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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the regulation of the new-build sector in relation to snagging issues.

It is vital that as housing supply increases, the quality of new build homes improves. We expect all housing developers to deliver good quality housing, to deliver it on time, and to treat house buyers fairly.

We know more needs to be done to strengthen consumer redress for purchasers of new build homes, we announced our intention for there to be a New Homes Ombudsman to protect the rights of homebuyers and hold developers to account.

When Parliamentary time allows, we intend to introduce legislation to require developers of new build homes to belong to a New Homes Ombudsman, which will be underpinned in statute.

We will consult on the detail of the proposed legislation to statutorily underpin a New Homes Ombudsman. This will include the approval mechanisms and standards that a New Homes Ombudsman must meet as well as whether a Code of Practice for developers should also be underpinned in legislation.