Over three quarters of new home owners would recommend their builder The vast majority of Britain’s new home buyers would recommend their home builder to a friend, according to the Home Builders Federation’s (HBF’s) third annual Customer Satisfaction Survey released this week. The survey also showed that over three quarters (76%) of purchasers questioned in the 12 months from October 2006-September 2007 were satisfied with the overall quality of their home. Stewart Baseley, Executive Chairman of HBF says: “Ensuring that customers are happy with their new homes is of crucial importance to homebuilders. ”Whilst being ever conscious that more needs to be done, we are pleased that our survey results show consistently high levels of achievement across all areas.” Question responses included the following results (2007 results in brackets): 76% (76) said they were satisfied with the quality of their new home 75% (77) would recommend their builder to a friend 77% (77) were very or fairly satisfied with the service during the buying process 72% (73) regarded their builder as very or fairly good in relation to completing their home on time 72% (72) of buyers were satisfied with the standard of their home with the condition of their home on move-in day 64% (65) were very or fairly satisfied with the homebuilders’ service after purchasers moved in Download complete questionnaire results - Ends - Notes to Editors: 1. The Home Builders Federation (HBF) is the principal trade federation for private sector home builders and voice of the home building industry in England and Wales. The HBF’s 300 member firms account for some 80% of all new homes built in England and Wales in any one year, and include companies of all sizes, ranging from multi-national, household names through regionally based businesses to small local companies: www.hbf.co.uk 2. HBF’s survey is a self-completion postal census of the new home purchasers of 17 larger home builders constructing in excess of 500 homes per year. It covers purchasers legally completing during the 12 months October 2006 to September 2007. Purchasers were sent a questionnaire approximately eight weeks after legal completion. Any private tenants receiving a questionnaire were asked not to complete it. The survey work was carried out by the National House Building Council (NHBC) on behalf of HBF. 3. Of the 71,535 questionnaires mailed, 28,479 were returned, a response rate of 39.8%. Blank responses are excluded from calculation of the results for each question. The industry results are weighted to take account of each home builders’ total NHBC registrations. Individual company results are not weighted. Company results for Q7 and Q8 are presented in bands as follows: 90%+ 5 star 80% to less than 90% 4 star 70% to less than 80% 3 star 60% to less than 70% 2 star 50% to less than 60% 1 star For Q7, stars were allocated according to the proportions responding Very and Fairly satisfied. For Q8, stars were allocated according to the proportion responding ‘Yes’ (i.e. they would recommend their builder to a friend). The table on this page gives an indication of sampling error. The major benefits of the chosen system of star ratings are that they provide a fixed benchmark against which results can be compared from year to year, and the bands are transparent and easily understood. For media information, please contact: Steve Turner 020 7960 1606 07919 307 760 steve.turner@hbf.co.uk
