The Office of Fair Trading came under pressure today to investigate firms that 'scam' consumers into buying small plots of rural land on the promise of high returns.

The watchdog received a formal request from Liberal Democrat MP Greg Mulholland to launch a probe into landbanking - a practice which campaigners say rips off investors while carving up the countryside.

Landbankers offer clients small strips of land under the pretext that they will see the value of their investment multiply once planning permission is granted to build houses.

But in reality, consumers are often left counting the cost as permission to build never materialises and they are lumbered with a small slice of land which they have paid well over the odds for.

(Via ThisisMoney.co.uk. To read the full story, click here)


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