A cross-party group
of Parliamentarians has set out proposals for a New Homes Ombudsman to help
provide better redress for dissatisfied home buyers.
In its report,
published on June 26, 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
group’s 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 Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Excellence in
the Built Environment.
“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 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.
