There are lots of things that can go wrong during the construction of a new build home and the moving in process, at a time when homebuyers really don’t need the extra stress.
To ease such stressful incidents, there should be procedures in place ensuring that you have an official route for complaints – and that you can escalate a dispute with the developer if your complaints aren’t resolved to the appropriate standard.
However, this depends on whether your developer is registered with a consumer code that holds them to a higher standard of integrity, enforcing a higher quality of construction work and customer service. Here are some of the consumer codes you should check for before committing to purchasing a new house from a new build developer.
New Homes Quality Board (NHQB)
The New Homes Quality Board sets out a New Homes Quality Code (NHQC) to fill in the perceived gaps in protections for homebuyers throughout the sales process, from initial marketing to aftersales care.
The code applies ten fundamental principles (fairness, safety, quality, service, responsiveness, transparency, independence, inclusivity, security, and compliances) across four sections:
- Selling A New Home – avoidance of misleading information or high-pressure tactics, providing clear and honest information about the details of the home and any assisted schemes available.
- Legal Documents, Inspection, And Completion – setting fair standards for reservation agreements, cooling-off periods, cancellations, and contracts of sale (including pre-completion inspections, terminations, and conditions for legal completion).
- After-Sales, Complaints, And Ombudsman – providing comprehensive and accessible after-sales customer service for a minimum of two years, including a ‘snagging period’ and subsequent complaints procedure.
- Solvency And Jurisdiction – ensuring that the developer and seller are insured to protect against insolvency and have the capacity to meet the obligations of the code and complaints resolution decisions made by its ombudsman.
The NHQB has its own New Homes Ombudsmanfor referring complaints by the homebuyer that the developer could not resolve within the timeframe established by their own complaints procedure. More serious complaints (such as major defects) may need to be referred to another body (e.g. the Building Safety Regulator) for significant redress.
Consumer Code for New Homes (CCNH)
The Chartered Trading Standards Institute has approved this code for setting high standards in marketing and selling new homes and providing customer care after the sale. It features twenty-four requirements for registered developers, which are categorised across six stages:
- Adopting The Code – setting up suitable systems, training staff, using compliant advertising.
- Pre-Contract Stage – providing information about structural warranties, reservation agreements, part-exchange schemes, and healthy and safety for onsite visits.
- Exchange Of Contract Stage – requiring minimum fair standards for the contract of sale, including accurate timelines for completion and handover, and deposit protection details.
- Post-Occupation Stage – governing the handover of the property and maintaining an after-sales service for continued safe occupation.
- Complaints And Disputes – providing a straightforward and speedy resolution process if things don’t go to plan, including mediation and an independent resolution scheme.
- Monitoring Effectiveness – reporting activities and customer feedback to CCNH.
This code aims to help both homebuyers and developers by giving builders an up-to-date code of conduct to follow, and giving consumers a platform for complaints resolution and remedial action if something goes wrong that the developer is responsible for.
The CCNH provides a Dispute Resolution Scheme operated by the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR), a member of the Ombudsman Association, which handles complaints between homebuyers and developers that could not be sufficiently resolved in a timely manner.
Consumer Code for Home Builders (CCHB)
This code applies to home builders registered with four specific home warranty bodies in the UK. It sets out nineteen requirements for marketing and selling homes and providing aftersales customer service, which include:
- Training and complying with the code, and displaying the logo prominently.
- Providing specific pre-purchase information (including warranty and reservation terms).
- Regulating terms of sales contracts (including timing, termination rights, and deposits).
- Providing after-sales services during occupation (including health and safety on sites with ongoing construction where the development is not yet completed).
- Implementing a complaints procedure and dispute resolution system in co-operation with qualified professional advisers.
The Consumer Code for Home Builders ensures that developers registered with the code and one of its home warranty bodies follow best practices for treating homebuyers fairly at every stage, providing reliable information and levels of service.
If the home builder breaches the code, the homebuyer can follow the code’s complaints procedure, and the home builder may be sanctioned in addition to being made to resolve the complaint. Cases can be filed through an Independent Dispute Resolution Scheme.
Resolution options for latent structural defects
The schemes mentioned above only apply if the developer you are buying a new home from is a registered member, and was registered prior to the date on which you reserved a property with them. This is why it’s important to check whether the developer or seller is registered with a consumer code scheme before reserving a new home.
These codes also only apply for up to two years after the property’s legal completion, and typically do not cover secondhand properties (e.g. part exchanges or resales) or self-builds. This is why it’s also important to ensure there’s a back-up policy, such as a new house warranty.
While developers registered with a consumer code are required to provide a structural warranty as part of their code of practice, all developers are required by law to provide a new build warranty under the Building Safety Act 2022. This means that even if you can’t turn to an independent resolution scheme through a consumer code to complain about major problems with the house’s construction, you can contact your new house warranty provider.
These policies can hold the developer responsible for fixing minor defects for the first couple of years, and then provide a route for latent structural defect claims for up to fifteen years from the date of completion. This process can be much faster than following a consumer complaints procedure and waiting for a referral to an ombudsman – so don’t forget to look into your developer’s new build warranty, too.
