Registered Developers

The New Homes Quality Code

The New Homes Quality Code sets out the requirements which must be adopted and complied with by the developers who are registered with the New Homes Quality Board (NHQB).

There are 10 fundamental principles which must be followed:

Fairness: Treating customers fairly throughout the process
Safety: completing works in accordance with all Building Regulations
Quality: complete all works to a good quality standard
Service: ensure processes are in place to meet all customer service level requirements
Responsiveness: be clear, responsive, and timely in responding to customers’ issues
Transparency: provide clear and accurate information about the purchase of a new home
Independence: ensure customers are aware of the need to appoint independent legal advisors when purchasing a new home
Inclusivity: identify vulnerable customers and ensure appropriate support is given
Security: ensure processes are in place to meet all obligations under the Code, include any financial arrangements
Compliance: comply with all requirements of the NHQB

The New Homes Ombudsman and the Code

The New Homes Quality Code (the Code) has been developed by the New Homes Quality Board (NHQB) and developers who become Registered Developers with the NHQB agree to act in accordance with its provisions. When a customer of a Registered Developer brings a complaint to the New Homes Ombudsman Service (NHOS), we will determine whether the Registered Developer has acted in accordance with the Code, based on the evidence which we ask both parties to provide.

What you need to do as a Registered Developer

When you have activated your registration with the NHQB, your details will be passed to NHOS and we will create an account for you which will include a dashboard facility to manage any complaints from customers which we ask you to respond to.

Our processes are transparent, and we will communicate with you and the customer regularly as the complaint progresses. The customer will be asked to provide details of their complaint and evidence to support it, and we will check the details for eligibility before we ask you to respond.

Responding to a complaint

Before a customer can raise a complaint with NHOS, they will already have engaged with the developer’s internal complaints process as set out in the Code. This means you are likely to be familiar with the issues we ask you to respond to.

If you receive a notification from NHOS about a complaint, you will be able to access the full details via your dashboard. Everything the customer has provided will be available for you to view before you respond. We will ask you to explain as part of your response how you feel you have met the requirements of the Code, and whether there are any further proposals you wish to make to resolve the matter. You can also provide evidence to support your response and your response will be shared with the customer.

You can watch how to log into your account and upload your evidence here. You can also find more information about how we work in our Scheme Rules here.