Nine Out Of Ten New Homebuyers Would Recommend Their Housebuilder

The Home Builders Federation has published its annual ‘National new home customer satisfaction survey’ and found that 89% of new home buyers would “recommend their builder to a friend”. This is the third year in a row that buyer satisfaction has increased, up 2% on last year and 5% in the past three years.

These latest numbers cover the 12 months from October 2018 to September 2019. With the significant increase in new homes supply over the past few years, this year saw more than double the number of surveys issued compared to five years ago with 99,919 questionnaires sent out, and 63,418 returned – a response rate of 63%.

Since the survey was launched more than a decade ago, scores in all question areas have improved significantly. The survey has provided a barometer for the industry and for individual builders to gauge performance and drive improvements.

Company star rating results for the “Would you recommend your builder to a friend?” question are presented in bands dependant on the number of homes they build. Here are the full results of the latest HBF ‘National new home customer satisfaction survey’:

Mark Booth, managing director of Best Small Housebuilder Hayfield, said: “Hayfield only started trading in 2017. To achieve a five-star rating in the first possible year we could participate in the HBF’s star-rating scheme means the world to us. When we win awards, it is because a panel of judges has ranked us ahead of our peers, but this accolade is the ultimate seal of approval from our customers. We take immense pride in building hand-crafted homes with exceptional character. Becoming a five-star builder is the result of our construction and customer care departments working tirelessly together to deliver the best possible home and service to our customers.”

Peter Truscott, CEO, Crest Nicholson, commented: “We engage with customers throughout their home purchase and beyond to ensure their experience with Crest Nicholson is excellent. The HBF customer satisfaction survey rating gives us valuable feedback on how successfully we are delivering the great quality, support and after-care our customers expect and deserve. We are delighted to have achieved a five-star rating and will continue to work hard to further improve our customers’ experience.”

Jason Glover, operations director of Davidsons, said: “The feedback provided by the survey along with our internal systems has helped to steer Davidsons with the aim of continuous improvement in both standards and service that our customers can and do expect. The recognition of five stars once again is just reward for all of the initiatives that we have introduced and the hard work and dedication of all of our team. They can be very proud of this achievement.”

Rob Boughton, CEO of Thakeham, commented: “Since the company’s inception in 2003, the Thakeham team has been consistently dedicated to producing outstanding quality alongside positive customer service experience. Recognition of this hard work is a really proud moment for all of us at Thakeham and also serves as fantastic motivation to maintain the great results we’ve achieved.”

Greg Fitzgerald, chief executive Vistry Group: “We are a business that has transformed itself over the last three years and the HBF survey has been important in charting that transformation to the outside world. Delivering that change is down to putting the customer at the centre of everything we do and having great people in place to make the dream a reality. We have ripped up the record books in regaining our five-star status.”

Gwyn Jones, managing director at Macbryde Homes: “This accolade is based on the direct feedback of the people who’ve bought the homes we build and given that it’s independently collated and verified, we’re enormously delighted to have been formally recognised for what we already felt confident of. Homebuyers are known to refer to this information when they’re making important purchasing decisions. As we continue to grow aggressively across not only North Wales, but also the North West of England, we feel sure that our 5-star rating will stand us in good stead to provide new homeowners with the reassurance that they’re purchasing a quality new home.”

Dave Smith, managing director of St. Modwen Homes: “Our homebuyers are at the forefront of everything St. Modwen Homes does as a business, so it’s a proud moment for us to receive a 5-star rating from the HBF’s latest customer satisfaction survey results. This recognition is testament to the significant investment we have made to look after our customers throughout their home buying journey and we will continue to use the survey’s unique insights to build on this success and ensure we consistently deliver a best-in-class customer experience, while driving increased satisfaction, loyalty and advocacy.”

You can find the full report here.