Improving the quality of new build homes

In February 2024, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published its final report into housebuilding; it highlighted a range of problems with the market, including the quality of new homes and their customer satisfaction levels. The report stated that ‘some purchasers of new homes face problems in relation to the prevalence of defects, and the effectiveness with which they are rectified.’

The findings of the report are reflective of the public’s perception of new-build homes which is largely negative; in a survey conducted by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), a third of UK adults said they had a ‘low level of trust’ in housebuilders, while 63% were very or somewhat concerned about potential issues with new-build housing.

To improve quality and redress routes for customers, the CMA recommended that the UK government ‘develops and approves a single mandatory consumer code for all housebuilders operating in GB’. It also proposed that the New Homes Ombudsman Scheme is activated. These two recommendations were accepted by the government in October 2024. 

A single consumer code

Consumer codes are not a new concept to the construction industry; in fact, there are already many that exist, including the Consumer Code for Home Builders, the Consumer Code for New Homes and the New Homes Quality Code (NHQC). However, the CMA highlighted that, with many codes in use, ‘the obligations of a housebuilder in marketing, selling, and providing aftercare on a new build home, and therefore the protection afforded to consumers, can vary.’ Hence, a single mandatory consumer code was recommended to ‘ensure that all housebuilders are held to account to a consistent set of quality standards’.

New Homes Quality Board (NHQB)

The details of the single consumer code are still to be announced, but the CMA recommended that the work of the NHQB could act as a base from which the UK government can work. The NHQB developed the NHQC which around 200 developers are already operating under, so it is likely that the single mandatory code will be an evolution of this. Full details about the code of practice can be found here, but there are 10 guiding principles: Fairness; Safety; Quality; Service; Responsiveness; Transparency; Independence; Inclusivity; Security and Compliance.

Ombudsman scheme

When the NHQB was established in 2021, it commissioned the New Homes Ombudsman Service (NHOS) to offer a route of redress for customers. It is a free, independent service which can impartially investigate and resolve complaints about new homes. The NHOS is currently only available to those who have bought a new-build from a housebuilder registered with the NHQB. When the Ombudsman scheme is made mandatory by the government, there would be a single complaints procedure for all new-build owners.

A step forward?

The housebuilding industry is now awaiting further information from the government on the implementation of the mandatory consumer code. It is hoped that, when the changes come into force, public perception of new-build homes will start to improve.