Stewart Milne Homes, Barratt Developments in Scotland and the Scotland team at McCarthy & Stone are celebrating after achieving 5 star ratings in the new Home Builders Federation (HBF) customer satisfaction survey 2017.

The prestigious independent industry accolade recognises companies who achieve over 90% customer satisfaction ratings customers who purchased a home in the last year.

One of only five large housebuilders (building over 750 units per annum) and the only major housebuilder head-quartered in Scotland to be awarded the status this year, Stewart Milne Homes said its continued commitment to customers, the creation of award winning developments, the design, detail and individuality of homes and aftercare service has led to the achievement.

Glenn Allison, chief executive of Stewart Milne Group, said: “This award recognises the company-wide effort in the planning, construction, marketing and sales of our homes in Scotland and England. But more importantly, it provides an independent assurance on the quality of our homes and the service we provide to home buyers.

“We have worked extremely hard to achieve our five star status and we are proud to have been awarded this accolade, especially as it comes from our customers views. We will continue to deliver quality homes backed up by exceptional customer service.”

The award for Barratt Developments in Scotland, which includes both Barratt and David Wilson Homes, means that Barratt now becomes the only major national housebuilder to be accredited as a 5 star builder for eight years in a row.

Barratt Developments in Scotland said it continually puts customers at the heart of everything it does by building high quality homes with great design that create strong communities. Coupled with the focus on looking after customers after they have moved in, it is this which has helped achieve such high customer recommendation scores.

Douglas McLeod, regional managing director for Barratt Developments in Scotland, said: “We are extremely proud to achieve the 5 star rating for eight years in a row as it means more than 90% of our customers would recommend our homes to a friend. The customer recommendation scores come from building high quality homes and then really looking after our customers once they have moved in.

“Quality is so important to us there are over 400 items that are individually checked before the keys to a Barratt home are handed over to a customer. We try to work harder than anyone else when it comes to looking after our customers, and this comes out in the survey’s results.”

Retirement housebuilder McCarthy & Stone becomes the only housebuilder of any size or type to achieve the award for twelve years running, which is every year since the awards began.

According to the firm, the award recognises its commitment to delivering excellent customer service across the business, with particular emphasis on the developer’s commitment to guiding home buyers through the purchasing process, including the provision of post-sales support.

Lorraine Paterson, sales and marketing director at McCarthy & Stone in Scotland, said: “We are delighted to receive the HBF Customer Service award for a twelfth consecutive year, and that so many of our homeowners say they would happily recommend us to their friends and family. We would like to thank all of our customers who completed the survey.

“We believe this is testimony to the quality and attention to detail that goes into the service we provide, and all of our developments. This is a fantastic achievement and thanks must also go to our committed teams across the regions who provide excellent service day in day out to deliver attractive, high-quality developments across the UK.”

The HBF star rating scheme awards builders stars for customer satisfaction. The number of stars awarded is based on the homeowner feedback in an independent National New Homes Survey of customer satisfaction, conducted by the National House-Building Council (NHBC). The survey is designed to provide home buyers with information about house builders to help guide their purchasing decisions, and to encourage excellent levels of service across the industry.

The criteria for 5 star ratings are: 91% or more of homeowners must be prepared to recommend their house builder to a friend.

The survey covered the year to the end of September 2016, is entirely independent of any house builder or house builder group and is independently validated by Reading University.

The survey is one of the largest of its type undertaken in the UK. This year over 90,000 surveys were sent out, an increase of 61% on three years ago reflecting the significant increase in the number of homes being built.

Stewart Baseley, executive chairman of the Home Builders Federation, said: “The Customer Satisfaction and Star Rating Scheme is an accepted, robust and independently assessed measure of customer service. Achieving the highest levels of satisfaction is a huge challenge that requires commitment from everyone in an organisation from top to bottom. To do so whilst increasing output, to help address our acute housing shortage, is especially commendable.”

For a full list of the customer recommendation scores from every participating homebuilder, click here.