Property website Rightmove believes that one in four homes currently advertised for sale would be liable for a Home Information Pack if they were being freshly marketed after 1 August.

This follows the news that HIPs would only affect sellers of houses with four or more-bedrooms. At present, according to Rightmove, around 25% of houses it lists falls into that category although there is speculation that four bedroom houses could be marketed as ‘three bedroom plus study’ homes.

Miles Shipside, commercial director at Rightmove, said: “This is a larger proportion than has been speculated. It remains to be seen whether this percentage will be representative of what comes onto the market after 1 August, especially if there is a rush of instructions prior to that date to avoid the costs of a HIP.”