The Edinburgh Solicitors Property Centre has said it is confident that its regulations do not breach competition law.

The ESPC defended itself after the Scotsman newspaper said some days ago that it had been reported to the Competition and Markets Authority by forcing its members to advertise through its marketing channels.

According to the Scotsman, two years ago the ESPC published a new agreement, which every member had to sign, requiring member firms to advertise each property on their books with the ESPC.

The £370 cost of the advert, according to the Scotsman, is passed on to the seller.

If the member firm fails to market a property through the ESPC, it risks disciplinary action of possible expulsion.

Up to 90% of property sales in Edinburgh and the Lothians are said to be through members of the ESPC.

ESPC firms are all solicitor-run estate agents.

The Scotsman makes a link between the recent cartel case involving a local paper and three agents who belonged to a local association in Fleet, Hampshire, which resulted in stiff fines by the CMA.

While it is not known whether there is any connection, following conclusion of the Fleet case, the CMA wrote an open letter to the property industry.

In it, the CMA said: “Whilst trade associations can offer many legitimate benefits, where they take actions that limit the commercial freedom of their members, for example by restricting the form or content of their advertising, this can risk breaking competition law.”

A spokesperson for the ESPC told Eye yesterday afternoon: “The CMA has made no approach to ESPC on this issue.

“However, we are confident the regulations to which our 140 members agree are well within the current CMA guidelines and pose no unlawful restriction to their individual operations.

“One of the many benefits of being a member of ESPC is the ability to bring together all the properties being sold by member firms through our three marketing streams which has benefits of scale for each solicitor estate agent and their client.”

A spokesperson for the CMA told Eye that it had received a complaint which it is considering – which he distinguished from investigating. There was no further comment.