Estate Agents face scrutiny after a watchdog revealed it would be watching their competition closely.

It has been four years since the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) last studied the fairness of estate agents work, but a new campaign will be launched in 2009.

Some of the things that will be assessed include internet property prices, consumer protection and competition between different companies.

The OFT chief executive, John Fingleton has said: “Buying or selling a home is something most people do only a few times in their life, but it is usually the biggest transaction they will make.
“We want to ensure that consumers are served well when buying or selling a home and are supported by an effective, competitive and innovative market.”

The industry has gone through some significant changes since the study done four years ago. These changes are not only because of the recent boom and then downturn of the market that we have seen recently, but also changes in several regulations.

The introduction of Home Information Packs and new legislation protecting consumers from unfair practices are a couple of other changes that have occurred since the last mediation.

 The study is expected to be finished by the end of 2009, and will review whether these new rules are adequate enough to protect people using this market.

The review will also look at how easy it is for new estate agents to get into this market, especially online providers, along with the quality and prices charged by all provides.

Concerns about the market were initially raised while the housing prices were at their highest, but in June this year, former head of the OFT, Bryan Carsberg, called for tougher regulations. He said that he thought all estate agents, letting agents and managing agents who handle residential property should be subjected to formal regulations and complete basic qualifications.

National Association of Estate Agents chief executive, Peter Bolton King, has said he welcomes the announcement of the review and also called for appropriate regulations.

He said that: “there is nothing to stop anybody becoming an estate agent and there is a real need for consumers to be aware of this.
“There is clearly a lot of competition between internet retailers, and many people will certainly initially begin their search for property online
“To be safe, consumers should use the professional agents.”

The OFT has the power to ban any agents that break the law when it comes to mis-describing a property, handling a client’s money, not declaring an interest in a property, or being found to have been involved in any other form of dishonesty.

A separate market study from the OFT was published in September, and revealed the market to be competitive, but recommended buyers get more help if they suffer delays moving into their property of find faults.