Activists are calling on the government to continue to allow sellers to put their homes on the market while awaiting a home information pack (Hip) after the deadline for the end of first-day marketing is reached.

At the moment, a homeowner can advertise their property even if their Hip is still being processed but the government has signalled its intention to abolish this system at the end of May.

Sellers'' Pack Law is Not the Answer (Splinta) has created a petition on the Downing Street website calling on the government to continue to allow first-day marketing past this date, arguing that if it is scrapped, it would constitute "an infringement of the personal liberty to sell a property at will".

Nick Salmon, leader of Splinta, said: "There is no sustainable argument in favour of ending first-day marketing and the strength of feeling about this is making itself shown in the rapidly escalating number of signatures on the petition."

He added that he hoped housing minister Caroline Flint "will take a pragmatic and intelligent view about the scheduled change to the regulations".

"If she doesn''t there will be a lot of angry sellers knocking on her door in June."

The petition currently has 4,739 signatures.