A pilot single-survey scheme gets underway today in Inverness, Dundee and parts of Edinburgh and Glasgow in an attempt to cut the common and costly problem of multiple surveys in property hotspots.

Home buyers could gain from the pilot scheme, which makes sellers responsible for house surveys. The survey will be made available to all potential buyers but only the successful purchaser will pay for it.

Every year about £9m is spent in Scotland on house surveys that do not lead to a sale.

The survey also means buyers have much more detailed information about the condition of a house or flat before they make an offer.

Communities Minister Margaret Curran said: "We want to make the housing market more transparent Too many buyers miss out on important information about the state of the property."

Bill Scouller, Chief Executive of the Glasgow Solicitors Property Centre (GSPC) said: “GSPC and our member firms will be actively supporting this pilot. Anything that could benefit the consumer or simplify the house buying process should be taken very seriously and given the chance to prove its worth.”

“We will be the first to make single surveys available on our website and we will strive to ensure that access to single surveys is as easy as possible for the public.”

The areas have been chosen to reflect a diversity of market conditions and features such as prices, market activity, urban and rural properties and the extent to which solicitors and estate agents are active as selling agents.

Although the pilot is a voluntary scheme it is expected that selling agents will ask and encourage all sellers in the area to take part. A full evaluation of the pilot will be carried out in around 8-12 months.