OFT to scrutinise property maintanence firms for over-charging 'vulnerable' householders The watchdog intends to scrutinise these companies - which typically carry out maintenance, cleaning or building work of blocks of flats or housing estates - to establish whether leaseholders are getting value for money, and whether there is sufficient competition. A spokesman for the OFT said: "We are launching an investigation as this market place generates a lot of complaints, which have been rising. Costs can be substantial and we have been provided with a number of examples showing significant financial impact on individual residents and the difficulty in exerting control over the process. There are 5m people living in leasehold properties, but the OFT is particularly concerned whether vulnerable householders, who may not be represented on the residents' committee, are getting a fair deal. In addition, the OFT uncovered similar problems in the market for land maintenance companies, with consumers experiencing particularly extreme barriers to switching land maintenance suppliers when ownership of open spaces had been transferred to private companies. The Association of Residential Managing Agents (RMA), the industry body that represents more than 300 members that services 900,000 flats in 34,000 blocks, believes the problems are born out of a lack of action by the Government to regulate the industry. Tim Taylor, a director at the RMA, said: "The problems are arising when a small company such as an estate agent dabbles in property management. We are introducing a self-regulatory regime for our registered members but of course unregulated companies may slip through the net. The OFT said it is currently not investigating social housing but will do so if enough complaints are received.