In January 2025, the NHBC Foundation hosted 16 industry stakeholders from 12 sector-leading companies and organisations as part of an exploratory roundtable. The objective of the meeting was to identify positive recommendations for government and industry to ensure quality is maintained in the design and construction of new homes. The conclusions drawn from this in-depth discussion informed the NHBC’s latest report.

The collaboratively compiled report recognises the concept and definition of quality is subjective and that there are different aspects of quality in homes.

This can include, but may not be limited to:

• perceived quality – the quality of finishes, aesthetics and materials used
• in-built quality – structural and technical details
• design quality – the overall design of a home and how well it functions
• fundamental quality – achieving compliance with minimum standards
• and transactional quality – the service provided through the purchasing process.

While the report focuses on quality during design and construction, maintaining consistent high standards throughout the build and avoiding latent defects, ensuring all homes meet regulatory requirements and consumer codes is the fundamental basis to improving quality within house building.

As the industry prepares to increase housing output, the historic trend between increased volume and a reduction in quality must be broken, the report adds.

Richard Smith, head of standards, innovation & research at NHBC, said: “I’d like to thank all the contributors to our round table discussion for their time, their valuable insights and the recommendations made. With this report, we hope to not only demonstrate that maintaining quality while increasing build volume is crucial but also support better decision-making and help promote the policies and drive the actions needed to deliver against the target of 1.5 million new homes.”

The NHBC Foundation report ‘Maintaining quality in the design and construction of 1.5 million homes’ is available to download.