The New Homes Quality Code: a practical compliance guide for residential developers

The New Homes Quality Code (NHQC) came into effect in 2022 and represented a significant shift in how residential development is regulated in England. Unlike its predecessor consumer codes, the NHQC is backed by the New Homes Ombudsman, a statutory scheme with the power to require developers to pay compensation and change their practices. Compliance is not optional for registered developers, and the consequences of non-compliance are increasingly public and reputational.

This guide explains what the NHQC requires, who it applies to, and how developers can build compliant processes across reservation, handover, and aftercare.

What is the New Homes Quality Code?

The New Homes Quality Code is a set of obligations that registered new build developers must meet when selling or marketing homes to private buyers in England. It was developed by the New Homes Quality Board (NHQB), an independent body established to raise standards in the new homes industry following the House of Commons HCLG Select Committee's criticisms of the existing consumer code landscape.

The NHQC is supported by the New Homes Ombudsman Service (NHOS), which provides buyers with a formal escalation route if a developer fails to resolve a complaint. The Ombudsman can direct developers to pay compensation, issue apologies, take corrective action, or change their practices. Decisions are binding on registered developers.

Who does the NHQC apply to?

The NHQC applies to developers who have registered with the New Homes Quality Board. Registration is not yet mandatory in England, though the government has signalled its intention to make registration, and compliance with a consumer code, a prerequisite for planning permission in future.

Practically, most volume and mid-market housebuilders in England are registered or are in the process of registering. Buyers increasingly ask about NHQC registration as part of their purchase decision. Not being registered is becoming a commercial disadvantage as much as a regulatory gap.

Note that the NHQC currently applies primarily to private sales in England. Shared ownership, affordable rent, and social housing tenures have separate regulatory frameworks, though the RSH Consumer Standards, which came into force in April 2024, create equivalent obligations for registered providers.

Key NHQC requirements for developers

At the reservation stage

The NHQC sets out specific requirements for what developers must communicate and provide when a buyer reserves a property:

• A reservation agreement that clearly sets out the terms, including the reservation fee, refund policy, and what happens if the property is not ready on the expected date
• A summary of the buyer's rights under the NHQC
• An estimate of the property's completion date and the process for communicating changes
• Information about the property's tenure, service charge obligations, and any ongoing costs the buyer will incur

Developers cannot pressure buyers to commit to unrealistic exchange timescales, and must give buyers a minimum cooling-off period after exchange.

Pre-completion and inspection

Before legal completion, the NHQC requires developers to:

• Carry out a pre-completion inspection of the property and remedy any identified defects before the buyer's home demonstration
• Give the buyer the opportunity to inspect the property before they complete. This is a formal right, not a courtesy.
• Provide the buyer with a Homeowner User Guide (HUG) at or before legal completion
• Demonstrate the property's key systems and appliances at the home demonstration
• Record any defects or concerns the buyer raises during their inspection

Developers must not use the exchange of contracts to pressure buyers into completing before they are ready, or to prevent them from raising concerns about the property's condition.

At completion

At legal completion, developers must provide buyers with:

• The Homeowner User Guide, containing operating instructions, maintenance guidance, emergency contacts, and details of all warranties
• The structural warranty certificate and policy (NHBC Buildmark or equivalent)
• The Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)
• Details of any appliance warranties and how to register them
• Contact details for the developer's customer care team
• Information on how to report defects and what response times to expect

Aftercare and defect management

The NHQC's aftercare requirements are among the most operationally demanding for developers. The code requires:

• Acknowledgement of complaints within five working days: any defect report, complaint, or concern raised by the buyer must be formally acknowledged within five working days of receipt
• Substantive response within ten working days: the developer must provide a substantive response within ten working days, setting out what action will be taken and when
• A documented complaints procedure: developers must have, and communicate, a formal process for handling complaints
• Resolution within a reasonable timeframe: defects must be remedied within a reasonable period, taking into account their severity and impact on the buyer's enjoyment of the property
• Emergency response: certain categories of defect (loss of heating, water ingress, security failures) must be treated as emergencies and addressed within 24 hours

The two-year defects liability period is the period during which buyers can report defects to the developer and expect remediation. Defects reported after two years (but within the warranty period) fall to the structural warranty insurer rather than the developer.

The New Homes Ombudsman and what it means in practice

If a buyer raises a complaint and the developer fails to resolve it satisfactorily within eight weeks, the buyer can refer the complaint to the New Homes Ombudsman Service. The Ombudsman will investigate the complaint and may direct the developer to:

• Pay financial compensation to the buyer
• Remedy specific defects by a defined date
• Provide a formal apology
• Change specific processes or practices

Ombudsman decisions are binding on registered developers. Non-compliance with an Ombudsman direction can result in removal from the NHQC register, which, given the growing buyer awareness of NHQC registration, is a significant commercial consequence.

The most common basis for successful buyer complaints to the Ombudsman is not the existence of defects (all new builds have some defects). It is the developer's failure to respond appropriately, within the required timeframes, and with adequate evidence of what action was taken. A developer with a well-managed, evidenced aftercare record is in a far stronger position than one whose defect management lives in a shared inbox.

How to build NHQC-compliant processes

Meeting NHQC obligations consistently across multiple plots and multiple sites requires more than good intentions. It requires systems. The key process requirements that developers need to operationalise are:

Document management

Every required document, including the HUG, EPC, warranty certificate, and reservation agreement, must be provided to the buyer and retained by the developer in a form that can be produced as evidence. A developer who cannot show that the buyer received their HUG has no defence if the buyer claims they never received home information.

Inspection records

Pre-completion inspections must be formally recorded, with the date, inspector, and outcome documented. If defects were identified and remediated before the buyer's home demonstration, this should be evidenced. If the buyer raised concerns during their inspection, these must be formally logged.

Complaint and defect tracking

Every complaint and defect report must be logged from the moment it is received, with the date of receipt, the response date, and the resolution date all recorded. Without this, a developer cannot demonstrate compliance with the five-day acknowledgement and ten-day response requirements.

Communication records

All communications with the buyer about defects, complaints, or aftercare should be logged against the buyer's record, not left in individual email inboxes. When a customer care manager leaves, the history should not leave with them.

NHQC compliance and Guided Home

Guided Home is designed around the NHQC's operational requirements for residential developers. The platform supports compliance in four specific areas:

• Document management: mandatory document checklist packs ensure that HUGs, EPCs, warranties, and completion certificates are collected and tracked for every plot, with gap reporting before handover. Homeowners access their documents through a branded portal, permanently and in a durable format.
• Inspections: configurable pre-completion inspection checklists with photo capture, digital signatures, and automatic PDF generation provide the evidenced inspection record the NHQC requires.
• Defect management: defects raised by homeowners are logged, assigned, and tracked with full timestamps, SLA monitoring, and automated reporting, providing the evidence base for response-time compliance.
• Homeowner portal: a white-labelled resident portal gives buyers permanent, branded access to their home information from day one of occupation, satisfying the NHQC's requirement for durable, accessible home information.

For housing associations and registered providers subject to RSH Consumer Standards rather than the NHQC, Guided Home's governance layer supports equivalent obligations around information access, complaint management, and accountability.

If you'd like to understand how Guided Home maps to your specific NHQC obligations, talk to us. We welcome a structured conversation before any demo.