Home Information Pack costs - Agent Kick Backs Exposed !

Fridaysmove are delighted by the recent press coverage revealing that some home owners are being charged "unnecessarily" high prices for Home Information Packs as some estate agents are creaming off hidden profits from the sale of the controversial Home Information Packs.

Fridaysmove do not supply Home Information Packs to estate agents who mark up the price as we do not believe that this is ethically correct.

Neither do we pay commission to agents for introducing clients who require a Home Information Pack.

Some HIP providers that put together Home Information Packs are allegedly paying a secret commission to agents for the exclusive right to provide the packs to their sellers. For example, if an estate agent is paying £300 to a Home Information Pack provider, but charging £400 to a home owner, then the home owner is out of pocket to the tune of £100. Evidence suggest that this issue applies not only to Home Information Packs in London but all over the UK.

The Daily Mail have suggested that the commission in some cases a Home Information Pack supplier can be as high as £150. The net effect is that sellers end up paying a higher price for the Home Information Pack, according to an investigation by Channel 4 News. Channel 4 News said it had obtained evidence showing an arrangement between a Home Information Pack provider and an estate agent. This inflated the price paid by the consumer to cover a commission to the agent for using the company as its sole Home Information Pack supplier.

The Law Society has condemned the practice of Home Information Pack providers paying commissions to property agents and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors says it is investigating the allegations.

The Association of Home Information Pack Providers, the body that represents Home Information Pack companies, told Channel 4 that where commission is paid, the Home Information Pack provider is acting as an agent for the estate agent in the preparation of the Home Information Pack , adding that it is therefore the estate agent who sets the retail price of the Home Information Pack.