The Office of Fair Trading has criticised the Scottish property management market in a study published today.
The OFT found that a third of people were not happy with their management agent, and that two-thirds of people who had made a complaint about their firm were not happy with the way it was handled.
It said there was limited redress for bad agents, that many people did not understand their legal rights, and that there was little evidence of enough competition between property management companies.
Around 135,000 households in
The study recommended a self-regulatory scheme, with an independent complaints redress system. If this fails, a statutory scheme should be introduced.
It also called for the development of an advice service by the Scottish government for both owners and managing agents to help overcome the legal complexities.
The OFT’s recommendations have been submitted to the Scottish government which has agreed to respond within 90 days.
John Fingleton, OFT chief executive, said: “This is a market that is not working well for many homeowners in Scotland.
“People often have little or no understanding about their rights, households rarely switch factors, suppliers do not seem to be actively competing with each other and the options for consumers when things go wrong are very limited.”
Last November, the RICS launched an inquiry into the residential management agency sector. The second meeting is due to be held this month.
The Rugg review, published by Julie Rugg and David Rhodes of the
