People could pay almost double for their home information pack if they buy it from an estate agent rather than getting it directly from a specialist provider, research has showed.

A HIP could cost nearly £300 more if it is handled by the estate agent, compared with if the homeowner had shopped around among providers, according to Which? Money magazine.

HIPs are aimed at speeding up the house selling process by including information that buyers need up front.

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

James Daley, editor of Which? Money, said: "Don't be fooled into thinking that you have to buy it from your estate agent. Our research shows that the most expensive high street agents charge over twice as much as the cheapest online HIP providers - so you could save hundred of pounds by shopping around for the best deal".

But Mike Ockenden, director general of the Association of Home Information Pack Providers, which has both estate agents and independent providers among its members, was not surprised by the research.

He 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".

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