CABE's response to the Office of Fair Trading's study into the UK housebuilding industry

Recommendations to OFT for improvements in the housing industry, to benefit residents and increase competitiveness between developers.

In June of 2007 the Office of Fair Trading launched a study looking at the extent to which consumers have power to drive competition, the level of consumer protection and redress and the overall extent of competition in the industry.

Consumer preferences in the housing market contain many contradictions. Home buyers make decisions based on a series of trade-offs rather than a clear list of neatly prioritised criteria. Good design plays a role in meeting the widest possible range of customer preferences. Consumers are forced to make trade-offs because of their lack of choice - they would chose good urban design quality if it was available.

Our recommendations are as follows:

1. An increased focus on place not product - using the Building for Life criteria as a method of assessing quality.
2. The clear publication of the total internal floor space of a property (rather than the number of bedrooms), available to all consumers.
3. An increased acknowledgement of the importance of stewardship of place, achieved through different business models that maintain developer commitment to a site.
4. The mandatory publication of independently researched post-occupancy evaluation on all schemes, to increase consumer awareness of housing quality.
5. Increased competition within the industry, including incentivising new entrants to the market.

 

Published on 19 November 2007

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