Commenting on the Office of Fair Trading's (OFT) announcement today to launch a market study into the home buying and selling process, Paul Marsh, Law Society president, says:

'This study by the OFT is good news. A wholesale review of the market is far more appropriate than focusing on individual areas. However we would hope that it will address the regulatory imbalance - currently some areas of the market, such as estate agents and mortgage brokers, are subject to limited, if any, regulation and other parts are highly regulated. We would also like the review to look at referral fees which add costs to the system without any benefit to the client.'

'The Law Society has always been in the forefront of improving the home buying process - through our Transaction protocol and we are in the process of reviewing this and other initiatives ourselves. We are eager to be involved with this review and put forward our specialist knowledge, gained from our unique role in the house buying and selling process, the effectiveness of which relies entirely on the integrity of solicitors, in order to work. We hope that the review will examine the HIPs process, which has not proved to be of benefit to consumers. I urge our members to share their opinions and expertise by contributing to this important review.'

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