House building investigation launched by OFT

A study of the house building industry has been launched by the Office of Fair Trading, focusing on customer satisfaction and house building targets.

John Fingleton, chief executive of the Office of Fair Trading, said the study would be an “in-depth examination of competition and consumer issues in new house building.”

He added: “This is a hugely important market for the economy because of its substantial economic impact and because unresponsive housing supply hinders labour mobility, constrains economic growth and harms consumers.

“Furthermore, for individual house buyers, even low levels of dissatisfaction can translate into very high detriment.”

Researchers from the Office of Fair Trading will collect evidence between now and spring 2008.

It plans to publish a report in summer 2008 on how regulation and competition in the market can improve results for the economy and individual house buyers.

John Stewart, economic affairs director at the House Builders Federation, said: “The HBF wishes to work closely with the Office of Fair Trading on behalf of the industry, with the assistance of members and non-members alike.”

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