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Clitheroe Advertiser & Times, October 25th, 2001 11 Clitheroe 422324 (Editorial), 422323 (Advertising) J 3 um le y 4 2 2 3 3 1 ^ ^


a feature on stynsfUftl#g\ by Jeremy Gates


ARE buyers of new homes getting the service and quality of product to be expected in the biggest purchase of


their lives? The question arises


as u n c e r ta in ty sur­ rounds the major Gov­ ernment-backed initia­ tive to improve quality launched last year. The first national cus­


However, the replies of more than 10,000 home- buyers found 81% reported defects and snags with their homes, while 48% said there were more defects than


expected. The project was led by


the Housing Forum, set up in 1999 to promote innovation and perfor­ mance improvement in housebuilding, and fund­ ed by the Government through the Department of Transport and the


tomer satisfaction sur­ vey of the UK’s top housebuilders - all com­ panies building more than 300 homes a year - emerged last October. I t was seen as a long-


Regions. Assessment


awaited and major breakthrough for con­ sumer power in the hous­ ing market. But it isn’t working out tha t way, despite the best inten­ tions of bureaucrats - and the spending of thousands of pounds of


public cash. The first survey found


87% of buyers satisfied with their new home - and about 70% satisfied with the service provided by their housebuilder.


assumed the survey would provide an annual assessment to identify builders improving their act or getting worse. The assumption was th a t buyers would go to the “good-guy” firms. But a Housing Forum


At th a t time, it was


Satisfaction survey shows homebuyers are more critical


future of the survey is


less clear cut. A spokesman says: “I t is more likely the survey will be annual. Or it may be every two or three years. I t hasn t been


finally fixed.” But the key question


is not when the next sur­ vey appears, rather whether new homes offer the superior quality to satisfy affluent buyers. Few major builders these days have an average selling price below


£ 100,000. This means nervous


first-time buyers of a decade ago are being replaced by critical buy­ ers who kick up a stink when things go wrong, with consumer television programmes revelling in buyers’ complaints. Latest figures from the


spokesman says the sec­ ond survey has been delayed until February next year. The Forum was initially set for shut­ down in March 2002 - and the second survey would have packed it off


with a flourish. Now it is reprieved


until 2004, although the


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^ « H IT-Tgr y " The NHBC says


another 6,300 cases each year go to the Free Reso­ lution Service, which gives an impartial judge­ ment after hearing the views of the builder and


the buyer.Problems There have also been


aggressive and con­ frontational that I feared


for my safety”. And in Essex, one dis­


gruntled homeowner posted large placards in the road to highlight the deficiencies of her new


home.However, builders are


some high-profile prob­ lems with new homes in recent months. The repair bill at the Mon- tevetro building by Tay­ lor Woodrow on the Thames at Battersea, for instance, could top £10 million. Residents, including Marie Helvin and Nick Ross, may sue the developer after a two-year battle to have problems put right. A few weeks ago, a


National House-Build­ ing Council, operating the 10-year warranty included with nearly all new homes, says com­ plaints run at about 12,000 a year, costing £28 million to put right. I t sounds grim - but


hit hard by two major problems. There is an acute shortage of skilled labour, partly because school leavers won’t get their hands dirty on building sites, while last winter’s wet weather left building programmes in


tatters. Yet the big failure of


buyer spending more than half a million pounds on an apartment in London Docklands complained th a t the developer was ‘ so


the Housing Forum sur­ vey so far has been that hardly anybody has noticed. Good and bad performance failed to impact on sales figures - the idea behind the whole thing in the first


place. One developer which . .


advertised its high plac­ ing in the survey last autumn was soon per­ suaded to drop the idea. John Callcutt, chief


executive of Crest Nicholson, campaigned


for the Housing Forum survey because he believes the NHBC war­ ranty scheme forces good firms to subsidise sub­


standard ones. He says: “All that real­


ly matters is what cus­


tomers think of you. I am surprised builders don’t sell more on that basis. Maybe quality doesn’t sell, as it ought


to.“When you compare the satisfaction rating of housing with other con­ sumer goods, we are well down the satisfaction table. It is difficult to get a new house absolutely perfect, but that gap is wider than it ought to


be.”


******.


AN ACUTE shortage of


skilled labour has affected


the building industry, say experts


Auctions hit crisis in


Afghanistan


RESIDENTIAL property auctions are seeing a marked slowdown in activity amid US military action in Afghanistan as potential bidders decide to sit out the uncertainty.


That is the view of Mike Logan Wood, ol ,


Countrywide Property Auctions, which holds sales in Manchester tomorrow, October 2b


and in Birmingham on October 30. Logan Wood says sales were being lost even


before the terrorist attacks because vendors set their reserve prices - the minimum they will taKe


at any one time about 1.5 million homes less than 10 years old are covered by the warranty.


" "lie says: “Above £300,000 and £400,000 there is only a limited market. Vendors must want to sell and they must be realistic. We only achieve a sale when properties offer good value. Some­ times I say to people: ‘If I walked into your lounge with a suitcase stuffed with £100 notes, what would you really be prepared to take it. Countrywide estate agents are also saying the


terror attacks have focused buyer interest away from the big conurbations - and into more remote areas, particularly m south-west Eng-


lalThis could boost auction sales in little-known and far-flung locations. Properties to watch out for in the Countrywide brochure include the Yew Tree Hotel and apartments in Birkenhead, Merseyside, already earning £15,280 a year m


rent, at £160,000-plus. Countrywide brochure line: 0870 240 1140. „ , , ,„ DO NOT BUY f t LIVING FLAME GAS FIRE


26th-28th Oct 2001 * Excludes patterns under discontinuation


boundary mill Burnley Road, Colne, Lancashire. Tel: 01282 865229


ht-A ■


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N e w E n g l a n d ’d e s i g n


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