An ombudsman should be appointed for house buyers to deal with complaints about estate agents, a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly has proposed.

SDLP assemblyman Eamonn O'Neill has called for new regulations for the housing market to prevent Northern Ireland developing the "nightmare situation" of inflated house prices like Dublin and London.

With the property market enjoying a resurgence in the province since the emergence of the assembly, the South Down assemblyman said new legislation was needed to prevent people from experiencing problems finding a home.

He said: "House prices across Northern Ireland are escalating and with a jump in prices of 17.5% last year, this rapid increase is likely to continue."

"It is heartening to see numbers of people returning here after many years of trouble but it is vital that the assembly thinks ahead and takes action to learn from the harsh experience for home buyers in Dublin and London.

"With average house prices at �70,000, many first time buyers are already priced out of the market.

"What we don't want to see is a crisis situation like Dublin where what should be a mid-priced house is estimated at �400,000."

Property market

Mr O'Neill, who is intending to lead an SDLP delegation to meetings with the British and Irish Housing Ministers, said there should be moves to tighten up the existing codes of conduct for estate agents.

He also said an ombudsman for the property market would give people who felt they were unfairly treated by estate agents, a course of redress.

The SDLP assemblyman backed proposals for a compulsory seller's information pack containing necessary information and details about houses.

"Everyone has a right to their own home and a fair and stringent code of practice in its purchase," he said.

"What I propose is the adoption of an important recommendation made by the General Consumer Council aimed at improving the house buying process.

"A seller's information pack would omit a great deal of stress from the house buying process. It would include one survey per house which buyers would be able to access.

"It seems unfair and unnecessary that all potential buyers are required to pay for a costly survey on a property when many buyers, well into the house buying process, find out that the house is not financially viable and have to pull out of the sale."