HIPs 'cost more from estate agents'

Consumer magazine Which? Money said a HIP could cost nearly £300 more if it was provided by the estate agent handling the sale of the property, compared with if the homeowner had shopped around among independent providers.

HIPs aim to speed up the house selling process by providing more of the information that potential buyers need up front, and homeowners in England and Wales must now have one of the packs in place before they can begin marketing their property.

Which? Money looked at the cost of HIPs provided by a range of estate agents and independent providers on a three-bedroom freehold property and a two-bedroom leasehold flat, both in Balham in London.

It found that Halifax Estate Agents provided the most expensive HIP for the three bedroom property at £413, while independent provider Fridays Property Lawyers offered the cheapest one at £189. Estate agent Spicerhaart topped the list of the most expensive providers for the flat, charging £516 for a HIP, nearly £300 more than Hip Save at £224.

The average cost of a HIP provided by the estate agents questioned was £368, including VAT, for the three-bedroom home and £395 for the flat, compared with an average of £254 and £283 respectively for the independent HIP providers.

But Mike Ockenden, director general of the Association of Home Information Pack Providers, which has both estate agents and independent providers among its members, said: "You would expect that if you buy a product online it is usually going to be cheaper than buying it in a shop, so you would expect it to be more expensive from an estate agent than if you search the market online."

He added that estate agents had the role of a responsible person under the law, so if people got their HIP from an independent provider estate agents may still charge them to check the HIP meets all the required standards. He also urged anyone buying their HIP from an independent provider to make sure they were signed up to the HIP Code.

Paul Smith, chief executive of Spicerhaart, said: "The research doesn't show the full picture. The majority of the lower cost or free HIP providers add on fees elsewhere, for example, making it a condition of purchase that you use their conveyancing services for which they charge a higher price.

A spokesman for Halifax Estate Agents said: "This isn't a true like-for-like comparison and fails to take account of our offering, such as the ability to defer payment until your house has sold."