Office of Fair Trading to examine home sale process

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has announced it is to carry out a study into the home buying and selling process in Britain. The OFT will look at traditional estate agency models and alternative ways of buying and selling homes.

The study is intended to take a comprehensive look at home buying and selling in terms of: competition on price and quality between service providers, the prospects for new entry by bodies such as internet property retailers and the extent to which consumer interests are protected by the existing regulatory framework.

The OFT's study may also examine the relationships between estate agents and mortgage brokers, surveyors, solicitors and other professional advisors.

Chief executive of the OFT, John Fingleton, 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 well served when buying or selling a home and are supported by an effective, competitive and innovative market.

"Before embarking on such an important piece of work we want to engage with the industry and consumer groups to get a clear idea of the most salient issues we should focus on."

The announcement comes as the government makes changes to Home Information Pack (HIP) regulations, reports PA News.

Currently sellers can market their property as soon as they commission a HIP. However, from April 6 2009, home owners will not be allowed to put their property on the market until all the documents in the HIP are in place. They will still have up to 28 days to provide certain information, such as property searches.

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