Housing Minister highlights the work of New Homes Quality Board in Parliament

Helen Morgan, a Liberal Democrat representing the North Shropshire constituency, tabled an Adjournment Debate on ‘Unfinished Housing Developments: Consumer Protection’ to raise issues her constituents have faced regarding critical pieces of infrastructure not being completed by developers.

She outlined how her constituents have been left with incomplete infrastructure, leaving them in “impossible situations” where they cannot live or sell their homes.

In his response, Housing Minister Lee Rowley mentioned the New Homes Quality Board and his recent visit to a Bellway site. He said:

“as we consider the next steps for the statutory scheme, the independent New Homes Quality Board has progressed work to set up the voluntary New Homes Ombudsman Service, which will launch shortly. My second visit was to see the launch of a New Homes Quality Board and to see the first developers to be brought onto that scheme. I went to Solihull a couple of weeks ago, and I am grateful to the chief executive for meeting me. It is an important step forward. The scheme is voluntary at the moment, but, equally, that voluntarism gives the opportunity for home buyers to see the different ways in which developers are engaging with that system, and I hope that most developers will in the end engage with that system”