Around 1 in 3
- Share of agreed sales that fall through before completion.
- About £400 million
- What fall-throughs cost consumers each year; independent research puts the cost to the wider economy at around £1.5 billion.
- About 1.2 million
- Transactions a year, in a sector employing more than a million people.
Source: Home Buying and Selling Reform Roadmap, MHCLG, 19 June 2026.
Where the law stands
Two duties already apply to every seller. The pack itself is voluntary for now, becomes a requirement in government homeownership schemes from 2027, and is intended to become law for all sales within the current Parliament.
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Already law In force now
An Energy Performance Certificate must be commissioned before a home is marketed and obtained within 28 days (Energy Performance of Buildings Regulations 2012). Listings must not omit material information a buyer needs to make a decision (Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024).
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2026 Now
Government and industry agree which pack information can be provided voluntarily straight away; guidance on listing information; a Code of Practice for estate agents; a call for evidence on property data sharing.
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2027 to 2028 Next
Digital sales packs and property logbooks required in government homeownership schemes from 2027; consultation on mandatory qualifications for agents; a fee cap and deadline for leasehold sales information; local land charges moved to a central register at HM Land Registry.
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By the end of this Parliament Future
Legislation, when parliamentary time allows, requiring a sales pack before listing, including property searches and a condition report. Binding contracts earlier in the process to follow only once packs are tested and embedded.
Guides
- What is an upfront sales pack?
The definition, where the idea came from, how it differs from Home Information Packs, and why it is coming back.
- What's in an upfront sales pack
The 14 items in the government's list, explained one by one, with where each comes from and how it relates to the forms used today.
- Home buying reforms timeline
What the June 2026 roadmap commits to, in what order, and what is already in force.
- What a pack costs and how long it takes
Indicative 2026 prices for searches, surveys, identity checks and leasehold information, and what sets the timetable.
- Selling a leasehold flat
Why the leasehold information pack is the slowest item, what it contains, and what the 2024 Act will change.
- For sellers
What you can gather yourself, what has to come from a professional, and the order to do it in.
- For estate agents
How packs fit the material information duty, the forthcoming Code of Practice and the listing process.
- For buyers
How to read a pack, what to check first, and what it does not replace.
Selling a home
Most of a pack is information you already hold or can get from public registers for a few pounds. Four items have to come from someone else: the EPC, the searches, the condition report and, for flats, the freeholder's information.
Acting for sellers
Estate agents already carry the material information duty on every listing. A pack is the same information gathered once, early, with a source and date on each item.
Buying a home
A pack lets you see the tenure, lease terms, searches and condition before you view, so an offer is made on facts rather than photographs.
Common questions
Is an upfront sales pack a legal requirement?
Not yet for ordinary sales in England and Wales. The government has committed to legislate within this Parliament and is encouraging voluntary packs now. The EPC and material information duties already apply.
Is this the Home Information Pack again?
The aim is similar; the design is not. HIPs were paper-based and introduced quickly in 2007. The new approach is phased, digital, drawn from trusted data sources and developed with the industry.
Can a seller prepare the pack themselves?
Much of it, yes: the questionnaire, the title documents, the floor plan and the public-register items. The EPC, condition report, identity check and leasehold information must come from an accredited assessor, a surveyor, a certified provider and the freeholder respectively.
Who pays for the pack?
The seller, as the reform intends. The government's own estimate of the extra upfront cost is around £310; at today's prices for a full set of searches and a survey the realistic range is £500 to £900 for a house.