Body will help strengthen new-build buyers protections
A body helping to drive up standards for new-build homes and strengthen protections for buyers has been launched.
Members of the New Homes Quality Board (NHQB) include those representing consumer bodies,housebuilders,warrantyprovidersandthefinancesector.
Chaired by Natalie Elphicke MP, the board will oversee the introduction of a new industry code of practice in the months ahead, placing more responsibility on developers to deliver quality homes and better consumer outcomes.
A free-to-access New Homes Ombudsman Service (NHOS) will support buyers when there are disputes.
The ombudsman will not cover cases retrospectively. It will only cover homes reserved from the date a developer registerswith the board and signs up to the new arrangements.
The new homes code of practice will place more demands on builders from the sales process through to two years from when buyers move into their new home.
It will require developers to have effective complaints procedures in place, with specified timelines to address any issues with a new home to the consumer' s satisfaction or they will be potentially subject to a referral to the NHOS.
A consultation process on the code is taking place.
The new arrangements should be operational later this year, with the ambition that they will apply across the United Kingdom.
In 2016, a report from the Allparty Parliamentary Group for Excellence in the Built Environment highlighted a need to improve consumer redress and introduce a new homes ombudsman service.
Discussions were held in Westminster to ensure measures align with the draft Building Safety Bill to improve building and fire safety following the Grenfell Tower fire in London.
Theuk government has been criticised over its handling of the cl adding crisis, with residents of buildings with flammable cl adding saying they have been left trapped in "worthless" homes.
But Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently insisted the Government is "getting on with the job" of helping lease holders, adding in the House of Commons: "We're making it very clear to the mortgage industry that they should be supporting people living in such accommodation ."