An eBay-style property auction service is to be rolled out this spring after a successful trial.

Auction House founder Roger Lake said that so far some ten properties have been sold by the service, which has been piloted in East Anglia since February.

It is completely free to vendors. Buyers pay a premium which is split between Auction House Online and local estate agents.

Lake said the sum earned by estate agents would usually be the equivalent of what they would get from a conventional private treaty sale.

He said: “This is an added service for estate agents to offer their clients. It is an immediate online solution, offering the opportunity for a quick sale.

“It is also an opportunity for high street independents to offer vendors something in relation to the proliferation of online agents.

“And, of course, it is a route to extra income.”

Auction House Online offers mortgageable properties – the kind of stock that does not suit “normal” auctions, he said.

Generally, there is a two to three week marketing period, followed by a seven-day bidding period.

Viewings are done on an open house basis, usually by the agent.

Interested prospective bidders can then sign up to the auction. At the fall of the virtual hammer, the successful bidder is given a 28-day period to sort out mortgage requirements and proceed to exchange.

Lake said: “Sellers like it because it is a free way of selling their properties, and buyers – especially small-scale buy-to-let investors – like it because it gives them access to good-quality stock and gives them time to sort out the finances.

“We see this as very much an opportunity for independent estate agents.”

The new service is expected to launch in the north-east, north-west, Yorkshire and the midlands very shortly.

In 2010, Zoopla partnered with REDC, an American auctions firm, to offer eBay-style auctions. It initially ran four-day online auctions every Thursday afternoon to Sunday evening, focusing on repossessions.

However, the partnership ended some two years ago.

REDC had earlier launched with a bang of publicity in the UK, charging buyers a 10% fee, and Lake said he felt that REDC had simply proved too expensive for purchasers.