Sellers are increasingly turning away from expensive estate agents

Recent research has found more Brits than ever before are bypassing estate agents to sell their houses privately

Although estate agents are starting to see an increase in buyer activity again, many sellers are looking to claw back some of the profits they have lost from plummeting prices by selling privately, saving thousands of pounds in agent fees.  Classified ads website, Vivastreet.co.uk, which conducted the research, has seen an 84 per cent increase in private property adverts over the last year.

There has also been a massive increase in private home swapping adverts, where buyer and seller agree a part exchange and swap houses.  The advantage of this system is that you are entering into a chain-free purchase, in other words you find a house you want and a buyer for your own at the same time, all without estate agent fees. Vivastreet.co.uk also found an increase of 489 per cent in home swapping adverts over the last 16 months.