June 17 (Bloomberg) -- Managers of apartment blocks in Scotland became the third aspect of the U.K. real-estate market to be probed by the nation's antitrust regulator in the last five months.

The Office of Fair Trading said it's investigating the competitiveness of the property managers, known as factors in Scotland, after a complaint from the Scottish Consumer Council. The London-based regulator will look at how factors are chosen and the services they deliver, as well as the redress available to their customers.

"This study will take a detailed look at Scottish property management services, consider how well they are working for homeowners, and take a view on any recommendations which might bring positive outcomes for consumers,'' said Heather Clayton, the OFT's senior director of infrastructure, in an e-mailed statement.

The property market is under increased scrutiny as regulators examine the impact of the credit crunch on consumers. The Justice Ministry said in May that U.K. home-repossession claims by mortgage lenders rose 16 percent from a year ago in the first quarter, the steepest rise since the early 1990s.

There are 330,000 owner-occupied apartments in Scotland and an additional 85,000 rented, according to OFT statistics. The majority of the occupants deal with a private property manager. The average annual fee paid to factors is £100 pounds, said OFT spokesman Jonathan Marciano. They do work such as maintenance of stairwells and roofs.

House Prices

The Property Managers' Association Scotland Ltd., whose members manage as many as 150,000 properties, said it supports proposals to introduce regulation or accreditation.

"PMAS does not believe that choice is restricted given the ability of owners to terminate appointments,'' said Jamie Millar, the association's secretary, in an e-mailed statement. He said the association received approximately 200 complaints each year, ``most of which are mediated.''

House prices in Scotland are holding up better than elsewhere in the U.K. as homeowners are less leveraged. Prices at April 30 are 11.6 percent higher than a year earlier, according to Lloyds TSB Scotland, with values rising 1 percent in the six months to April 30. Donald MacRae, chief economist at Lloyds TSB Scotland, said he thinks prices won't fall in 2008.

The OFT's former head, Bryan Carsberg, said in a separate report released yesterday that real-estate brokers, renting agents and residential property managers should be licensed and hold special qualifications.

"I'm not surprised the OFT is doing this now,'' said Nigel Parr, head of competition at London law firm Ashurst LLP. ``Carsberg's report has just come out, signaling a need for more regulation, and the last time the OFT looked at estate agents in general it applied only to England and Wales.''

OFT Foxtons Court Case

The OFT's study, which will be issued by the end of the year, comes as the regulator is scrutinizing the U.K. sale and lease-back market, where homeowners sell their property at a discount on the condition they can remain as tenants. It also sued Foxtons, a real-estate broker, over rental contracts that require landlords to pay commissions even after the expiration of an initial lease agreement. The case is expected to reach court next month.

The regulator investigated real-estate brokers across England and Wales in 2004. Scotland, where the OFT opened an office last year, has different property laws. It doesn't have the leasehold system found in England and Wales, where apartments are leased to homeowners on long-term contracts that can run as long as 120 years.

"The SCC has expressed concerns about the current system of Scottish property factoring and welcomes the OFT's announcement,'' said Douglas Sinclair, chairman of the Scottish Consumer Council, in an e-mailed statement.

OFT market studies are general investigations into an industry it suspects may be uncompetitive. They can lead to formal probes, where the regulator pursues named parties.