Customer satisfaction with the quality of their new homes has continued to fall, according to housebuilders’ own annual research.
The results of the survey for 2017 and published at the end of March show that 84% of respondents were satisfied with their new home – a 1% fall on last year. Satisfaction has fallen since 2010/11 when it peaked at 90%.
The Home Builders Federation (HBF) says that the industry acknowledges the slight fall in the average customer satisfaction score and “is committed to addressing it”. It points out that the number of new homes built has increased by 36% in the last three years and that “the industry is recruiting and training tens of thousands of new staff, including apprentices and more experienced workers from other sectors.
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A total of 98% said they had reported snags and problems with their new homes since moving in – and of these 25% said they had reported more than 16, with 38% saying they had had more problems than they had expected.
The results come as housing quality continues to be put in the spotlight. In February housebuilder Bovis Homes announced it was slowing its construction programme by up to 15% this year to boost overall build quality and had set aside £7m to cover remedial work and compensation for poor quality construction on its homes.
The move came as the group admitted customer service standards “fell significantly” during 2016 after being dogged by complaints about homes sold unfinished and with electrical and plumbing faults.
As a result, Bovis’s star rating – which is issued to all major housebuilders following the results of the survey – has been downgraded from three stars to two.
This is the 12th year the survey has been carried out. More than 90,000 surveys were sent out and 58% of them were returned.
Other results from the survey revealed:
- 79% said they were satisfied with the service provided during the housebuilding process;
- 92% were happy with the internal design;
- 86% were happy with the external design.
Meanwhile, in changes coming in this month, Building Control bodies will be required to provide site inspection records to the building owner, on request, for all building work that has been issued with a final/completion certificate or where an initial notice has been cancelled – in a bid to improve quality.
Until now the reports compiled during the building of new houses have been unavailable to the new purchaser. The reports detail the progress of the house at key build stages and include any defects identified by the independent professional approved inspector.
Making these reports available will also highlight how many quality checks have been made and at what stage.
