The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has granted approval to Ombudsman Services Limited (OSL) to run an estate agent redress scheme.

The organisation – which presently runs the Surveyors Ombudsman Service (SOS) – will establish an independent service to resolve disputes between consumers and member firms.

The new service was established to provide a service to firms regulated by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).

Any estate agency may now choose to join the service.

"We are delighted the OFT has recognised the SOS as a scheme which can make a real difference to way estate agents handle complaints," Elizabeth France, chief Ombudsman at the SOS.

"We offer a robust process; we know how to talk to consumers whose complaints have not been resolved; we have systems which are tailored to our needs; and an approach to dispute resolution which has been proven to work across different industry sectors.

"We will use our experience to provide the best possible service to estate agents which choose to join our Service, and their customers," she added.

Buyers and sellers of residential property will be able to use SOS if a member estate agent fails to resolve a problem.

The Ombudsman will have the power to resolve complaints about the way in which estate agents provide services to consumers.

"The OFT has been careful to ensure that customers of estate agents will have access to effective, independent redress if an estate agent fails to resolve a problem appropriately," said OSL chairman, Peter Holland.

"With the approval process complete I am pleased we can now work toward providing the same first class service of dispute resolution as we provide to existing members to new members and the consumers who use their estate agency services."

The SOS is free to consumers.

However, consumers will need to try and resolve their complaint with their estate agent before turning to the Ombudsman.

If this cannot be achieved then the Ombudsman will be available to resolve the dispute - usually making proposals for resolution within six weeks.

The Final Decision is binding on the estate agent once accepted by the consumer.