A bespoke version of the private buyers’ National New Homes Survey is being created for registered providers to improve the quality of Section 106 homes and boost acquisitions.
JV North has designed a Social Housing Satisfaction Survey that it wants the Home Builders Federation (HBF) to make part of its five-star rating system.
The consortium has shared its survey with the National Housing Federation (NHF) so it can be developed further by its members and also the HBF.
JV North says the survey is needed because currently the National House Building Council, Premier Guarantee and Local Authority Building Control Warranty send National New Homes Survey forms to private buyers at handover but exclude social landlords.
These customer satisfaction survey results are then shared with the HBF which each year gives developers a 1 to 5 star rating.
The star rating is the gold standard for reputation in the UK housebuilding industry. It heavily dictates developers’ sales, buyer trust and market authority because it is based on surveys distributed eight weeks and then nine months after moving in.
By being excluded, social landlords experience developers giving private buyers preferential service to ensure they get the highest possible rating to help them stand out in the marketplace.
Site managers and other staff such as project managers are also incentivised with bonuses if they get five stars.
JV North cited poorer quality homes and customer service as the main reasons for a 69% drop in Section 106 purchases by its members over the past three years (688 properties bought in 2023-24 compared to 213 in 2025-26).
JV North Chair, John Bowker, said: “Our Social Housing Satisfaction Survey aims to transform the current situation where we and other landlords in the sector say the quality of Section 106 homes is often too poor to justify being bought.
“We have shared it with the NHF so its members can develop it further with the Home Builders Federation.
“We are calling on the HBF to then formerly adopt the survey as it will lead to better quality homes which will see registered providers buying more and ultimately that is what both parties want.
“Homes England recently reinforced the need for more Section 106 acquisitions as part of the Social and Affordable Homes Programme so it is really important.
“To do this, we need the HBF to recognise social housing survey results in its rating system alongside feedback from private buyers to give a truer picture of developers’ performance.
“We know what can be achieved by developers when they are pushing for five stars and our survey will allow landlords to receive the same high standard in social housing.”
JV North proposes warranty companies send the Social Housing Satisfaction Survey to registered providers at handover.
This would include issuing surveys to the register provider named on the warranty certificate with feedback gathered from the housing association’s sales, delivery and assets teams.
Three months after handover a survey would let landlords answer quality-related questions, whether the property was ready at the agreed date with all certification and to ensure all snagging is completed and initial defects have been rectified.
Another survey issued 13 months after handover would ask a range of questions specific to social landlords such as ‘have all defects been completed during the first year and within agreed KPI timeframes?’.
With developers currently only able to achieve the top five-star rating if 90% or more of those surveyed are prepared to ‘recommend their builder to family and friends’, JV North has adapted this so landlords will answer: ‘would you recommend this developer to another registered provider?’.
JV North says including registered providers in the rating system is commercially imperative for warranty providers as higher quality standards will result in fewer defects and claims being made.