New homes buyers face ‘delays and faults’

September 26, 2008 by OPPE News

A watchdog has ruled people buying new homes in the UK face “faults and delays” and has asked for a code of conduct to be developed.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has concluded a widespread report on the country’s home building sector.

It said the industry was “broadly competitive” but noted new home buyers can experience a number of problems.

Issues include faults in new homes, potentially unfair terms and conditions in contracts and delays in moving in.

OFT chief executive John Fingleton said:

“We have concluded that home buyers need more protection when buying a new home and we have worked hard with the industry to help it develop a new approach to self-regulation that will improve consumer protection.”

The report also noted there was no evidence that home builders can restrict supply and inflate prices or hoard land, branded ‘land banking’, for anti-competitive reasons.

The Home Builders Federation said the investigation had given the industry a “clean bill of health”, saying the report had revealed the idea of land banking as “a total myth”.

It added developers agreed with the push for a self regulated code of conduct, and said faults on new homes were typically sorted quickly by builders.