Home Information Packs, HIPS for short, which have to be prepared before you can put your house on the market, are making estate agents loads of money by taking advantage of their position. Great for them but bad if you’re a seller!

A survey found that some estate agents are charging double the price that a specialist HIPS provider would charge. The result is that many sellers could save upwards of £130 by shopping around.

Apparently the Halifax estate agency was the dearest taking a typical three bedroomed freehold semi. For that they charged £413 – but a HIPS specialist such as Fridays Property Lawyers would have charged just £189, giving a saving of £224!

And when it comes to leasehold properties the cost are even higher due to the additional legal work involved.

The Government imposed HIPS on to home sellers back in 2007 despite constant opposition from solicitors, mortgage providers and estate agents. The Government claimed that the selling process would be faster and more efficient with the HIPS containing information for the potential buyers on planning searches and the energy performance of the property.

So our advice is, get a quote for a HIPS off your estate agent and then go online and see how much you can save.