Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to improve the clarity and enforceability of developers’ obligations during the first two years of new‑home warranty cover.

The government has legislated for a series of future measures to strengthen the clarity and enforceability of developers’ obligations during the early years of new home ownership. Sections 144 and 145 of the Building Safety Act, once commenced, will require every new build home to be sold with a warranty that meets mandated minimum standards, and will enable the government to impose penalties of up to 10 per cent of the sale value or £10,000 on those who sell a new home without a compliant warranty. These powers will ensure developers’ responsibilities in the early years are clearer and more consistently enforced.

The government believes that existing redress mechanisms for those buying a new home are inadequate. We are therefore working with the devolved administrations to implement the statutory UK-wide New Homes Ombudsman (NHO) scheme and an accompanying Code to investigate and resolve complaints and will bring forward the necessary secondary legislation in due course. Once enacted all developers will be required to be a member of the statutory NHO.

The Department does not hold the requested data related to individual developers.

Where developers are responsible for remediation, including structural defects, we expect them to take prompt action to remediate buildings. We are not considering bringing forward statutory timescales for developers to complete remedial works.