Recommendation 76

HM Government Acknowledged

We agree with the Committee that prospective purchaser who are forced to pull out of a purchase should be able to bring such complaints to the ombudsman. The draft Building Safety Bill already specifies that the scheme may include provision for persons, other than relevant owners of new build homes, to have complaints against members of the scheme investigated and determined under the scheme; and it would be up to the scheme to determine who those other persons are. We will also set this expectation with the Scheme appointed. There are other persons that we would expect to be able to raise complaints with the ombudsman, including those identified by the Committee through its written feedback, such as spouses/civil partners who occupy new build homes and beneficiaries under a trust. The Government considers that the Bill as drafted already achieves this result but has amended the explanatory notes to reflect that. The Government does not believe it is strictly necessary to set out in the Bill that developers are required to establish their own complaints procedures, as setting standards of service is already foreseen in the draft Building Safety Bill. The Scheme itself must include provision for the procedure for making complaints under the scheme and the Government considers that the code of practice would set out expectations that a developer must establish a complaints process and the standards it should meet. However, we have amended the draft Building Safety Bill so that it is clear that the procedures to become and remain a member of the New Homes Ombudsman scheme may include a requirement for a developer to have internal procedures in place for the handling and resolution of complaints and inform purchasers of their rights under the New Homes Ombudsman. We agree with the Committee’s recommendation that the Government monitor the performance of the scheme and amend its scope if necessary. The new homes ombudsman provisions include broad scope to make arrangements for there to be a scheme, which includes the provision of information to the Secretary of State and other relevant persons. The Government has also considered additional points raised in written evidence to the Committee and have made amendments to the draft Building Safety Bill. This includes asking the scheme to publish a list of its members so that consumers are clear that a developer is a member of the scheme.