New Home Buyers Give Their Verdict On The UK's Major Housebuilders

The vast majority of owners of newly built homes are satisfied with their home but are less impressed with the service provided by their housebuilder. That is the conclusion of the first national customer satisfaction survey of the UK's top housebuilders unveiled today (19th October) by the Housing Forum.

The survey, jointly funded by the Housing Forum and the ODPM (DTLR), of over 10,000 people who bought a new home between January 1999 and March 2000 was carried out by the market research agency MORI and reveals that:

Overall

• 87% are satisfied with their new home : fewer (70%) are satisfied with the service from their housebuilder.

On the quality of the home

• Homebuyers rank value for money, the quality of the construction and finish, and the internal design and layout as the single most important issues.
• 97% are satisfied with the internal design and layout of their new home.

On the service provided by housebuilders

• The condition on moving in day, dealing with defects and snags, and meeting deadlines are most important.
• 81% reported housing defects and snags with their home and 48% of whom claimed that there were more defects than they would have expected.

General

• More people (52%) would recommend their housebuilder than would be critical of them (32%).
• Despite 56% saying they would want a newly built home again if they moved, only 25% believe new homes are better built than old ones.
• There are some variations in satisfaction levels across the regions of Great Britain. For example, housebuyers in Eastern England are the most likely to recommend their housebuilder.

The results, which are covered in greater detail in the attachments, also include a Housebuilder Rating Table which provides the comparable satisfaction rates for individual housebuilders who between them build over 80% of newly built homes. The rating table illustrates how the largest 59 individual housebuilders perform on the issues which homebuyers rank as most important. In presenting the table, the Housing Forum recognises that prospective purchasers are significantly influenced by location and price, issues which are not addressed in the survey. Therefore, the builders are listed in alphabetical order

Commenting on the survey, Sir Michael Pickard, Chairman of the Housing Forum, said:

"The clear picture that emerges from this first survey is that overall the housebuilding industry is performing well, but there is room for improvement.

"This sets a benchmark by which we can compare future performance and we intend to conduct a similar survey next year.

"Prior to publication we tested the Housebuilder Rating Table with consumer focus groups and they confirmed that the way in which it is presented provided a very useful tool when considering a new home purchase.

"In his Rethinking Construction report published two years ago Sir John Egan highlighted the importance of customer focus and the need for continuous improvement in the industry. This survey is therefore consistent with the Housing Forum's mission."

Welcoming the survey, Construction Minister, Nick Raynsford MP said:

"I congratulate all those involved in bringing this survey to fruition. It is a major step forward in helping the industry meet customer expectations."

"By and large the survey indicates that housebuilders are providing a high level of satisfaction against a background of continually rising customer aspirations."

"This survey provides a benchmark for the industry to examine ways in which it can continue to drive up standards in future years."

Martin Donohue, Chief Executive of Housebuilders Westbury Plc, and the Housing Forum Board Member who chaired the Customer Satisfaction Survey Working Group said:

"We hope this survey will help consumers make a more informed choice when buying a new home in the future."

"Overall, the figures show that there is general satisfaction with the new homes people buy but there are some aspects, particularly the after sales service and the industry's ability to meet deadlines, which are cause for concern and in need of improvement."

"The industry is committed to improving its performance and this survey will be an important driver in that process. I am certain that housebuilders will be carefully examining the findings to look at the areas in which they can improve."

Leslie Sopp, Head of Market Research at Consumers' Association, who also served on the Working Group, added:

"Buying a house is the most important and expensive purchase in the life of many consumers, yet up till now there has been little reliable comparable performance information based on real house purchaser experience made available to them. This survey fills that gap."

"Feedback from additional focus group research undertaken by MORI shows that the Housebuilder Rating Table will be welcomed by prospective purchasers of new houses."

"Consumers' Association welcomes this major survey, and looks forward to it being made widely available to prospective purchasers, and spurring on the housing industry to continue to improve the quality of houses and service delivery."

Technical details

1. The Housing Forum was established in 1999 following Sir John Egan's 'Rethinking Construction' report and aims to promote innovation and performance improvement within the house-building sector. It is supported by the ODPM (DTLR), the Housing Corporation and a broad membership representing a wide range of interests within the sector.
2. Market research specialists MORI have conducted the survey. MORI interviewed 10,283 owners of newly built homes across Great Britain between 7 August - 27 September 2000, by telephone. The sample was randomly selected from databases provided by NHBC and Zurich - the two companies who provide warranty cover for nearly all newly built homes. Data weighted by sales volume of housebuilders to reflect national population of purchasers on databases.
3. All housebuilders who provide 300 or more new homes a year were covered by the survey. In total, they account for nearly 80% of the new homes market.