Buying or selling a home is among the most stressful experiences in anyone’s life, but it appears that estate agents are not at the heart of the problem.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has given a clean bill of health to the industry, pointing out that satisfaction levels are up.

However, the watchdog has shed light on the increasing influence of the internet on the way we buy and sell homes.

Now it wants to free up businesses that match private buyers and sellers in order to encourage more competition.

What is the future for internet sales?

At present, online services are dominated by the traditional estate agents rather than so-called “introducers”.

These introducers provide a website where buyers and sellers can find a property they like but are then left to conduct negotiations between themselves.

In the US, these currently have 15% of the market compared with only 2% in the UK.

The OFT wants to free them of the burden and cost of some of the regulations that come because each introducer is currently regarded by law as an estate agent.

They could be free from price negotiations and responsibility for ensuring that the property is described properly in an advert.

However, private buyers and sellers should be aware of the greater risks involved. For example, adverts could mislead a potential buyer about the state of a property, or the neighbourhood it is in, because those running the website would not have a legal responsibility to check that the claims are true.