Bovis 'misled buyers' over poorly-built homes - report

Bovis Homes Group, one of the UK’s leading housebuilders, has been misleading buyers and delaying repairs in poorly-built homes, a newspaper investigation has found.

A whistleblower who was previously an employee in FTSE 250 company's customer service department told The Times that he feared construction problems in the firm were extremely common. The firm currently builds approximately 3,500 properties a year.

Last year the firm was forced to apologise after the newspaper revealed the dissatisfaction of customers for their poorly built properties. Complaints ranged from vibrating floors and leaks, to missing insulation panels, poor drainage and unfinished gardens. Bovis had to invest £10m in repairs and some customers complain that it still isn’t enough.

Due to such complaints as these, the company was awarded two-star rating out of five in the Home Builders Federation. It was the only UK company to do so and it means almost half its customers would not recommend it to a friend.

The newspaper also did a mystery shop on eight Bovis developments and all except one claimed a 3-star rating or above. The company claimed the homes had four or five stars, misleading buyers and breaking HBF rules not using their actual rating.