More builders in the UK using feedback from buyers of new homes

The data shows that following targeted efforts by the industry to drive up standards, the number of builders using NHBC’s customer satisfaction reports has doubled in the space of one year.
 
Major companies including Barratt, Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon are among the 21 firms now taking advantage of the system. Between October 2012 and September 2013, these builders reviewed feedback from over 28,000 home owners, an increase of more than 17,000 from the previous year.
 
Introduced in 2004 in response to the Barker Review, NHBC has been carrying out home owner surveys and analysing the data for over nine years, sending out over 100,000 satisfaction surveys a year at eight weeks and nine months after legal completion.
 
The eight week survey results are used to power the annual HBF five star rating scheme, which have resulted in huge improvements in customer satisfaction. The number of house builders scoring over 90%, and therefore achieving a five star rating, in terms of being recommended increased from one in the first year of the survey to 22 builders last year.
 
Last year, NHBC launched a new online platform which enables builders who take the reports to easily review their feedback in much more detail than before and also compare their customer satisfaction levels with those of their rivals.
 
For builders, there is also the opportunity to add a number of bespoke questions to the surveys, allowing them to tailor the questionnaire to meet their specific requirements, be it to find out more about the sales team on site, customer services at head office or running in issues following completion.
 
‘The big increase in builders using our customer satisfaction surveys is a clear sign of how seriously the industry takes the views of new home owners,’ said Mike Quinton, chief executive of the NHBC.
 
‘Customer feedback is one of the best ways to ensure builders use their time and resources effectively and helps to drive up standards across the board.  Builders are using our unrivalled system to readily access their homeowner’s feedback, drill down into results on a site to site basis and benchmark themselves against their rivals,’ he added.