Investigation into the condition of the property market

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by Kay Murchie

A major investigation is to take place into the state of the property market. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has commissioned Marketing Sciences, a market research company, to conduct the interviews and quiz 1000 buyers of new properties.

Buyers will be interviewed by a researcher in their own property and will be questioned about their experiences of buying and living in their new home. Further questions will be how satisfied they were with the quality and range of properties available and if there were problems, how they were treated.

The investigation will represent a cross-section of properties bought in different regions of England, Scotland and Wales in the last 2 years, including houses, flats and bungalows.

Furthermore, the OFT will also carry out surveys of builders and local authority planners in the next few months as part of the study.

A spokesperson for OFT said, purchasing a house is one of the biggest investments most people will ever make. The study will look for ways to improve the experience of purchasing a new property in addition to the range and quality and the after-sales service. The spokesperson is urging everyone who is contacted to participate in the study.

A market study into the home building industry was launched by OFT in June. It will publish its conclusions next summer. Possible results of the study include enforcement action against building companies suspected of breaching consumer or competition law and even a request to the Competition Commission to investigate the housebuilding sector overall.

In 2004, an official review of the property market was set up by OFT to explore the reasons for the shortage of supply and low responsiveness of housing in the UK. It was requested that the industry commence a code of conduct and boost levels of customer satisfaction.

OFT concluded that if they did not increase considerably during the next 3 years, they will carry out a review of the market. OFT believes the industry has not fully complied with this recommendation.