A Scottish Government drive to sideline rogue property managers has been backed by evidence from the Office of Fair Trading.

The Government has responded to an Office of Fair Trading report on property managers in Scotland.

The OFT report - published in February - said that if a voluntary scheme announced by the Scottish Government last year had widespread backing, and was in line with OFT recommendations, it would be "a big step toward solving the most serious problems".

The voluntary accreditation scheme will build on the OFT's recommendations to give house owners peace of mind when choosing a property manager.

It is being developed with the support of an industry-led accreditation body is made up of representatives from a wide spectrum of housing interests, including consumers.

To achieve accreditation, property managers will have to meet high standards of service and a robust complaints procedure will be put in place if the service is unacceptable.

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Accreditation could be removed if standards fall and tougher powers have not been ruled out if unacceptable practices persist.

Around 225,000 house owners in Scotland use property managers to carry out their repair and maintenance responsibilities.

Housing and Communities Minister Alex Neil said: "This Government is determined that there will be no hiding place for cowboy property managers who make money from poor standards and poor service.The OFT report highlights a substantial level of satisfaction with property manager services in Scotland.

"I am pleased to see that the OFT recommends just the type of voluntary, industry-led accreditation scheme that we are committed to. It will give consumers the information to judge good service and providers the means of demonstrating the quality of their services."

The OFT report into property management in Scotland was published on February 12.

The Scottish Government signalled its intention to establish an accreditation scheme in July 2008.

Detailed work on the scheme was not commenced until after the OFT reported, because their market study was clearly going to provide substantial new evidence about the market and important recommendations about the way forward.

Property managers (or factors) provide a service to administer areas such as roofs, and stairwells in flatted buildings such as tenements, as well as communal gardens in some modern developments. Around 415,000 private home owners have a shared responsibility for such common parts. Of these around 225,000 use the services of a property manager.

(GK/JM)