ESTATE agents have denied claims that a new online auction site featuring a Kent property could put them out of business.

Peter Bangay, the owner of the four-bedroom detached house in Canadian Avenue, Gillingham, is the first seller to sign up to the website AuctionYourProperty.com.

The site has been set up by auctioneer Andrew Binstock and Claude Schneider, a web developer.

They hope it will become a popular way of buying and selling homes, and claim it cuts costs. They charge £49 plus VAT for each registered property.

Bidding is confined to a single day. The highest bidder pays a non-refundable one per cent deposit which, Mr Binstock claims, fixes the price.

Mr Brinstock said: "We give the buyer an exclusivity period of six weeks between the end of the auction and when they have to exchange contracts. You are bidding for the right to buy it."

He claims the new business "model" could spell the end of estate agents.

"This is going to bring about the end of estate agents over time," he said.

But Charles Smailes, president of the National Association of Estate Agencies, rejected the claim, saying he did not like Mr Binstock’s concept. There were too many risks for buyer and seller.

He said: "There are lots of things there that worry me enormously but don’t worry me from a business point of view.

"I don’t think this will put estate agents out of business. Websites are a tool, not the complete deal."

The auction for Mr Bangay’s property is due to take place on July 22.