London’s traditional estate agents earned total fees of £1.1bn, up 21% on 2013 and more than £4m higher than 2014.

But according to HouseSimple figures, if just one fifth of London home sellers had chosen to sell their property online in 2015, rather than through a high street estate agent, they would have saved a staggering £211m in fees.

Winning in Wandsworth

Estate agents in Wandsworth take the prize for earning the most in 2015, raking in more than £70m, up 3% on the previous year. Having topped the list in 2014, Kensington and Chelsea dropped to second place, earning more than £57m in 2015.

But it’s not just the prestigious areas of London where high street estate agents are cashing in. Agents in London’s more affordable areas such as Barking and Dagenham, and Lewisham have also seen large percentage increases in fees earnt in 2015 compared to 2014 – up 16% and 12% respectively.

Alex Gosling, chief executive of HouseSimple.com said: “Over the past two years, London’s high street estate agents have benefitted from record high property prices, and banked more than £2bn in fees. That is a staggering level of fees in a market where there is strong demand and limited supply, which means good properties are practically selling themselves.

“How London agents can continue to charge, and justify, such high commission rates when there are buyers galore desperate to purchase, is beyond comprehension. It’s daylight robbery. However, more and more sellers are now waking up to the online estate agent revolution, where they can spend less than £500 for an almost identical service to a high street agent, and achieve better results. The future is online.”