Home information packs (Hips) may be more useful to consumers if they detailed the flood risk a property faces, it has been suggested.

Property experts, including television presenter Kirstie Allsopp and Peter Bolton King, the chief executive of the National Association of Estate Agents, have previously criticised Hips for adding an extra layer of bureaucracy to the process of buying and selling a house in the UK.

Now new research from Abbey has indicated that as many as 6.2 million householders do not know if they are at risk of being flooded and claimed that Hips could be an effective way to help buyers know what they are getting into before they make a purchase.

Tony Beckwith, of Abbey Insurance, commented: "Six million people assumed they would have been told before they moved into the house if it was at risk, but actually the responsibility lies with the person buying the house to find out."

"Maybe the introduction of Hips could have been more helpful by highlighting homes that have a history of flooding," he added.

Last summer several areas across Britain were flooded, causing millions of pounds worth of damage.