Standing up for consumers: Housebuilders must belong to a New Homes Ombudsman says All Parliamentary Group

LABC has made a major contribution to a cross-party Parliamentary group that has now set out proposals for a New Homes Ombudsman to help provide better redress for dissatisfied home buyers.

In its report, published on June 26 2018, the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Excellence in the Built Environment calls on the government to make it mandatory for all housebuilders to belong to an independent ombudsman scheme.

The report, Better Redress for Homebuyers, says that a New Homes Ombudsman should be independent, free to consumers and provide a quick resolution to disputes.  The report also recommends that government, warranty providers, housebuilders and consumer groups work together to draw up a code of practice which would be used by the New Homes Ombudsman to adjudicate on disputes.

The report is the result of the group’s latest Inquiry which investigated how an ombudsman scheme could operate, following its earlier report in July 2016, on the quality and workmanship of new housing in England. That report, More Homes, Fewer Complaints, called for a New Homes Ombudsman after the Inquiry revealed a high level of frustration and disappointment from buyers of new homes, both in terms of the number of defects that new homes often had on handover, and also the problems they encountered in getting them fixed.

This latest Inquiry once again revealed the confusing landscape consumers face when they try to get redress for building defects, with a plethora of warranties, housebuilding codes and complaints procedures, none of which put the consumer first.

“Buying a new home is stressful enough but buying a defective one, as we heard from submissions and witnesses, can take a massive toll on people’s wellbeing as they wrestle with an almost Kafkaesque system seemingly designed to be unhelpful,” said Richard Best, the group’s Vice Chair. “The purchaser of a new home in this country should be confident that they are buying a high-quality product, no matter where they are or who built it. Our proposals could help to make this a reality,” he said.

To reduce consumer confusion and help ensure consumer complaints are dealt with efficiently, the report is recommending that there is a single portal – or entry point – for ombudsman services spanning the entire residential sector, which would cover the conduct of estate agents through to social housing. Within this overarching service, there would be either a number of specialist ombudsmen or specialist divisions. One of these would cover new homes – and this is the aspect our report is concentrating on, with a view to establishing the case for a New Homes Ombudsman.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group proposes that all disputes taken to the New Homes Ombudsman should be noted in an annual report. Funding for the scheme would be paid for by a levy on housebuilders, with larger companies paying proportionately more.

The Group was chaired by Eddie Hughes, the Conservative MP for Walsall North, until June 13. He stepped down following his appointment as a Parliamentary Private Secretary at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. 

The Construction Industry Council provides the Secretariat for the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Excellence in the Built Environment.

Graham Watts OBE, Chief Executive of the Construction Industry Council, said: “We are delighted to give our backing to this report. Consumers buying new homes should be entitled to expect the same levels of aftercare and redress they would receive when purchasing any other new product. A New Homes Ombudsman will ensure this service is available to them.”

The recommendations have been presented to the MHCLG to form part of its consultation on proposals for a single housing ombudsman to cover the housing sector.