Long gone are the days when developers had the freedom to insist that a buyer enters into a sale and purchase contract for a new build home with scant specifications, only a vague idea of the estimated completion date and with an open-ended contract allowing the developer carte blanche to have the new home ready whenever it got around to completing its construction.
It is true that the Consumer Code for Home Builders is non-mandatory and as a home builder you may already be delivering an excellent service to your buyers and do not feel you need to consider signing up to comply with the non-mandatory Code. However, you may be unaware that some of the largest new home warranty providers namely NHBC, CRL, Premier Guarantee and LBAC have all signed up to support the Code. It automatically follows that, if you are a home builder registered with any of those new home warranty providers and are selling a new build home with a warranty from one of those warranty providers, then you, as the home builder, are under an obligation to comply with the Code.
The scheme states that the purpose of the Code is to ensure that home buyers:
The Code sets out the requirements that the developer must comply with throughout the sale transaction, including:
If a home buyer feels their home builder has not fulfilled their obligations under the Code they can make a complaint to the Code’s Independent Dispute Resolution Scheme and where it is appropriate for them to do so an adjudicator will review written submissions from both parties and will make a decision as to whether the claim is valid and whether there are any financial losses.
If a home builder is found to be in serious breach of the Code home warranty providers can apply a range of sanctions one of which is the removal of the home builder from their register.
Rather than seeing the Code as just another set of regulations to comply with it could be viewed as a positive marketing tool setting you apart from the crowd and giving buyers confidence in your credentials.
For further advice on the above or to ask a question please contact Jean Herring on 01603 580073 or email [javascript protected email address]
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