Consumer Code for Home Builders celebrates 15th Anniversary
10 SEPTEMBER 2025 : The Approved Code Scheme.
The Consumer Code for Home Builders (the ‘Code’) – the first code of conduct in the industry – marks its 15th anniversary this year with reassuring signs that consumers are increasingly accessing the support available to them, while overall satisfaction in home builders is on the rise.
In figures just published in the Code’s latest Annual Report, 2024 saw the highest number of disputes raised by home buyers through the Consumer Code for Home Builders’ Independent Dispute Resolution Scheme, suggesting consumers are more aware of the protection and redress available to them through the Code. Despite the increase in claims, the latest annual Home Builders Federation National New Homes Customer Satisfaction Survey shows the percentage of new home owners willing to recommend their builder has risen to 94% and that 90% were happy with their new home.
Code Chair, Noel Hunter OBE, said: “Given the scale of home building in the UK, we are encouraged to see the rise in claims as it’s essential that home buyers are aware of and have access to support when they need it. But it’s equally pleasing to see that overall satisfaction is improving. We’ve also seen a drop of 3.5% in the amount awarded by our independent adjudicators to consumers to address actual losses incurred as a result of Code breaches – including compensation for inconvenience. This suggests the impact and financial cost of Code breaches reduced slightly in 2024.”
Between April 2024 and March 2025, 46 builders failed to comply with an adjudicator’s decision within the prescribed timeframes. Of those, 37 builders complied swiftly following intervention by the Code team, and nine faced sanctions for their non-compliance.
Since its launch in 2010, the Consumer Code for Home Builders has:
- Covered the majority of new homes built across the UK, protecting thousands of buyers
- Handled nearly 1,800 claims via our Independent Dispute Resolution Scheme (IDRS)
- Trained thousands of builders, sales agents and conveyancers on the Code
- Conducted 4,000 compliance activities
- Introduced a telephone and email enquiry line which now handles 2,000 queries every year
- Produced several articles and free resources to help buyers and builders navigate new homes buying and selling
- Applied sanctions against builders who fail to comply with adjudicator decisions made through our IDRS, including a new daily charge for delayed compliance
- Helped to drive greater confidence in new build homes and enabled higher quality customer service standards
- Regularly reviewed and updated the Code so that it remains fit for purpose
- Retained external accreditation through the Chartered Trading Standards Institute Approved Codes Scheme
Noel Hunter continued: “I’m immensely proud of what the Consumer Code for Home Builders has achieved to date. We’re fortunate to have an experienced and highly motivated Board and Advisory Forum which drive us to continuously improve. With this mix of consumer, legal and industry input, we’ve delivered stringent Code requirements which protect home buyers and support builders in delivering great service, and it’s great to see customer satisfaction improving.”
The Consumer Code for Home Builders has paved the way for other new homes codes to operate, enabling home buyers to benefit from similar protection. Nearly all new build home builders must now comply with a code of conduct and independent redress scheme as a condition of their registration with their warranty provider.
The Code continues to strengthen protection for consumers and provide useful resources for builders to help drive up customer service standards, learn from complaints and ensure home buyers know what to expect from their home and have access to help, information and redress where needed. For more details, download the Code's 15-year anniversary timeline and latest Annual Report.
Who are the Consumer Code for Home Builders?
The Consumer Code for Home Builders (CCHB) operates a Code or Practice that has been officially - and repeatedly - approved by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute.The CCHB exists to make the home-buying process fairer and more transparent for home buyers. Their Code sets mandatory requirements that home builders must meet when they market and sell new homes and in their after-sales customer service. To find out more about the CCHB, please visit their Code Sponsor Profile (in the Approved Code Directory) or visit their website.
