Almost half of housebuilders ‘provide poor service’

Nearly half of homebuyers are unhappy with the after-sale service from their builder, despite claims by major firms that they are focusing on quality and customer care.

A survey of 1,000 homebuyers by the independent New Homes Review group  (NHR) found that 45% were not satisfied with the service. Nine out of 10 reported snags and more than a third said their move-in date was delayed.

The results follow a series of build quality scandals that have plagued big housebuilders. Bovis was found to be paying customers to move in to incomplete homes in 2017 and Persimmon failed to install safety-critical cavity barriers in timber-frame homes.

Both Persimmon and Bovis have undertaken major reviews of the way they build and deal with customers in the wake of the problems, while other builders have also made efforts to improve quality.

However, the second annual NHR report found that a third of customers were not satisfied with the quality of the build of their home at the point at which they moved in. The same number said they were not satisfied they got value for money.

The report said that “new-home customers have very high expectations and,  with areas of the moving-in process falling short of those expectations, only around two-thirds of homeowners believe they get value for money”.

The findings are broadly in line with those reported last year, though the NHR said there had been small improvements in performance in some categories.

Kate Hughes at the NHR said: “It is pleasing to note that there are small improvements across a range of measures, though it remains frustrating that on-time completions and customer satisfaction levels are still some way short of where they ideally should be.

Paula Higgins, chief executive of Homeowners Alliance, said: ““The fact that only two-thirds of new homes are completed on time is disappointing and brings into question the view that buying new-build is hassle free.

”Developers need to stop overpromising and be more realistic about their timelines, and communicate this to customers. Homebuyers should not be out of pocket when faced with unnecessary delays.”