E STATE agents do not need to be more strictly regulated, according to the Office of Fair Trading, which has published a new report into the buying and selling of homes.

The OFT claims the public is happier with estate agents than they used to be, and that existing regulations, which mean anyone can set themselves up as an agent, are adequate.

Stories about house sales catch my eye these days, because I've been trying to sell my house for a while.

I'm now on my third estate agent, so feel reasonably qualified to have an opinion on the subject.

And I have mixed views of the Devon estate agents who have tried, and failed, to sell my house.

They've all started in the same way – promising the earth, flattering with superlatives about the property, putting a higher value on it than was expected. Their upbeat personalities are also remarkably similar, as if there was a factory somewhere churning them out. They're all smart, chatty in a bland sort of way, and not particularly good at listening.

When each of them starts marketing the house, they are full of confidence and enthusiasm, and have been reasonably successful in getting potential buyers in to see the property.

But gradually they all go off the boil. It may be unfair, but they seem like children with a new toy. They can't leave it alone for a week or two but, when brighter, shinier one comes along, they lose interest.

So a house seller such as myself ends up having to change estate agents, in the hope that the next initial burst of activity will prove successful.

It has to be said that the relationship between house seller and estate agent is almost bound to be difficult. What other area of life involves paying so much for something which appears to involve the service provider doing so little?

The average cost of a home in Devon is apparently about £190,000, and the average fee charged by an estate agent seems to be about 1.5 per cent plus VAT — which means a payment of at least £3,000 to the estate agent. But it's not easy to sell a house without them, so we end up shrugging our shoulders and swallowing our bile.

Actually, the thing I most resent paying for is the Home Information Pack (HIP).

This is compulsory, costs about £300, and has to be completed before the house is put on the market.

It contains pages and pages of information, including a history of planning applications for the property, details of drainage and water, an energy audit of the house, and much else which is incomprehensible.

I've had more than 30 viewings of my house, and this HIP thing is supposed to be of great interest to potential buyers. Yet not a single person has ever asked to see it.

Buyers aren't interested in it and it doesn't even satisfy mortgage companies and solicitors, who appear to be continuing much as they did before HIPS existed. So what, exactly, is the point of it?