Monitoring and Feedback

Mystery Shopping

Regular mystery shopping exercises have taken place to assess how effectively and consistently the Code is being applied by homebuilders. This is an important feature of the ongoing monitoring of the effectiveness of the Code.

There have been three mystery shopping and survey exercises undertaken to date.

The first mystery shopping took place shortly before the Code was launched to understand how prepared the industry was for the introduction of the Code and to provide a benchmark for measuring improvements in future mystery shopping surveys. Following the introduction of the Code, two further rounds of monitoring have taken place to establish how well the Code is being applied in practice and to identify any areas for further training or necessary improvements.

The second and third rounds of mystery shopping were conducted in November 2010 and June 2011.

The research has revealed continual improvement across the industry and the latest feedback shows widespread awareness, understanding and adoption of the Code by homebuilders. Virtually all those who took part in the telephone survey were aware of the Code, as were the vast majority of site sales staff.

Attitudes towards the Code have remained very positive and very few of survey respondents said they have had problems with implementing the Code;

A homebuilder toolkit has been produced to help builders, particularly smaller companies to comply with the Code. The toolkit contains information such as a builder checklist and sample reservation agreement as well as information about the dispute resolution scheme, warranty information and Code display materials. Homebuilders have also been advised that if using Estate agents to sell homes on their behalf, they should take responsibility for ensuring they are aware of and follow the Code’s requirements.