New-Build Housing: Construction Defects - Issues and Solutions (England)

BRIEFING PAPER
Number 07665, 1 August 2019
New-build housing:
construction defects - By Wendy Wilson
Christopher Rhodes
issues and solutions
(England)
Contents:
1. Customer satisfaction with
new-build homes
2. Regulating building standards
3. Post-completion defects:
owners’ remedies
4. Problems and potential
solutions
5. The Government & industry
response on consumer
redress
6. Construction industry: skills,
innovation and capacity
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2 New-build housing: construction defects - issues and solutions (England)
Contents
Summary 3
1. Customer satisfaction with new-build homes 5
2. Regulating building standards 8
2.1 Building Regulations 8
2.2 Enforcing Building Regulations 9
2.3 Reviewing the Building Regulations and regulatory framework 12
3. Post-completion defects: owners’ remedies 13
3.1 The defect liability period 13
3.2 Warranties 13
3.3 Consumer Code for Homebuilders 13
4. Problems and potential solutions 15
4.1 The Building Control Regime 15
4.2 How effective are warranties? 17
4.3 Buying new-build homes: the balance of power 18
5. The Government & industry response on consumer redress 22
5.1 New Homes Ombudsman: Technical Consultation 26
5.2 CIOB: call for evidence on construction quality 26
6. Construction industry: skills, innovation and capacity 29
6.1 Labour market and skills 29
6.2 Innovation in construction 30
6.3 Housing maintenance 32
6.4 Finance for house building 33
6.5 Predictable demand 34
6.6 The APPG’s recommendations 2016 34
6.7 The Farmer Review’s recommendations 2016 34
6.8 Construction Sector Deal 37
Wendy Wilson Sections 1 to 5

Christopher Rhodes Section 6
Cover page image copyright Louise Smith

3 Commons Library Briefing, 1 August 2019
Summary
A good deal of political attention is focused on the need to increase the rate of house
building, but alongside this are growing concerns about the quality of the houses under
development. MPs are encountering constituents who have bought new homes and who
are struggling to achieve satisfactory resolution when defects are reported to builders. The
role of building control officers in ensuring compliance with the Building Regulations was
the subject of Westminster Hall debates in 2015 and 2016. A Westminster Hall debate on
16 October 2017 focused on warranties issued by the National House Building Council
(NHBC). There have been some high profile examples of blocks facing demolition/major
repair work only a short time after completion due to construction defects, for example
Solomon’s Passage in Southwark, built in 2010.
In this context, the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Excellence in the Built
Environment carried out an open inquiry into the quality and workmanship of new
housing for sale in England and published More Homes, Fewer Complaints in July 2016.
The APPG identified a risk around efforts to incentivise house building for homeownership
if similar attention is not directed at ensuring consumers are buying “new homes that are
fit for purpose, are of enduring quality, perform to the requisite levels of maintenance,
cost and energy efficiency and give peace of mind, pride and enjoyment to those who
occupy them.”
More Homes, Fewer Complaints included several recommendations aimed at:
• improving the systems in place to check quality and workmanship;
• developing a new quality culture within the construction industry;
• improving customers’ means of redress through the establishment of a New Homes
Ombudsman and a review of the warranty system; and
• improving the information customers receive about their new home, including
standardised contracts and a right to inspect before completion.
The APPG felt that these measures would address imbalances in the relative bargaining
positions of builders and house buyers.
This was not the first time that the standard of newly built housing had come under
scrutiny. The Callcutt Review of Housebuilding Delivery (2007) recorded concerns about
caveats included within warranties provided on new homes. It was felt that they may not
offer adequate protection for consumers. The Office of Fair Trading’s 2008 study of the
homebuilding market also considered the effectiveness of warranties. One response was
to recommend the introduction of a code of conduct to meet consumer protection
concerns. The industry responded with a Consumer Code for Homebuilders, now in its
fourth edition. However, the APPG concluded that the Code “does not appear to give
homebuyers the safeguards we think they should expect.”
The former Housing Minister, Alok Sharma, responded to the Westminster Hall debate on
16 October 2017 saying “it is clear that home builders need to step up and make quality
and design a priority. That includes ensuring that, where something goes wrong, house
builders and warranty providers fulfil their obligations to put things right.” He described
several actions which were being taken forward:
• The Government is “seriously considering” the APPG’s recommendations.
• The House Builders Federation (HBF) will issue a formal response to the APPG’s
report.
• The HBF has set up a working group and “will take forward action to provide better
information to customers, simplify the legal process and create a clearer and simpler
process for signing off new homes as complete.”
• The HBF working group has commissioned an independent report on consumer
redress for new homebuyers.
• The Minister said he would review the independent report “with a view to ensuring
that improved redress arrangements are introduced to provide greater protection to
consumers on a broad range of issues, with a greater degree of independence from
the industry.”
• On calls for a new housing ombudsman, the Minister said, “I am considering that
option very seriously indeed.”
In June 2017 the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) set up a Commission of Past
Presidents to consider construction quality standards following the closure of 17 schools in
Edinburgh earlier that year. The fire at Grenfell Tower prompted the Commission to
launch a call for evidence in October 2017. The Chair of the Commission, Paul Nash, said
that the tragic events at Grenfell underlined “the need for an urgent review of the way in
which quality is managed in our industry”. Evidence was accepted up to
15 December 2017. 75% of the 200 construction industry respondents to the call for
evidence reportedly believed that “the industry’s current management of quality is
inadequate”.
On 29 November 2017 Sajid Javid, then Secretary of State at DCLG (now the Ministry of
Housing, Communities and Local Government, MHCLG), told a group of housing
professionals that it was vital that the quality of new build homes continues to improve.
He said that the Government would consult in 2018 and “look at options to explore how
the overlap between responsibilities can be improved. This would help to avoid the
confusion faced by consumers over where to seek help”. Strengthening consumer redress
in the housing market: a consultation ran between 18 February and 16 April 2018.
The APPG published Better redress for home buyers in June 2018 which focused on how a
New Homes Ombudsman could drive up standards and improve consumer redress.
On 1 October 2018, the Government announced an intention to create a New
Homes Ombudsman to “champion homebuyers, protect their interests and hold
developers to account”. The summary of responses to Strengthening consumer redress
in the housing market, together with the Government response, was published in January
2019. There is an intention to create a new Housing Complaints Resolution
Service as a single point of access to redress services across all tenures.
June 2019 saw publication of a technical consultation, Redress for Purchasers of New
Build Homes and the New Homes Ombudsman. Submissions are invited up to 22 August
2019; responses will inform future legislation.
This paper considers the existing building control regime and customers’ means of redress
when faced with defects in newly built housing. It summarises the findings of the APPG’s
inquiry and recommended actions as well as the Government and industry response.
1. Customer satisfaction with

new-build homes
Kate Barker’s 2004 Review of Housing Supply called on the house
building industry to demonstrate increased levels of customer
satisfaction:
The House Builders Federation should develop a strategy to
increase the proportion of house buyers who would recommend
their housebuilder from 46 per cent to at least 75 per cent by
2007. Over the same period, levels of customer satisfaction with
service quality should rise from 65 per cent to at least 85 per
cent. 1
In response, the Home Builders Federation (HBF) and National House
The 2017/18 annual
Building Council (NHBC) began to conduct national annual surveys of survey of house
house builders in 2005. The survey is described as a “self-completion builders found that
census completed by the purchasers of new build homes.” The most 86% of
recent survey was conducted over 12 months from October 2017 to respondents were
September 2018 – the results were published in March 2019. The fairly or very
survey records that 86% of respondents were very, or fairly, satisfied satisfied with the
with the overall quality of their new home and that 87% would quality of their new
recommend their home builder to a friend. 2 This is an improvement on homes compared
the 85% and 86% scores recorded in 2018. 3 The HBF and NHBC had with 85% in
2016/17.
acknowledged a fall-back in scores recorded in the 2015/16 survey:
The industry acknowledges the slight fall in the average
satisfaction score – down 1% on last year – and is committed to
addressing it. Individual companies are reviewing their customer
journeys; whilst collectively the industry is focusing on developing
processes that will ensure it can further increase satisfaction levels
in the coming years, at the same time as providing even more,
desperately needed homes. 4
The 2017/18 survey refers to improved results:
After seeing satisfaction levels fall for four years in succession,
something the industry was heavily criticised for, last year saw a
reversal of the trend across all question areas including a 2%
improvement in the key ‘recommend’ questions.
This year’s further improvement is a clear demonstration that the
intense focus within the industry on build quality and customer
service is continuing to deliver. The improvements in satisfaction
levels have been achieved as output has continued to increase.
The past five years have seen an unprecedented 78% increase in
housing supply, and the industry recognises that high levels of
build quality and service must be maintained as volumes rise. 5
The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Excellence in the Built
Environment considered the issue of customer satisfaction as part of its
2016 inquiry into the quality and workmanship of new housing in
1
HM Treasury, Delivering Stability – securing our future housing needs, 2004,
recommendation 32
2
National New Home Consumer Satisfaction Survey, March 2019
3
4
5
England. According to the APPG, although 86% of respondents to the

There has been an
2014/15 annual survey were satisfied with the quality of their new increase in the
homes, that still left a substantial number of buyers who were unhappy number of new-
with quality standards in their new homes. 6 93% of respondents to the build home owners
survey published in 2016 had reported problems to their builders. 7 The reporting problems
2015/16 survey published in March 2017 recorded an increase to 98% 8 to their builders.
while the 2016/17 survey recorded a further increase to 99%. 9 25% of
respondents to the 2016/17 survey had reported 16+ problems to their
builder. 10 The 2017/18 survey again records that 99% of respondents
had reported problems to their builder; 26% of respondents had
reported 16+ problems to their builder. 11
Responding to a Westminster Hall debate on 16 October 2017, the then
Minister for Housing, Alok Sharma, commented on the HBF survey
results published in March 2017:
As my hon. Friend pointed out, delivering good quality homes
does not always happen in the sector. He referred to the Home
Builders Federation survey, so perhaps I can elaborate and share
some further statistics from it. The latest HBF survey concludes
that 98% of new homeowners report problems to the builder. Of
course, some will be snagging issues, but although some
problems may be hard to prevent initially, 38% of buyers had
more problems than they expected. A staggering 25% of buyers
reported more than 16 problems. The latest survey shows that
84% of new homebuyers would recommend their builder to a
friend. That figure has fallen steadily from 90% in the past four
years. It means that 16% of new homebuyers do not think that
they have a quality product. In any other market, that would spell
the end of the most poorly performing companies. That has rarely
been the case in the house building sector. 12
The APPG’s inquiry also referred to a 2015 Homeowner Survey by
HomeOwners Alliance and BLP Insurance which found that “the British
public are shunning new homes because they are seen by some as
being poorly built, characterless and with too small rooms.” 13
In More Homes, Fewer Complaints (July 2016), the APPG called on
housebuilders to “make the annual customer satisfaction survey more
independent to boost customer confidence.” The 2017/18 survey notes
that the survey methodology was reviewed by Ipsos MORI in 2017:
They concluded that the survey approach and processes are consistent with
best practice and that it is ‘fit for purpose’. Recommended changes have been
implemented for the new survey year. 14
Information on complaints received by Local Authority Building Control

(LABC) in England and Wales over the previous 36 months was shared
6
APPG for Excellence in the Built Environment, More Homes, Fewer Complaints, July
2016
7
8
9
10
11
12
HC Deb 16 October 2017 c692
13
2015 Homeowner Survey by HomeOwners Alliance and BLP Insurance (accessed on
17 August 2016)
14
with the APPG’s inquiry. At that time, LABC reported an increase in the
number of “disgruntled homeowners” approaching local authorities for
assistance in sorting out defects. 15
An analysis by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) in 2016, which
Some evidence
compared buyers’ satisfaction levels with their new homes with levels of suggests that when
housebuilding, concluded that: housebuilding rates
…there is a clear pattern that demonstrates that more homes increase, levels of
built correlates with a decline in homebuyers’ satisfaction in terms homebuyers’
of quality. The most obvious increase in customer satisfaction satisfaction with
came in 2008-09, one year after the recession began to bite and quality falls.
at a time when housing completions were beginning to fall. 16
A policy briefing published by Shelter in March 2017, New Civic
Housebuilding Report, argued that speculative house building
“systematically drives down the things communities value in
development, such as build quality, infrastructure and affordable
homes, and systematically drives up land values.” 17 Alongside this
report, Shelter published the results of an online YouGov survey of
3,583 English adults between 13 and 15 February 2017, which found
that 51% of home owners said they had experienced problems with
their new homes:
English members of the sample had bought a newly built home in
the last ten years (since 2007). Of these, 123 (51%) said that they
had either experienced some major problems with their new
home, or a lot of major problems with their new home, as a direct
result of the initial construction. Examples of major problems
given were poorly constructed or unfinished fixtures/ fittings/
doors, problems with the exterior of the building, faults with
utilities. 18
However, the National New Home Consumer Satisfaction Survey for
2017/18 notes that improved satisfaction scores have been achieved
while housing supply is increasing. 19
Research commissioned by the Local Government Association, published
in August 2017, reported that at current build rates the average house
in England will have to last 2,000 years, while “one in 10 new home
buyers are dissatisfied with the quality of their new home and one in six
would not recommend their house builder to a friend.” 20
15
2016, p20
16
2016, p19
17
Shelter, New Civic Housebuilding Report, March 2017, p5
18
Shelter Press Release, 2 March 2017
19
20
LGA, Confidence in new builds falls while average house in England will have to last
2,000 years, 18 August 2017
2. Regulating building standards

2.1 Building Regulations
Building standards are governed by the Building Regulations Act 1984
All new build
and regulations (Building Regulations) made under this Act. The
housing must
regulations are aimed at securing the health, safety, welfare and comply with the
convenience of people using or affected by a building, and of Building
conserving water and energy and reducing waste. The Building Regulations.
Regulations represent minimum standards - the Callcutt Review of
Housebuilding Delivery (2007) said that compliance was “necessary but
not sufficient, to ensure good quality.” 21
All newly built housing must comply with Building Regulations and must
receive building control approval. Local authorities are responsible for
enforcing building regulation. Approval can come directly from local
authority run building control services, or through private approved
inspectors (PAIs).
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG)
Building control
issues approved documents, available on the planning portal, which officers are focused
provide guidance on how to meet the required technical standards. The on compliance with
role of building control inspectors is to ensure that the technical the Building
standards are met - i.e. they perform a compliance role. The inspectors Regulations – they
are not responsible for monitoring build quality. This explained further do not monitor
on the Construction Industry Council Approved Inspectors Register build quality.
(CICAIR) website:
Building Regulations are minimum standards set by the Ministry of
Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) that
cover the design and construction of buildings. They are also
concerned with the health and safety of building users, energy
and water efficiency, and access and facilities for people with
disabilities.
With all building work, the owner and occupier of the
property or land in question is ultimately responsible for
complying with the relevant planning rules and building
regulations. The role of checking that Building Regulations are,
as far as can reasonably be determined, being complied with falls
to a Building Control Body – either an Approved Inspector or a
Local Authority. The person carrying out the work has the choice
of which Building Control Body to use.
Approved Inspectors are persons authorised under the Building
Act 1984 to carry out building control work in England and
Wales. Approved Inspectors are required to adhere to the
Construction Industry Council Approved Inspectors Register
(CICAIR) Code of Conduct for Approved Inspectors and follow the
Building Control Performance Standards in their working
practices.
The role of building control is to act as an independent third party
check and Approved Inspectors are required to take such steps as
are reasonable to enable the Approved Inspector to be satisfied,
21
Callcutt Review of Housebuilding Delivery, 2007, p71
within the limits of professional skill and care, that the applicable
aspects of the Building Regulations are complied with.
A number of inspections are usually carried out during the
building work. These are usually, but not necessarily, at specific
stages, such as foundations, damp proofing and on completion.
These inspections are carried out to check, but not to
guarantee, that the work complies with the Building
Regulations.
It is not the role of building control to:
• Provide quality control of the Works.
• Provide a ‘clerk of works’ service monitoring every stage of
the construction process.
• Provide a service to address issues such as the finish and
aesthetics of the Works where these are not Building
Regulation matters.
• Provide a service to offer contractual protection
between the person carrying out the work and the
parties engaged in the design and/or construction of
such work.
• Provide a guarantee of compliance with the Building
Regulations. The appointment of a Building Control
Body does not remove the obligation of the person
carrying out the work to achieve compliance. 22
Up to 2013, approved inspectors (AIs) were not able to take on work
until a development had signed up to a Government approved
Designated Warranty Scheme under the Warranty Link Rule. This
requirement was removed. At the same time, indemnity insurance
requirements for AIs were strengthened. Further details are set out in a
DCLG circular issued on 21 December 2012.
2.2 Enforcing Building Regulations

As noted above, local authorities are responsible for enforcing Building
Regulations. The planning portal summarises the approach as follows:
A local authority has a general duty to enforce the Building
Regulations in its area and will seek to do so by informal means
wherever possible. If informal enforcement does not achieve
compliance with the Regulations the local authority has two
formal enforcement powers which it may use in appropriate
cases.
First, if a person carrying out building work contravenes the
Building Regulations, the local authority may prosecute them in
the Magistrates' Court where an unlimited fine may be imposed
(sections 35 and 35A of the Building Act 1984). Prosecution is
possible up to two years after the completion of the offending
work. This action will usually be taken against the person carrying
out the work (builder, installer or main contractor).
Alternatively, or in addition, the local authority may serve an
enforcement notice on the building owner requiring alteration or
removal of work which contravenes the regulations (section 36 of
the 1984 Act). If the owner does not comply with the notice the
22
CICAIR website [accessed on 12 July 2019]
local authority has the power to undertake the work itself and
recover the costs of doing so from the owner.
A section 36 enforcement notice cannot be served on you after
the expiration of 12 months from the date of completion of the
building work. A local authority also cannot take enforcement
action under section 36 if the work which you have carried out is
in accordance with your full plans application which the authority
approved or failed to reject.
An appeal against a section 36 notice may be made to a
Magistrates’ Court under section 102 of the Building Act.
Where an approved inspector is providing the Building Control
Service, the responsibility for checking that the Building
Regulations are complied with during the course of your building
work will lie with that inspector. They will usually do this by
advising you.
However, approved inspectors do not have formal enforcement
powers. In a situation where the inspector considers your building
work does not comply with the Building Regulations and there is a
refusal to bring it into compliance the inspector will cancel the
initial notice. If no other approved inspector takes on the work,
the building control function will automatically be taken on by
your local authority. From this point on, your local authority will
also have enforcement powers set out above where it considers
this necessary. 23
If someone tries to sell a property where work has not complied with
the Building Regulations, this should come to light through local land
search enquiries.
Parliamentary Questions have probed whether there are plans to
improve the enforcement of building regulation, for example:
Jo Churchill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and
Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that building
safety regulations for new build housing is enforced.
Alok Sharma: The person undertaking building work is
responsible for compliance with the building regulations. All new
build housing is subject to supervision by a building control body,
who have a legal duty to take all reasonable steps to ascertain if
the building work complies with the relevant requirements of the
building regulations.
Local authorities have enforcement powers to order alteration or
removal of building work which contravenes the building
regulations and bring a prosecution in the Magistrates’ Court for
a breach of the building regulations. In 2015 the previous limit on
fines for breaches of building regulations was lifted so fines on
conviction for breach of the building regulations are now
unlimited. 24
Gordon Henderson led a Westminster Hall debate on building
regulations on 11 May 2016 during which he raised inadequate policing
of building standards. The Minister, James Wharton, responded:
On the whole, the system of building regulations in this country—
the system by which the work that builders do is monitored—is of
a good standard, but that does not mean that it does not go
23
MHCLG, planning portal [accessed on 9 August 2018]
24
Building Regulation: Written question – 6944, 25 September 2017
wrong at times. I recognise my hon. Friend’s concerns, particularly

given the terrible situation that he set out and the difficulties that
his constituent faced as a result of it.
[…]
It is appropriate that I first talk about the system that is in place
for redress when people find that the properties they have
purchased are not up to the standard that they expected. We
recommend that such a person first complains to the person who
carried out the work—the builder or the developer—and makes
known to them their concerns about the work that they believe to
be inadequate. Most responsible builders and developers will put
right work that is not to the expected standard.
Should that not work, the next level of complaint is to the
warranty provider if a new home warranty is in place. There are
many different providers—NHBC, which my hon. Friend
mentioned, is one of the largest—and they do a good job of
ensuring that the standards that people rightly expect when they
buy and move into a home are met, and that the system enables
them to raise concerns about work that has been done. The
consumer code for home builders provides protection if a home
was built by a home builder that is registered with one of the
supporting warranty bodies, such as NHBC, on or after 1 April
2010.
Should a constituent not find acceptable redress through those
routes, there is the option to bring a civil claim against the builder
in the civil courts and to pursue appropriate redress through the
legal process. I have received a number of complaints about the
process by which building control is carried out, but they are not
focused only on approved inspectors. Local authorities, just like
any other organisation, will not necessarily get building control
right every single time. The reality is that the processes and the
system that is in place allow these issues to be addressed at an
earlier stage. I have set out some of the options that exist to
enable redress to be found and problems to be rectified. 25
He went on to refer to the process through which the work of building
inspectors is regulated:
We also monitor and regulate the work that approved inspectors
do. At the heart of my hon. Friend’s concern, or at least one part
of it, is the way the approved inspectors system regime is working
for our constituents. The Construction Industry Council Approved
Inspectors Register is the approval body for approved inspectors,
and it has reviewed its activities. One of its recommendations was
that there be periodic audits of approved inspectors to ensure that
they are doing the work that we expect them to do, to the
standard that we expect them to do it. CICAIR started carrying
out audits last year to pick up issues with particular approved
inspectors—hopefully, before complaints are raised. The Building
Control Performance Standards Advisory Group has also
strengthened the standards that apply to both types of building
control bodies—local authorities and approved inspectors—to
give better targeting of building control work.
The role of building control can only ever be to be a spot-checking
service. The issuing of a building regulations compliance certificate
at the completion of work is not a complete guarantee of
compliance throughout the process; it is only a spot check that
25
WH Deb 11 May 2016 cc344-5
seeks to hold developers and builders to account and to ensure

that the standards that we expect are applied. 26
Building Control Performance Standards were first introduced in
July 1999 and were most recently reviewed and reissued in
January 2017.
2.3 Reviewing the Building Regulations and

regulatory framework
On 28 July 2017, following the Grenfell Tower fire, the Government
announced an independent review of Building Regulations and fire
safety. 27
The Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety: final
report was published on 17 May 2018. The Government provided a
response to the report on the same day. There was a further
announcement on 19 July 2018 focusing on action to improve fire
safety guidance.
The Government published Building a safer future: an implementation
plan on 18 December 2018. 28 Information on action being taken in this
area can be found in the Library paper: Building Regulations and Safety:
Review and Reforms.
26
WH Deb 11 May 2016 c346
27
DCLG, Independent review of building regulations and fire safety, 28 July 2017
28
CM 9739, 18 December 2018
3. Post-completion defects:
owners’ remedies
Defects identified before completion should be addressed before the
property is handed over. What happens in these circumstances will
depend on the detail of the contract between the buyer and the
developer.
If attempts to correct the defect within the defect liability period or
through a warranty claim are unsuccessful, owners may have to resort
to legal action for which professional legal advice should be sought.
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA 2015), which came into force on
Consumer law does
1 October 2015, does not apply to property. Specifically, section 2 of not apply to the
the CRA 2015 defines goods as “any tangible moveable items”; in other sale of immovable
words, the Act does not apply to purchases of immovable property, property.
such as land or a house. Similarly, the Sale of Goods Act 1979, which
the CRA 2015 replaced, did not apply to the conveyance of property.
3.1 The defect liability period

As a rule, responsibility for rectifying defects identified during this
period fall to the builder. The period usually lasts for two years after
completion. On expiry of this period owners will normally have to rely
on their warranty. Some warranty providers may assist owners if
builders fail to tackle problems identified during the defect liability
period.
3.2 Warranties
Most new-build properties are sold with a warranty lasting for around
ten years - e.g. the NHBC Buildmark warranty. Indeed, defects warranty
is de facto obligatory for new homes purchased with a mortgage as
lenders will not provide finance without it. These insurance policies
provide for the homeowner to claim against the policy for certain
defects arising within various notification periods. Warranty cover can
be limited to certain structural defects and may not cover issues related
to, for example, general wear and tear and cosmetic damage.
Buildmark covers new homes for ten years. It requires the house-
builders to put right anything arising in the first two years, provides a
mediation service for this, and insurance cover for the remaining years.
The insurance cover only has limited coverage for failure to meet
standards set by the Building Regulations. There are other schemes,
including for example Premier Guarantee and LABC Warranty.
3.3 Consumer Code for Homebuilders

Since April 2010 all homebuilders registered with the UK’s main home
warranty providers: NHBC; Premier Guarantee; and LABC Warranty,
have had to adhere to the Consumer Code for Homebuilders. The
Code sets out 19 principles that home-builders must meet in their
marketing and selling of homes and their after-sales customer service.
Home-builders are required to have a complaints procedure in place –

information on dispute resolution should be provided to home buyers.
The Code applies to complaints arising within two years of the date on
the Home Warranty Body’s insurance certificate concerning defects or
damage caused by a breach of technical requirements.
An independent resolution service is available for homebuyers who
believe their builder has failed to meet the requirements of the Code:
A dispute may arise where a Home Buyer believes the Home
Builder has failed to meet the Code’s Requirements but it falls
outside the Home Warranty Body’s resolution scheme for defects
or damage. If so, the dispute may be resolved by the Home Buyer
applying to the Consumer Code’s Independent Dispute Resolution
Scheme. This means a trained Adjudicator will review written
submissions from both parties and issue a decision based on his or
her conclusions. The Adjudicator will decide whether or not a
Home Buyer has a legitimate dispute and has suffered financial
loss because their Home Builder has breached the Consumer
Code’s Requirements. 29
Disputes can be referred to the Independent Dispute Resolution Scheme
provider, i.e. the organisation that runs the Code’s independent dispute
resolution service. A summary of the process to follow can be found in
section 5 of the Consumer Code Scheme (April 2017). The adjudicator’s
decision is final and cannot be appealed. Home owners can still purse a
claim in court if they are unhappy with the outcome.
29
Consumer Code for Homebuilders, Fourth Edition, 2017, p9
4. Problems and potential

solutions
4.1 The Building Control Regime
Section 3 of this paper notes that Local Authority Building Control has
seen an increase in the number of people approaching local authorities
for assistance in sorting out defects with their new homes. This seems
to demonstrate confusion over the role of building control. More
Homes, Fewer Complaints (July 2016) listed a selection of information
taken from councils’ websites which attempted to set out what building
control is not:
• A ‘clerk of works’ service monitoring every stage of the
construction process on site. That is a matter for the
contracts and arrangements put in place between the client
and the builder. Ultimately, compliance is the responsibility
of the person carrying out the work.
• A service to address issues such as the finish and aesthetics
of the final project where these are not Building
Regulations standards. These are a matter for designers,
builders and new home warranty providers.
• A service to offer contractual protection to a client in a
contract with a builder. This is a matter for contract law.
• A 100% guarantee of compliance. It plays an important
part to educate and to reduce risk, but building control
does not remove the obligation of the housebuilder to
achieve compliance. 30
Building control officers do carry out inspections to check compliance
with the Building Regulations, but the number of inspections varies and
not all properties on a large development will be inspected. A sampling
approach may be adopted instead. 31 More Homes, Fewer Complaints
noted that inspections are a “snap shot” and may not necessarily show
work undertaken to remedy identified defects. 32 The APPG report also
identified issues around a shortage of building control officers,
difficulties in recruiting qualified staff, and an ageing workforce. 33
In terms of potential solutions, the APPG recommended a minimum
standard for compliance inspections and the supply of inspection
reports to buyers:
We are concerned that competition in building control might be
fuelling a race to the bottom and we are therefore recommending
there should be a defined minimum number of inspections that
local authority building control and approved inspectors in the
private sector and warranty providers should not fall below. We
30
2016, p26
31
For more information see: Building Control Performance Standards 2014
32
2016, p28
33
Ibid.
suggest that the minimum level should be considered by DCLG in

consultation with the industry.
We are also recommending inspection reports are made available
to the public and form part of the information pack provided to
purchasers when they buy a new home. 34
The revised Building Control Performance Standards (January 2017)
Owners can request
refer to the right of owners to request site inspection records: site inspection
Building Control Bodies are required to provide site inspection records within 15
records to the building owner on request for all building work years of the
that has been issued with a final/completion certificate or where final/completion
an initial notice has been cancelled. The request must be in certificate being
writing and made within 15 years of the final/completion issued.
certificate being issued. 35
The role of building inspection services was considered as part of Dame
Judith Hackitt’s Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire
Safety. Her recommendations in this area were subsequently endorsed
by the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee:
The Independent Review noted several weaknesses in the current
structure of building control. The part-privatisation of the
regulatory function—with developers able to choose between
Local Authority Building Control and private sector Approved
Inspectors—has raised many serious concerns, including
disincentives for building control bodies to use enforcement
methods for fear of losing long-term business. The Review
concluded that, “the ability for duty-holders to choose their own
regulator must stop and regulators must be able to enforce as
regulators”, envisaging a model with a “clear, single regulatory
route for oversight” for high-risk residential buildings.
In the context of building inspection services, we
particularly welcome Dame Judith’s proposal that the
industry should no longer be able to choose their own
regulator and that there should be a single regulatory route
for oversight of high-rise residential buildings through
Local Authority Building Control. Indeed, we believe this
principle should apply to a much wider range of buildings. 36
On publication of the Hackitt review’s final report, the Government
committed to taking forward several measures, including:
• changing the law to achieve meaningful and lasting reform
of the building regulatory system, with strong sanctions for
those who fail to comply
• inviting views to inform how the government could
implement major reform of the regulatory system 37
In Building a safer future: an implementation plan (December 2018), 38
the Government said they would consult on proposals to remove duty
holder choice in relation to building regulation; however, it appears that
34
Ibid., p38
35
DCLG, Building Control Performance Standards, p28
36
Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee, Ninth Report of
Session 2017-19, HC 555, 18 July 2018, paras 17-18
37
MHCLG Press Release, 17 May 2018
38
CM 9739, 18 December 2018, para 2.23
any change will only apply to “buildings in scope”, i.e. certain high-rise
residential buildings.
Responding to a debate on 13 December 2018, the Minister, Heather
Wheeler, explained how a complaint against a building control body can
be taken forward:
A building regulations compliance certificate issued by a building
control body is not a guarantee of the highest standards and the
responsibility is not removed from the builder or developer. If a
consumer feels that the building control body did not carry out its
functions properly, they may complain to the local government
and social care ombudsman in respect of a local authority. A
complaint about an approved inspector can be made to CICAIR,
the Construction Industry Council Approved Inspectors Register,
which is the body that approves inspectors. 39
4.2 How effective are warranties?

The Callcutt Review of Housebuilding Delivery (2007) identified
concerns about caveats included within warranties. It was felt that they
may not offer adequate protection for consumers. 40 The Office of Fair
Trading’s 2008 study of the homebuilding market considered the
effectiveness of warranties; Professor Sommerville of Glasgow
Caledonian University was commissioned to carry out research into this
specific issue. At the time, OFT concluded that “while not perfect,
warranty provision in the UK is relatively robust,” and went on:
They do not cover every possible eventuality which could arise
under the contract of sale. In this regard, in particular, warranties
provide no cover for failings in the sales process, delays in moving
in, deficiencies in contracts and exclude many items included in
the purchase price.
Instead, warranties provide homebuyers with a very specific type
of insurance cover in particular circumstances. It is inevitable that
there will be limitations in any insurance policy, although data
from our consumer survey indicates that homebuyers appear to
think that warranties cover much more than they do. The sale of
insurance products, of course, falls within the remit of the FSA
(Financial Services Authority). 41
In More Homes, Fewer Complaints (July 2016) the APPG also identified
that consumers often believe that warranties cover more than they
actually do. There is confusion over the fact that the housebuilder
should sort out defects in the first two years following completion, i.e.
during the defects liability period.
Warranty providers carry out inspections but only on a sampling basis;
not all properties are inspected at every stage of construction. One
warranty provider told the APPG’s inquiry:
The average latent defects policy is £300 for a 10-year policy. The
economics suggest that we cannot do a plethora of inspections.
39
HC Deb 13 December 2018 c202
40
Callcutt Review of Housebuilding Delivery, 2007, p71
41
OFT 1020, Homebuilding in the UK – a market study, 2008, p137 onwards &
Annex J. The full list of annexes to the report are online here.
The inspections are purely to prove to our underwriters that the

property is a standard risk. 42
Developers who are excluded from one industry-led code can choose a
different warranty provider aligned with a different Code. The
Government refers to this as “code hop” and notes that:
This means that poorly performing developers are not held to
account for their actions. 43
In More Homes, Fewer Complaints (July 2016) the APPG
recommended a review by DCLG (now MHCLG) “to establish whether
a more comprehensive cover would be more appropriate for house
buyers – and what the cost implications might be.” 44 The APPG
suggested that such a review should consider:
• minimum standards of cover and levels of inspection;
• an easier form of redress through a New Homes Ombudsman;
and
• higher profile marketing by warranty providers and house builders
during the conveyancing process to make it clear what the
warranty covers. 45
4.3 Buying new-build homes: the balance of

power
The APPG’s inquiry concluded that, in relation to disputes between
house builders and buyers “the balance has been tipped too far in
favour of housebuilders.” 46 There is reference to a “cavalier” attitude
towards customers by house builders.
Confusion over warranties is covered in the previous section (4.2), other
issues identified by the inquiry include:
• exclusion clauses in contracts and the lack of a standard contract;
• the lack of a straightforward means of pursuing a dispute with a
builder;
• a refusal to allow pre-completion surveys; and
• a reluctance to provide information such as written plans and
specifications which buyers could then check the finished home
against. 47
The APPG took evidence from Dr Stephen Watkins who referred to a
body of developing case law which had further limited the ability of
42
2016, p27
43
MHCLG, Redress for Purchasers of New Build Homes and the New Homes
Ombudsman: A Technical Consultation, June 2019, para 4.11
44
2016, p27
45
Ibid., p27
46
Ibid., p28
47
Ibid., p29
home owners to take successful action against builders for defects in

their homes. 48
The Consumer Code for Homebuilders (see section 3.3) was developed
to make the home-buying process fairer and more transparent for
purchasers, but the APPG felt that the code “does not appear to give
homebuyers the safeguards we think they should expect. We question
how well it is policed and it does not appear to us objectively to offer
consumers a wholly satisfactory form of redress.” 49 A particular area of
concern was a move by builders to include a term in their contracts for
sale requiring any construction disputes to first be referred to the Code
Dispute Resolution Service and/or another home warranty provider’s
resolution service. This enables builders to argue that court action is
excluded if disputes are not referred to these schemes, but some claims
cannot be determined in this way - e.g. claims over £15,000 or which
concern matters such as boundary disputes or fixtures and fittings paid
for as extras.
The OFT’s 2008 market study suggested that if the industry failed to
make satisfactory progress then further intervention might be
necessary. 50
Having concluded that the balance of power between the parties is
uneven and favours builders, and that existing means of redress are
protracted and expensive, the APPG recommended:
• the establishment of an independent New Homes Ombudsman to
The APPG published
provide an easy and affordable dispute resolution service for all
Better redress for
homebuyers which would be funded by a levy on the construction
home buyers in
industry;
June 2018 which
• the introduction of standardised contracts for sale to include focuses on how a
provision for dealing with disputes before referral to the New Homes
Ombudsman; Ombudsman could
drive up standards
• a right of inspection for buyers prior to completion; and improve
• the provision of a comprehensive information pack by builders to consumer redress.
improve transparency around design and the building and
inspection process; and
• a review of laws governing consumer rights when buying new
homes. 51
The authors of the Consumer Code for Homebuilders said that it had
been successful in raising service standards in the industry when
updating the Code in 2013:
…the Code has gone from strength to strength and customer
research shows that the principles of the Code have been firmly
adopted and embedded into the processes of many home
48
Ibid., pp 29-30
49
Ibid., p30
50
OFT 1020, Homebuilding in the UK – a market study, 2008
51
2016, p33-34
builders, raising the standard of service and support provided to

home buyers and potential home buyers. 52
However, the summary of changes to the Code’s fourth edition,
published in April 2017, said:
Knowledge of the presence of the Code Scheme, as
demonstrated by recent mystery shopping surveys, is
inadequate. 53
In response, home builders are now required to display the Code
Scheme logo prominently in their own and agents’ sales offices and in
sales brochures. Home buyers must be provided with the Code Scheme
documents with the reservation agreement, this can be done
electronically. 54 The 2017 edition of the Code makes it clear that
builders may offer incentives to new buyers and/or refer them to a panel
of solicitors but they “should not restrict their choice of legal
representative.” This includes not restricting the financial advisor or
mortgage intermediary the buyer may wish to use. 55 The Code has been
clarified to emphasise that home builders should make it clear that they
are responsible for remedying relevant defects arising under the home
warranty two-year defect period. 56
The use of incentive payments to encourage buyers to use a particular
solicitor was considered by the Housing, Communities and Local
Government Select Committee’s inquiry into leasehold reform. Evidence
submitted to the inquiry referred to buyers who thought they were
incentivised or coerced by developers to use their panel of solicitors. The
Committee recommended that “the Government should prohibit
the offering of financial incentives to persuade a customer to use
a particular solicitor.” 57 The Government’s response to the
Committee (July 2019) agreed that consumers should have access to
independent and reliable advice when buying a property. Measures
referred to include proposals to create a New Housing Ombudsman and
action by the Solicitor’s Regulation Authority and the Council of
Licensed Conveyancers on the quality and price of advice provided by
members. 58 The response details existing routes for complaint and
redress for consumers if they are unhappy with the service provided by a
lawyer.
Arguably, many of the APPG’s recommendations are already covered by
the Consumer Code for Housebuilders. For example, in terms of
policing, adherence to the Code forms part of the contractual
relationship with the home warranty body under their registration
scheme. A failure to comply could bring sanctions to bear, the most
extreme of which could be suspension or cancellation of the home
builder’s registration. In turn, this would mean that the builder would
be unable to sell their newly built homes. This is undoubtedly a
52
Consumer Code for Homebuilders: Summary of Changes to the Code, 2013
53
Consumer Code for Homebuild. ers: Summary of Changes to the Code, 2017
54
Ibid.
55
Ibid.
56
Ibid.
57
Leasehold Reform, HC 1468, Twelfth Report of 2017-19, 19 March 2019, para 67
58
CP 99, 3 July 2019, paras 36 and 37
significant deterrent, but the sanctions regime operated by home

warranty bodies may not provide direct assistance for an individual who
finds themselves owning a defective property.
In October 2017 DCLG issued Improving the homebuying and selling
The Government
process – Call for evidence which acknowledged that the process of issued a call for
buying a newly built property can present particular challenges. The evidence on the
paper asked: house buying
What can be done to improve the customer experience of buying process, including
a new build home? 59 buying newly built
properties. The
A summary of responses received and the government response was outcome was
published in April 2018. Respondents raised issues around completion published in April
dates and timescales for completion. Full information on costs for 2018.
potential buyers also attracted comment. On snagging, some
respondents wanted to be able to withhold a proportion of the
purchase price until satisfied that all defects/unfinished work are
addressed. There was reference to regulation of developers with
enforcement via an ombudsman. 60 The Government said that they
would “improve the process of dealing with buyer complaints” and that
this would be informed by a further consultation exercise on
strengthening consumer redress in the housing market (see section 5
below). 61
A new Consumer Code for New Homes was launched on 29 November
2017 having gained approval from the Chartered Trading Standards
Institute to “ensure that best practice is followed in respect of the
marketing, selling and purchasing of New Homes and to set expected
standards for after sales customer care service.” The Code establishes
mandatory requirements that apply to all developers registered with it:
Where a Developer (or their Agent) is found to be in serious
breach of the Code, the Code Sponsor can apply a range of
sanctions, including removal from the Code’s register of
members. This will also result in removal from the registers
maintained by the Warranty Bodies.
The Code provides an independent Dispute Resolution Scheme for
complaints that arise and are made in writing to the Developer
within two years of the date of the Completion of the New Home
purchase.
The Code also benefits second and subsequent Buyers of the New
Home but only in respect of after sales matters reported within
two years of the date of the Completion of the New Home
purchase. 62
At the time of writing, some of the largest builders, including Barratt,
Bellway, Berkeley and Persimmon were not registered with the Code.
59
DCLG, Improving the homebuying and selling process – Call for evidence, October
2017, Q23
60
MHCLG, Improving the home buying and selling process – summary of responses to
the Call for Evidence and government response, April 2018
61
Ibid., para 13
62
Consumer Code for New Homes, November 2017, p2
5. The Government & industry

response on consumer redress
Steve Double secured a Westminster Hall debate on 16 October 2017
during which he raised issues about the standard of new build housing
and compared the lack of protection buyers of new homes have with
those buying faulty goods:
The homeowner has far more consumer rights and protection for
a new kettle in their kitchen than they do for the new building
that houses it. For the vast majority of people, buying a new
home will be the biggest purchase they ever make, and surely we
should provide more adequate protection for them. On the
thankfully very rare occasions when the builder has completely
failed to construct a property fit for habitation, house purchasers
should not have to resort to the courts to establish their rights.
Sadly, that is too often the case in the current set-up. 63
The then Housing Minister, Alok Sharma, said “it is clear that home
builders need to step up and make quality and design a priority. That
includes ensuring that, where something goes wrong, house builders
and warranty providers fulfil their obligations to put things right.” 64 He
described the following actions which were underway:
• The Government is “seriously considering” the APPG’s
recommendations.
• The HBF will issue a formal response to the APPG’s report.
• The HBF has set up a working group and “will take forward action
A new Consumer
to provide better information to customers, simplify the legal
Code for New
process and create a clearer and simpler process for signing off
Homes was
new homes as complete.”
launched on 29
• The HBF working group has commissioned an independent report November 2017 –
on consumer redress for new homebuyers which is due to be see section 4.3 of
published shortly. 65 this paper.
• The Minister said he would review the independent report “with a
view to ensuring that improved redress arrangements are
introduced to provide greater protection to consumers on a broad
range of issues, with a greater degree of independence from the
industry.”
• On calls for a new housing ombudsman, the Minister said, “I am
considering that option very seriously indeed.” 66
Subsequently, on 29 November 2017 Sajid Javid, then Secretary of State
at DCLG, told a group of housing professionals that it was vital that the
quality of new build homes continues to improve:
But we don’t have to choose between building more and building
better - we can do both. Homes are not only the biggest financial
63
64
Ibid., c692
65
This work was commissioned from WPI Economics – the report’s findings have been
referenced but it does not appear to be publicly available.
66
investment in our lives, but also provide security, and so it’s only
right that developers and builders are held to a higher standard.
That’s why we are looking at bold options to improve redress in
the New Year – including whether housing, like other sectors,
should have a single ombudsman. This could help drive up
standards across the whole industry and increase protections for
consumers.
Currently, there are 4 government approved providers of redress
that cover some aspects of home buying and renting, but not all.
Membership of ombudsman schemes is compulsory for some
groups, but not for others. 67
Strengthening consumer redress in the housing market: a consultation
ran between 18 February and 16 April 2018. The section on new build
homes acknowledged problems that new owners can face in getting
defects fixed:
Too often we receive letters from consumers that include
protracted disputes over snagging issues and cases where the
home buyer does not feel that they have been treated fairly
during the purchase process. 68
The consultation referred to ongoing work with industry stakeholders to
drive improvement:
We are working with the Home Builders Federation, warranty
providers, lenders and the redress providers to address these
issues and we want them to continue to drive improvement. We
want to consider the best approach for taking this forward. 69
The paper set out options for improving redress through:
• the creation of a single housing ombudsman which would require
primary legislation; or
• the creation of a single “front door” with greater standardisation
The Government
of practices; or
will legislate to
• consolidation and rationalisation of existing schemes. 70 create a New
Homes
In June 2018, the APPG published Better redress for home buyers which Ombudsman. All
focused on how a New Homes Ombudsman could drive up standards new developers will
and improve consumer redress. be required to be
On 1 October 2018 the Government announced an intention to members of the
scheme.
create a New Homes Ombudsman to “champion homebuyers,
protect their interests and hold developers to account.” The
accompanying press release contained the following information:
Support for homebuyers facing problems with their
newbuild
The government has announced that there will be a New
Homes Ombudsman - a watchdog that will champion
67
DCLG Press Release, Government looks at consumer redress across the housing
sector, 29 November 2017
68
MHCLG, Strengthening consumer redress in the housing market: a consultation,
February 2018, para 32
69
Ibid., para 33
70
Ibid., para 47
homebuyers, protect their interests and hold developers to

account.
We intend to legislate to require all new developers to
belong to a new homes ombudsman.
House buyers should be confident that when they purchase
a new home, they get the quality of build and finish they
expected.
We will work with consumers and industry to develop our
proposals and publish more details in due course.
In the meantime government expects industry to continue
to improve the current redress arrangements and improve
the consistency of quality for new build homes. 71
Commenting on the announcement, Chris Blythe, CEO of the Chartered
Institute of Building, was reported as saying:
Although the classic ‘the devil’s in the detail’ phase applies,
with the commitment to a new homes ombudsman the
government has taken a significant step in offering greater
consumer protection and improving the build quality of
new homes. It is an opportunity for housebuilders to adopt
a ‘get it right first time’ attitude. With this, we all win;
buyers get good quality homes, the industry gets the
capacity to build more and the opportunity to restore its
reputation. 72
Kate Green secured a Westminster Hall debate on Protection for
Homebuyers which took place on 13 December 2018. 73 The debate
focused on the plight faced by buyers of new-build homes with defects.
Heather Wheeler responded for the Government, she referred to the
plan to create a New Homes Ombudsman and went on:
At the same time as exploring more substantive reforms, we are
challenging industry to simplify redress now and to provide proper
support for consumers in the early years of a house purchase,
when most problems occur, until we have the ombudsman in
place.
In November—one month ago—I met the executive chairman of
the Home Builders Federation, which is taking forward proposals
to implement a better redress system, based on the
recommendations in the reports by the all-party parliamentary
group for excellence in the built environment published in 2016
and this year. I believe this work is a positive step in the right
direction. 74
On the issue of developers referring clients to solicitors, she said the
Secretary of State had written to the Law Society and to the Solicitors
Regulation Authority and that she expected “those two authorities to
take note and come back to us on the matter.” 75
She said that proposals on the New Homes Ombudsman would be
published “in more detail soon and will set out the scope and powers of
71
MHCLG Press Release, 1 October 2018
72
Championing Consumers: the role of the New Homes Ombudsman, 8 October 2018
73
HC Deb 13 December 2018 c174WH
74
Ibid., c202
75
Ibid.
the ombudsman.” In the meantime, she described work underway by

the Home Builders Federation:
The work being done by the Home Builders Federation could lead
to a voluntary new homes ombudsman and better redress for
consumers in the short term, while Government works towards
legislation. In our response to our redress consultation we will set
out the standard we expect these voluntary arrangements to
meet. We also expect that any new redress scheme for buyers of
new-build homes should be free to the consumer, as in other
sectors. 76
A summary of responses to strengthening consumer redress,
together with the Government’s response was published in
January 2019. 77 The Government intends to:
• Create a new Housing Complaints Resolution Service which
will “build better access to redress through establishing a
simplified point of access for consumers when they have an issue
with their housing”.
• Create a Redress Reform Working Group which will work with
industry and consumers to develop a new Housing Complaints
Resolution Service. The new service will “help renters in private
and social housing, leaseholders, and buyers of new homes”.
• Legislate to create a New Homes Ombudsman “and we will
work with industry and consumers prior to legislation so
purchasers of new build homes have access to better redress
now”.
• Legislate to require developers of new build homes to belong to a
New Homes Ombudsman. Developers will pay a charge for
membership “to ensure that the service is free of charge to buyers
of new build homes”.
• Engage and consult with the devolved administrations to seek
agreement for UK-wide legislation which would take account
of the fact that developers work across all nations of the UK.
• Develop an agreed single consumer code of practice which will
be used by the New Homes Ombudsman to adjudicate against. 78
Work to accelerate the implementation of a voluntary, industry-led New
Homes Ombudsman ahead of legislation will be taken forward. There is
an expectation that the voluntary ombudsman will be:
• Free to the consumer and funded by industry
• Independent from the organisations the ombudsman will
investigate
• Fair in dealing with disputes
• Have effective powers to hold developers to account
76
Ibid., c203
77
MHCLG, Strengthening Consumer Redress in the Housing Market Summary of
responses to the consultation and the Government’s response, January 2019
78
Ibid., pp41-42
• Be open and transparent and have public accountability

through regular reporting. 79
5.1 New Homes Ombudsman: Technical

Consultation
June 2019 saw publication of Redress for Purchasers of New Build
Homes and the New Homes Ombudsman: A Technical Consultation.
Responses are invited up to 22 August 2019. The consultation paper is
seeking views on the detail of proposed legislation for a New Homes
Ombudsman.
The role of the New Homes Ombudsman will be to provide redress
to consumers whose complaints or considered on a case-by-case basis:
An Ombudsman is not a regulator and does not have the
authority to take regulatory or legal action against a property
developer. It cannot impose fines or dictate the way developers
conduct their business. An ombudsman can help resolve disputes
and can uphold complaints and recommend redress, which is
usually by way of compensation for what has gone wrong. 80
Views are being sought on whether a Code of Practice should be
underpinned by statute and how the requirement to be a member of
the scheme will be enforced, alongside several other detailed questions.
5.2 CIOB: call for evidence on construction

quality
Following the closure of 17 schools in Edinburgh in early 2017 due to
building defects, the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) announced
the formation of a Commission of Past Presidents to “investigate the
issue of build quality in the construction industry, and what needs to be
done to address it.” 81
The Grenfell Tower fire prompted the following response from the Chair
of the Commission, Paul Nash:
The recent tragic events at Grenfell Tower have further underlined
the need for an urgent review of the way in which quality is
managed in our industry. Whilst aspects of the public inquiry must
necessarily focus on the issues of regulation and inspection, I think
we have to look beyond this at the behaviours that have led to a
lack of focus on quality at all stages of the build process, from
design and procurement through to construction and re-fit.
The CIOB has a duty to respond to this issue, acting in the public
interest. As professionals we have a duty to the industry and
wider society to act responsibly and ethically. This defines what it
means to be a professional. And we all have a responsibility for
the reputation of our industry and, most importantly, the
wellbeing of those who use the buildings that we create. 82
79
MHCLG, Redress for Purchasers of New Build Homes and the New Homes
Ombudsman: A Technical Consultation, June 2019, para 3.18
80
Ibid., para 4.4
81
CIOB Press Release, 21 June 2017
82
CIOB Call for Evidence on Construction Quality, October 2017
The CIOB launched a call for evidence to “gather views, data and
substantiation from members, the wider construction sector,
government and other interested stakeholders.” Evidence could be
submitted up to 15 December 2017: 83
Responses to the call for evidence will help the CIOB shape its
work on improving construction quality and provide an evidence
base to draw on. The Commission is looking for clear evidence to
identify what improvements are necessary to achieve high
standards of quality in the product, people and processes
throughout the construction sector.
Suggested areas that evidence might cover, though this is by no
means exclusive, are as follows:
• Is current management of quality at all levels of the
workforce sufficient?
• Are current regulations, codes and standards fit for purpose
to achieve good quality construction?
• Is construction quality taught effectively at educational
establishments?
• Are existing certification schemes and qualifications fit for
purpose to achieve good construction quality?
• Is value engineering adhering to its principles, or has it
become a cost-cutting exercise?
• How can we change attitudes, behaviours and corporate
culture to improve quality?
• What role does innovation and technology have to play in
improving construction quality?
• Are there examples of best practice that can be shared and
potentially scaled up?
• Are there any data or pieces of research that can help
further inform the work of the Commission? 84
Some of the findings arising from the call for evidence were reported in
Construction Manager on 28 February 2018. The article states that 75%
of the 200 construction industry respondents believed that “the
industry’s current management of quality is inadequate.” 85 Five key
areas of concern were highlighted:
…which centred on education and behaviours: the contractors
who execute the work; the skills of the workforce; the role of
designers; procurement and client-side responsibility; and
governance. 86
Paul Nash reportedly said that the CIOB would recommend several
measures:
“The first will be to develop a competency-based quality
qualification/certification,” he explained. “The second will be the
creation of a quality code which will capture best practice and set
83
The deadline was initially 1 December but was extended to the 15th on 30 November
2017
84
Ibid.
85
Construction Manager, “QM inadequate say 75% in CIOB survey”, 28 February
2018
86
Ibid.
the standards to be expected from the industry. The third will be

to ensure that quality has greater emphasis in the CIOB Education
Framework”. 87
Some respondents called for quality management to be treated and
regulated in the same way as health and safety management. A plan of
action for medium and longer-term activities was to be produced. 88 In
September 2018, the CIOB launched a new two-day course on quality
management systems. Adrian Montague, head of the CIOB Academy
said:
“We want to see a ‘get it right first time’ approach embedded in
the industry, which should prevent these unnecessary costs and
improve customer retention. Quality management is as important
to a company’s efficiency and reputation as meeting time and
cost targets. Our new construction quality management course
comes from the extensive research conducted by the CIOB’s
quality commission, and will cover all the fundamentals of
construction quality management.” 89
87
Ibid.
88
Ibid.
89
CIOB trainers target quality failings, 11 September 2018
6. Construction industry: skills,

innovation and capacity
There are several construction industry issues which could impact on the
quality of house building in the UK.
6.1 Labour market and skills

High quality construction depends on a qualified workforce with a fairly
high level of mobility so that demand can be satisfied when and where
it arises.
The 2015 Government expressed concern that the “structure of industry
training” is not sufficient to deliver the skilled workforce required to
build enough adequate housing; 90 The Chartered Institute of Builders
reported that the construction sector would need to hire an additional
“157,000 new recruits by 2021 in order to keep up with demand.” 91
Arcadis, a built-environment design consultancy, elaborated on these
concerns:
• Arcadis argued that if the government’s target for building new
houses was to be met, then the industry would need to recruit
224,000 new people by 2019.
• The fact that the number of people joining the sector has
been declining for some years led Arcadis to argue that there is
a weak “pipeline of talent” into the house building sector.
• Arcadis found that many construction workers are retiring early,
The CIOB’s 2017
meaning that around 700,000 new recruits will be required just to
call for evidence
replace the current workforce by 2019.
found respondents
• Another issue is a lack of relevant skills needed to build were critical of
houses among existing construction workers. Arcadis reports construction quality
that the following trades or professions are constraining house training with 74%
building due to under-supply of labour: bricklayers, plasterers, saying it was not
architects and quantity surveyors. taught effectively
by educational
• Training or re-training existing workers is more difficult in establishments.
the construction sector compared with other sectors due to above
average rates of self-employment and “the fragmentation of the
supply chain”. These factors make organising widespread training
difficult. 92
• Arcadis reported that a large number of construction workers
were operating in different sectors. But there was also
evidence that people with relevant skills were operating in
90
The Construction Index, Ministers tell industry leaders to sort out skills shortage, 1
February 2016
91
Infrastructure and Projects Authority, Government construction strategy 2016-20,
March 2016, p9
92
The Construction Index, Ministers tell industry leaders to sort out skills shortage, 1
February 2016
shrinking sectors (such as manufacturing), suggesting a potential

source of new labour for the construction sector. 93
The construction sector is more reliant on non-UK born EU
workers: 11% of construction workers are non-UK EU citizens,
compared to 7% in the whole economy in 2016. 94
Construction and house building trade associations have expressed
concern that the UK’s new relationship with the EU could adversely
affect the supply of migrant labour, which, combined with the other
labour issues mentioned above, could cause considerable “damage” to
the sector’s capacity. The Federation of Master Builders said:
…It is now the government’s responsibility to ensure that the
free-flowing tap of migrant workers from Europe is not turned
off… 95
The Construction Sector Deal, discussed in more detail later in this
section, details the Government’s framework for construction sector
policies and makes a number of commitments around skills and the
construction labour force:
• Reform the CITB to enable greater strategic leadership of training
in the sector, based on recommendations from the review,
published November 2017.
• An ‘aspiration’ of 25,000 new construction apprenticeships by
2020. Create 50 new apprenticeships standards that better reflect
the skills needed by the modern construction work force.
• The Confederation of British Industry and the Trade Union
Congress will work in partnership with government to establish a
National Retraining Partnership that will work to give existing
construction workers the skills they need for modern construction
work.
• A new construction ‘T-Level’ technical qualification will be
developed which will enable vocational construction training to be
recognised.
• Invest £34 million to “scale up innovative training models across
the country to support the delivery of 1.5 million new homes by
2022.” 96
6.2 Innovation in construction

Innovation in construction methods and materials can mean more
homes are produced quickly, cost-effectively and to modern standards.
Among other things, this can increase the life-span of housing, improve
energy efficiency and reduce the need for major repairs.
93
Arcadis, People and money: fundamental to unlocking the housing crisis, 2015, pp4-
7
94
House of Commons Library Briefing Paper CBP8069, Employment of other EU
nationals in the UK, August 2017, p20
95
Inside Housing, Builders: immigration rules must protect construction workers, 1 July
2016
96
BEIS, Construction Sector Deal, July 2018, pp14-16
The UK construction industry has been slow to adopt technological and

other innovations which are frequently used by house building
industries in other countries. 97
These innovations include:
• Increased use of data and data management in the design and
planning of house building. This forms an important part of the
Construction strategy 2016-20.
• Innovation in the way the workforce and businesses involved in
house building are organised might provide a way to standardise
house building and make the industry more efficient, according to
Innovate UK.
• Mass produced modular components are a feature of commercial
building but are less regularly used in house building in the UK.
These methods reduce the time required to build houses and
require less manpower. They also help to ensure standardised
levels of quality and durability.
Adopting modern construction methods can also lead to increased
productivity in the sector, meaning that fewer people are required to
build the same number of houses. In Q1 2019, output was
£25 per hour in the construction sector, whilst the whole economy
average was £34 per hour. Growth in productivity in the construction
sector is slower than the economy average: between Q1 1997 and Q1
2019, labour productivity in the construction sector grew by 12%
compared to 28% in the whole economy. 98
The Housing White
The 2015 Government launched its Accelerated Construction Paper (February
prospectus on 3 January 2017: 2017) said that the
Through our new Accelerated Construction programme, we now
Government would
want to provide a tailored package of support to ambitious local consider how the
authorities who would like to develop out surplus land holdings at planning system
pace. The programme aims to deliver up to 15,000 homes operates to support
(housing starts) on central and local surplus public sector land in modern methods of
this Parliament through £1.7 billion of investment. In doing so, we construction (MMC)
want to use Accelerated Construction to tackle broader developments.
constraints to seeing more homes built. The programme is (para 3.40)
designed to support our market diversification objectives by
supporting non-major builders and help tackle the construction
skills gap, including through greater use of Modern Methods of
Construction (MMC). 99
During a speech to the Northern Powerhouse Summit on 5 July 2018,
then Business Secretary, Greg Clark, announced £420 million
investment in construction technology. The Government is
contributing £170 million and industry is contributing £250 million to
innovation in construction techniques and materials. 100
Respondents to the CIOB’s 2017 call for evidence made the point that
innovation and technological advances could be beneficial but
97
Innovate UK, Construction industry summit, blog post, 18 September 2015
98
ONS, Labour productivity Q1 2019, Breakdown of contributions, 5 July 2019
99
DCLG, Accelerated Construction: expressions of interest, 3 January 2017
100
The Planner, “£420 to be invested in smart construction”, 5 July 2017
emphasised that the industry will still be dependent on skilled operatives

to produce quality work. 101
HCLG Select Committee report on modern methods
of construction
In July 2019 the Housing, Communities and Local Government (HCLG)
Select Committee published a report on Modern Methods of
Construction. The Committee concluded that greater use of modern
methods of construction (MMC) could help the Government meet its
target to build 300,000 houses a year and could increase the quality of
houses built in the UK.
The Committee received evidence that MMC typically delivers better
quality housing:
Better quality of delivery–Great Places Housing Group found
greater accuracy and “Zero defects on completion with reduced
incidents of defects occurring in use. This results in reduced
maintenance workload and consequential reduced costs for the
landlord.” 102
The Committee recommended that more money should be spent by
Government on innovation and skill development in construction to
encourage more MMC housebuilding:
The Ministry should track how much of its total spending on
housing goes towards MMC developments specifically. It should
also implement a coordinated strategy with other government
departments that oversee schemes such as construction skills
provision and research and development (R&D), to increase MMC
housing output. It should monitor how many homes are built
using MMC annually, in order to evaluate the impact of this
strategy. 103
6.3 Housing maintenance

One important trend in house building in recent years is growth in the
amount spent maintaining the existing housing stock compared to the
amount spent on building new houses. 104
This is partly attributable of the fall in the number of new houses being
built each year, meaning that more emphasis has been placed on
maintaining the existing housing stock.
One result of this has been that capacity among house builders has
been directed towards repair work, and away from new-build work.
This may have led to a reduction in new-build skills and the number of
builders with these skills, and therefore a reduction in the quality of new
build housing.
101
Construction Manager, “QM inadequate say 75% in CIOB survey”, 28 February
2018
102
HCLG Select Committee Fifteenth Report of 2017-19, HC1831: Modern Methods of
Construction, July 2019, p11
103
Ibid., p3
104
ONS, Output in the construction sector, July 2016, Table 4
6.4 Finance for house building

House building requires considerable up-front investment, meaning that
The Autumn
in the vast majority of cases, new housing developers need access to Budget 2017
finance. announced an
In common with the rest of the economy, finance has been less readily additional £1.5
available in the construction sector since the financial crisis, although billion for the Home
Building Fund
this situation has improved. 105
targeted at SMEs.
For the house building industry, a particular concern is access to finance
for smaller developers. In 2016, the Aldermore Group, a bank
specialising in finance to small businesses said:
…smaller developers continue to struggle with access to finance,
with a recent industry survey showing that more than 50,000
construction and real estate firms have begun the year in
‘significant’ financial distress…unless more is done by lenders to
increase funding to smaller regional developers, the potential for
the industry to reach… [the Government’s house building
target]…will be less likely. 106
Problems accessing finance can have an impact on house builders’
The Housing White
ability to produce high-quality housing, as well as on the overall capacity Paper said that the
of the house building industry. With reduced access to upfront Accelerated
investment, house builders may choose to use cheaper, less skilled Construction
construction workers or lower-quality materials. Both these strategies Programme would
for cost saving can have a direct impact on the quality of completed support
houses. diversification in the
market “through
The Construction Sector Deal (discussed in more detail later in this partnering with
section) includes the following policy to tackle the problem of finance small and medium-
for housebuilder, particularly small and medium sized (SME) sized firms and
housebuilders: others as
…the Federation of Master Builders and UK Finance are currently development
developing the SME Housebuilders Finance Guide to enable SMEs partners and
to understand how they can best secure long term finance for contractors. There
investment. Through facilitating greater collaboration between was also a
developers, lenders and construction teams, it aims to make the commitment to
process more efficient, reducing risk and improving profitability. continue to work
The British Business Bank (BBB) has also been building on their with the British
existing portfolio of programmes with expansions such as a new Business Bank to
asset finance variant of the Enterprise Finance Guarantee encourage
programme, and the provision of ENABLE guarantees designed investment in SMEs.
specifically to increase the amount of lending that banks are able (para 3.9)
to provide to SME Housebuilders, both of which will increase the
nature of support available to small and medium sized businesses
in the construction sector. 107
105
BBA, High street bank lending, July 2016
106
Mortgages for business, Smaller property developers struggling to access finance, 18
January 2016
107
BEIS, Construction Sector Deal, July 2018, p35
6.5 Predictable demand

To maintain consistent quality in house building the construction sector
must be able to meet demand when and where it arises. This requires
insight into future demand for new houses.
Evidence from the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) suggests
that there has been uncertainty about the location and timing of new
house building and so some construction firms have lacked confidence
in the past about taking on new employees or training their existing
workforce. 108
The Government’s National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline has
been developed to help resolve this situation. It provides details of
public sector investment plans for all construction sectors including
house building. The data is presented by date and region, so firms are
able to plan recruitment and other investments.
6.6 The APPG’s recommendations 2016

In More Homes, Fewer Complaints the APPG also identified skills and
labour shortages as a contributing factor in poor build quality. The
report included some specific recommendations:
• Housebuilders should instigate a new quality culture by adopting
quality systems to ISO standards. There is reference to the need
for “an industry aspiration to a zero-defects culture.”
• The industry should significantly increase skills training
programmes for new and existing workers “to embed a quality
culture.” There is a suggestion that local authorities and
Government should leverage more training by making it a
condition on the sale of their land. 109
6.7 The Farmer Review’s recommendations

2016
A combination of the issues outlined above led the 2015 Government
to commission research from the Construction Leadership Council into
how the industry’s skills and manpower problems might be overcome.
The Farmer Review of the UK Construction Labour Model: ‘Modernise
or die’ was published in December 2016. The review concluded that the
construction industry and clients that rely on it are “at a critical
juncture”. The following symptoms of failure and poor performance
were identified:
• Low productivity.
• Low predictability.
• Structural fragmentation.
• Leadership fragmentation.
108
CITB, Industry insights, construction skills network forecasts 2016-2020, April 2016
109
2016, p38
• Low margins, adversarial pricing models and financial fragility.

• Dysfunctional training funding and delivery model.
• Workforce size and demographics.
• Lack of collaboration and improvement culture.
• Lack of R&D and investment in innovation.
• Poor industry image. 110
Amongst these, the review identified the industry’s workforce size and
demographic as “the real ticking time bomb.” There was potential,
according to the review, for the workforce to decline by 20-25% within
a decade:
This scenario has never been faced by UK construction before and
would be a capacity shrinkage that would render the industry
incapable of delivering the levels of GDP historically seen. Just as
importantly, it would undermine the UK’s ability to deliver critical
social and physical infrastructure, homes and built assets required
by other industries to perform their core functions. 111
The review proposed the establishment of a tripartite covenant
“between the construction industry, its end clients (private and public)
and government” with the latter acting as a strategic initiator to pump
prime change. 112
The review’s ten headline recommendations are set out below:
1 Construction Leadership Council (CLC) to have strategic oversight
of the implementation of the review’s recommendations and
evolve to coordinate and drive the process of delivering the A review of CITB
industry change programme. opened in February
2017 and closed in
2 Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) to be comprehensively March 2017. The
reviewed and a reform programme instituted. 113 This programme Government has
of reform is now underway. 114 decided that CITB
3 Industry, clients and government to work together leveraging should be retained
CLC’s Business Models workstream activity, to improve but reformed. The
relationships and increase levels of investment in R&D and report of the review
innovation by changing commissioning trends from traditional to was published in
pre-manufactured approaches. November 2017.
4 Industry, clients and government, supported by academic

expertise and leveraging CLC’s Innovation workstream activity, to
organise to deliver a comprehensive innovation programme.
Programme to be aligned to the market and generate a new
shape of demand across the industry with a priority on residential
construction.
5 A reformed CITB to look to reorganise its grant funding model for
skills and training aligned to what a future modernised industry
110
Farmer Review of the UK Construction Labour Model: ‘Modernise or die’, December
2016, p7
111
Ibid., p8
112
Ibid., p10
113
Building Support: the review of the Industry Training Boards was published in
November 2017
114
Construction Industry Training Board: Written question – 156346, 29 June 2018
will need. Bodies to play a more active role in ensuring training

courses produce talent appropriate for a digitally enabled world. A new route into
construction will be
6 A reformed CITB or stand-alone body should be challenged and launched in
empowered to deliver a more powerful public facing story and September 2019
image for the holistic ‘built environment’ process. To include an and an
outreach programme to schools and draw on existing industry apprenticeship levy
exemplars and a vision for the industry’s future state. has operated since
7 Government to recognise the value of the construction sector as 6 April 2017.
part of its industrial strategy and be willing to intervene by way of (Housing White
appropriate further education, planning and tax/employment Paper para 2.33)
policies to help establish and maintain appropriate skills capacity.
8 Government to provide an ‘initiation’ stimulus to innovation in the
housing sector by promoting the use of pre-manufactured The Government
solutions through policy measures. To be prioritised either will work with the
through the conditional incentivisation of institutional CLC to challenge
development and investment in the private rented sector; the housebuilders and
promotion of more pre-manufactured social housebuilding companies to
through Registered Providers; direct commissioning of pre- deliver more
manufactured housing; or a combination of any of the above. training. (Housing
White Paper para
9 Government, as part of its housing policy planning, should work 2.33)
with industry to assemble and publish a comprehensive pipeline of
demand in the new-build housing sector. This should be along
the same lines as the National Infrastructure Pipeline, seeking to
bring private developers and investors into this as far as possible
to assist with longer term innovation and skills investment
planning.
10 In the medium to longer-term, particularly if a voluntary approach
does not achieve the necessary step-change, government to
consider introducing a charge on business clients for the
construction industry to further influence commissioning
behaviour and to supplement funding for skills and innovation at
a level commensurate with the size of the industry. The charge
should be set at no more than 0.5% of construction value with a
clear implementation timetable. Clients would be able to avoid
payment by showing how they are contributing to industry
capacity building and modernisation. 115
A schedule of responses to the review was published in 2016 while the
Government’s response was published in a letter of 19 July 2017:
Since its publication in October, we have been incorporating the
review’s findings and recommendations into policy development.
The attached annex sets out more fully how the Government has
responded to each of Mark’s recommendations. In particular,
Mark’s recommendations influenced the measures in the Housing
White Paper to support increased housing supply, and helped
inform the review of the Construction Industry Training Board
(CITB). 116
The Autumn Budget 2017 included the following announcement on
construction skills:
115
Farmer Review of the UK Construction Labour Model: ‘Modernise or die’, December
2016, p11
116
Government Response to the Farmer Review_19 July 2017
Construction skills – The government will support industry to

help ensure that there is a workforce fit to build these homes,
providing £34 million to scale up innovative training models across
the country, including a programme in the West Midlands. The
government is working with industry to finalise a Construction
Sector Deal that will support innovation and skills in the sector,
including £170 million of investment through the Industrial
Strategy Challenge Fund. Construction skills will also be a focus
for the National Retraining Scheme. 117
On 31 October 2018, the Government responded to a question on the
allocation of construction skills funding:
The CITB Construction Skills Funding is currently being agreed
with the successful Construction Training Hubs providers across
the country. We expect up to £9.2 million to be granted in
2018/19. A ministerial announcement about the successful
projects will be made later this year. 118
6.8 Construction Sector Deal

The Government’s Industrial Strategy, published in November 2017,
created a number of Sector Deals to support sectors with a competitive
advantage in the UK, in which UK companies excel or which have a
demonstrable need for Government support. Sector Deals are bespoke
collaborations between industry and Government which aim to improve
productivity, skills and output in certain sectors. The Deals set out a
policy framework to increase the economic output of selected sectors,
based on previous research identifying the needs within the sectors (in
the construction sector’s case, the prior research that informed the Deal
was mainly the Farmer Review).
The Construction Sector Deal was published in July 2018 and includes
several policies relevant to improving the quality of new housing, as well
as several cross-cutting policies that are relevant to this issue, some of
which are described in other parts of this section:
• £170 million investment in the Transforming Construction:
Manufacturing Better Buildings programme, some of which will
be directed to “…research and development (R&D) and
demonstration programmes, which will support innovations using
digital and manufacturing technologies across the infrastructure,
social infrastructure, commercial construction and homebuilding
sectors.” 119
• Improve the skills of construction workers in the housebuilding
industry by improving the “competences for those working on the
design, construction and operation of higher risk residential
buildings, taking forward key recommendations from the final
report of the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire
Safety. The Industry Response Group Steering Group on
Competences for Building a Safer Future will set out a plan for an
117
Autumn Budget 2017, November 2017, para 5.25
118
Training: Expenditure: Written question -184443, 31 October 2018
119
BEIS, Construction Sector Deal, July 2018, p13
overarching body to provide oversight of competence

requirements and support the delivery of competent people.” 120
Improve the lifetime performance of buildings by encouraging the
procurement of building (including houses) that involves
consideration of the “whole life performance”. This involves
estimating the value of a building over its whole lifetime,
encouraging the production of buildings that will last longer with
fewer defect. 121
120
Ibid., p15
121
Ibid., p33
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BRIEFING PAPER

Number 07665, 1 August 2019

www.parliament.uk/commons-library | intranet.parliament.uk/commons-library | papers@parliament.uk | @commonslibrary

Wendy Wilson Sections 1 to 5

Cover page image copyright Louise Smith

1. Customer satisfaction with

England. According to the APPG, although 86% of respondents to the

Information on complaints received by Local Authority Building Control

2. Regulating building standards

2.2 Enforcing Building Regulations

wrong at times. I recognise my hon. Friend’s concerns, particularly

seeks to hold developers and builders to account and to ensure

2.3 Reviewing the Building Regulations and

3.1 The defect liability period

3.3 Consumer Code for Homebuilders

Home-builders are required to have a complaints procedure in place –

4. Problems and potential

suggest that the minimum level should be considered by DCLG in

4.2 How effective are warranties?

The inspections are purely to prove to our underwriters that the

4.3 Buying new-build homes: the balance of

home owners to take successful action against builders for defects in

builders, raising the standard of service and support provided to

significant deterrent, but the sanctions regime operated by home

5. The Government & industry

homebuyers, protect their interests and hold developers to

the ombudsman.” In the meantime, she described work underway by

• Be open and transparent and have public accountability

5.1 New Homes Ombudsman: Technical

5.2 CIOB: call for evidence on construction

the standards to be expected from the industry. The third will be

6. Construction industry: skills,

6.1 Labour market and skills

shrinking sectors (such as manufacturing), suggesting a potential

6.2 Innovation in construction

The UK construction industry has been slow to adopt technological and

emphasised that the industry will still be dependent on skilled operatives

6.3 Housing maintenance

6.4 Finance for house building

6.5 Predictable demand

6.6 The APPG’s recommendations 2016

6.7 The Farmer Review’s recommendations

• Low margins, adversarial pricing models and financial fragility.

4 Industry, clients and government, supported by academic

will need. Bodies to play a more active role in ensuring training

Construction skills – The government will support industry to

6.8 Construction Sector Deal

overarching body to provide oversight of competence

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