This is the sixteenth year in a row that the local housebuilder has achieved the top 5 star rating, with no other housebuilder coming close to matching that record. To mark the achievement, parent company Barratt Redrow is donating £25,000 to the Construction Youth Trust, to help more young people have careers in construction and the built environment.
The number of stars a housebuilder receives is based on customer responses to the question “would you recommend your builder to a friend?” For Barratt to have been awarded 5 stars means that over 90% of its customers would recommend their homes to a friend.
The HBF New Homes Survey is one of the largest surveys of its type in the country, with around 50,000 people taking part in it 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 of which housebuilders have the most satisfied customers.
Carl Sobolewski, Managing Director for Barratt and David Wilson Homes North East, said: “To be a 5 star housebuilder shows how much we care about our customers, going the extra mile to make them happy with their new home. We take great pride in building homes to the highest possible standard, always ensuring that our customers are satisfied with the quality of their home and of the service that we provide.
“We are proud to have achieved a 5-star rating for the 16th consecutive year, and we will continue to work with our customers at the heart of all that we do.”
Neil Jefferson, Chief Executive of the Home Builders Federation, says: “This year’s survey results highlight the industry’s absolute commitment to delivering high levels of customer service, and compare favourably to satisfaction levels seen in any other sectors or products.
"Customers are the ultimate judges of performance and so receiving such high scores based on their feedback alone is a significant achievement. These results are a testament to the dedication and hard work of the entire home-building workforce, from on-site teams to the boardroom."
The new 5 star rating comes on top of Barratt and David Wilson Homes North East having success at the NHBC Pride in the Job Quality Awards. The competition is known as the ‘Oscars’ of the housebuilding industry, with over 11,000 site managers being entered into it. Last year Barratt and David Wilson Homes site managers won 89 Pride in the Job Quality Awards, more than any other housebuilder for a record 20 years in a row.