15 years of consumer protection – Consumer Code for Home Builders marks 15th Anniversary

2025 marks 15 years since the launch of the Consumer Code for Home Builders (the ‘Code’) – the first code of conduct designed to address low levels of customer satisfaction with new build homes across the UK. In those 15 years, the number of home buyers that would recommend their builder has risen from 46% to 94%_[1]. Thousands of consumers have also benefited from improved customer service standards as well as free independent redress if things go wrong.

15 Years of the Code – a snapshot

The Code was established to provide strong protection for consumers, ensuring Code requirements would work in practice for builders of all sizes. Our Code has always been independently chaired, governed by a mix of consumer and industry representatives and regularly reviewed to ensure the Code remains fit for purpose as circumstances change.

Key achievements

Since launching the Code, we have:

• Handled nearly 1,800 claims via our Independent Dispute Resolution Scheme (IDRS)
• Trained thousands of builders, sales agents and conveyancers on the Code
• Conducted 4,000 compliance activities
• Introduced a telephone and email enquiry line which now handles 2,000 queries every year
• Produced several articles and free resources to help buyers and builders navigate new homes buying and selling
• Applied sanctions against builders who fail to comply with adjudicator decisions made through our IDRS, including a new daily charge for delayed compliance
• Helped to drive greater confidence in new build homes and enabled higher quality customer service standards
• Regularly reviewed and updated our Code so that it remains fit for purpose

“I’m immensely proud of what the Consumer Code for Home Builders has achieved to date. We’re fortunate to have an experienced and highly motivated Board and Advisory Forum which drive us to continuously improve. With this mix of consumer, legal and industry input, we’ve delivered stringent Code requirements which protect home buyers and support builders in delivering great service. It’s great to see customer satisfaction improving.”
Code Chair, Noel Hunter

As the first new homes code of conduct, supported at launch by the UK’s four main home warranty providers, the Code has paved the way for other new homes codes to operate, enabling home buyers to benefit from similar protection.

The Government is now looking at implementing a mandatory Code and Ombudsman Scheme. We have been working with other new homes codes and stakeholders to ensure this effort is focused on plugging gaps in protection rather than legislating for what is already in place and working well – albeit with room for improvement. As things currently stand, nearly all new build home builders must comply with a code of conduct and independent redress scheme as a condition of their registration with their warranty provider. Most new homes codes, including ours, are independently audited and approved by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute Approved Codes Scheme.

What’s next?

There is still work to do to improve build quality and ensure consistently high standards of customer service. In addition to maintaining our ongoing compliance and guidance activities we are:

• Encouraging government to consider standardising minimum level warranty protection (raising the overall standard rather than lowering the current protection offered to many) to address build quality variation
• Raising awareness of the need for further investment in building inspectors, particularly considering the Government’s ambitious building targets
• Monitoring the impact of our new non-compliance charge with a view to potentially making it permanent if it proves effective in reducing negative impact on buyers
• Continuing to raise awareness of the support available for home buyers so that they know what to expect from their new home purchase and have the tools and information needed to make informed decisions and navigate the process more easily.

For more details, download our 15-year anniversary timeline or read our latest Annual Report.

_[1] Annual Home Builders Federation (HBF) National New Homes Customer Satisfaction Survey