Customer Survey
- New Homes Today 2003 - Introduction
- Key Findings 2003
- Quantitative Research
- Qualitative Research
- New Homes Today 2002 - Introduction
- Key Findings 2002
- Preference for New Housing 2002
- Affordable Housing and Planning Policies
Preference for Brand New Homes continues to increase
The Findings - Quantitative Research
50% of door-to-door respondents said they would have exclusively considered buying a brand new home. This figure is up on the 45% who gave this response to the same question in last year's research. This is a positive result, although allowance should be made for the possibility that those questioned in this sample may have a predisposition to new build.
Given this, the response to this question from the exit poll is more meaningful as the respondents are yet to purchase a house. Of this sample, 28% would only consider buying a brand new home - an increase of 1% from last year.
Information Gathering
Respondents were asked to indicate, from a pre-determined list, which sources of information they used when looking for their new home.
Effectiveness of information sources
The research went on to determine the effectiveness of the various information sources. Discounting the source "others" (only cited by 1% of respondents), the most highly rated information source was local knowledge, with 82% of respondents who cited this rating it as either very effective or effective. This was followed by estate agents (78%), signage (77%), internet (73%) and local press editorial (62%). Advertising did not rate quite so highly, especially national advertising with a score of 53% and local advertising, 66%. The least effective information source was direct mail; of the 465 respondents who had received direct mail relating to their search for a home, only 38% rated it as very effective or effective.
These results show that purchasers gain information from many sources and find several of them generally effective. This suggests that different sources of information may play different roles for consumers.
Information leading customers to the home they purchase
Further questioning focused on the specific information source that actually led respondents to the home they finally purchased. Estate agents came out well ahead of other sources with 35% of the total sample indicating that it was information from agents that led them to purchase their home.
Local knowledge (19%) and signage (15%) were next most effective. The internet scored 7%. Analysing the answers of respondents who would only consider a brand new home produces a slightly different balance, with 27% citing estate agents followed by local knowledge on 23% and signage, 17%. The internet scored 8%.
The Internet
This year's research looked specifically at the use and effectiveness of the internet as a source of information for consumers.
As stated above, the internet was used by 36% of respondents to gather information on purchasing a new home and was found to be effective in meeting the needs of 73% of those who used it. However, it has led (or will lead) only 7% of respondents to the new home they finally purchase. This suggests that the internet is used primarily as a tool to gather fairly broadly-based information about what is available in an area, which is augmented by other sources of information when the search is narrowed down.
Service
The third element of the quantitative research focused on the service received by purchasers from the builder through the sales process up to moving in day.
How stressful or not is the purchasing process?
The research assessed how stressful and, conversely, how straightforward various aspects of the purchasing process were felt to be.
The overall process of finding and buying a new home was felt to be fairly or totally straightforward by 52% of the sample with a further 22% expressing no opinion one way or another. This indicates that nearly three quarters of respondents did not find the experience as a whole stressful.
Adding those responding saying that their experience was straightforward to those who had no opinion either way also produced majorities who did not find the process stressful in each of the five individual aspects of purchasing surveyed.
The most stressful parts of the process were selling the old house and the handover/moving-in day, which were both rated as very stressful or stressful by 35% of respondents. Obtaining a mortgage, financing the purchase and finding out what properties were available were rated as the most straightforward parts of the process, all being rated as totally or fairly straightforward by 65% and 62% of respondents respectively.
Information flow to customers
Information flow from builder to customer was also surveyed. At a general level 55% of respondents rated the overall communication flow between themselves and the builder as very effective or effective. This broad response was supplemented by analysis of the following specific areas:
- build progress
- availability of options and extras
- the local area
- the effects of government planning policy
- the energy rating of homes
- the operation of fittings and appliances
- ancillary services
- the buying procedure
- how the house was built
Builders scored highest on the operation of fittings and appliances, with 79% of respondents saying that they received adequate information. Availability of options and extras came second with a 76% positive rating. At the other end of the scale, only 38% said they received adequate information on energy ratings and just 29% on the effects of Government planning policy. The results are demonstrated graphically below.
Respondents were then asked how important each of these topics were to them. The graph below shows the proportion of respondents who answered "very important" or "important" in each case.
This bar chart shows a close correlation with the preceding one. This appears to show that developers are performing best in the areas to which customers attach most importance. While there are areas that developers need to look at, they can take assurance that they seem to have a good understanding of the issues uppermost in customers' minds.