Member Article

Local housebuilder awarded 5 stars for customer satisfaction for a record 12 years in a row

Local housebuilder Barratt Developments North East has received the maximum 5 star rating in the new Home Builders Federation (HBF) annual New Homes Customer Satisfaction Survey for a record of 12 consecutive years.

The number of stars awarded is based on customer responses to the question “would you recommend your builder to a friend”? For Barratt Developments to have been awarded 5 stars means that over 90% of its customers would recommend their homes to a friend.

This is the twelfth year in a row that Barratt Developments has achieved the 5 star rating – a record unmatched by any other major national housebuilder. It comes on top of the recent Supreme Win at the NHBC Pride in the Job Awards, where the housebuilder’s site manager Kirk Raine scooped the top award out of a possible 11,000 site managers across the country, marking the fifth Supreme win for Barratt site managers in six years, whilst local site manager, Mark Summersgill, was also awarded with the prestigious title of ‘national runner up’ from the awards. This follows on from his previous successes winning his sixth Pride in the Job Quality award, a Seal of Excellence award and Regional Award, as well as achieving the 2019 Large Builder Supreme Award before that.

The HBF New Homes Survey is one of the largest surveys of its type in the country and is completed by nearly 50,000 people who have recently bought a new build home. The simple 1-5 star rating system was developed to give customers an easy to view ranking system of which housebuilders have the most satisfied customers. The high satisfaction rates are a testament to Barratt Developments commitment to building high quality homes and great places that its customers are proud to call home. The customer is at the heart of everything Barratt Developments does, and it is this focus on making customers happy which results in such high recommendation scores.

Stewart Baseley, Executive Chairman of the Home Builders Federation, said: “The survey demonstrates that the industry is delivering an excellent level of service in the opinion of over 90% of its customers. The fact that we have seen four successive years of improved satisfaction levels shows the clear focus builders have been putting on the customer. That this level of satisfaction has been delivered during a pandemic that saw sites closed and builders unable to access homes for a period makes it even more of an achievement. To achieve a 5 star rating, meaning that at least 90% of your customers would recommend you, is a fantastic achievement that requires commitment from everyone within the organisation.”

Carl Sobolewski, Managing Director at Barratt Developments North East, added: “We’re incredibly proud to have been announced a five star housebuilder for a record 12 years in a row, as well as Mark’s recent national success right here in the North East. We work hard to look after our customers, both before and after they buy their new homes, so it’s great to know that our customers rate us so highly, and that so many of them would recommend us to a friend. We will continue to give all of our customers a 5 star service.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Richard Savage .