28/02/2020
Planning news - 27 February 2020
Published: Thursday, 27th February 2020
Ombudsman to protect new-build buyers from poor work, Bermondsey biscuit factory site to be regenerated, Welsh minister clarifies policy on locally owned energy projects. And more stories...
This weeks planning news in association with ThePlanner, the official magazine of the Royal Town Planning Institute.
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Ombudsman to protect new-build buyers from poor work
Housing secretary Robert Jenrick has confirmed that a New Homes Ombudsman will soon protect homebuyers from ‘shoddy building work’.
Currently, new-build homebuyers don’t have recourse to challenging poor service or workmanship by developers. The government wants the ombudsman to be established in law “as soon as possible” to address this.
It would assist homebuyers with a number of issues, such as poor brickwork or faulty wiring, and would have statutory powers to award compensation, to ban ‘rogue’ developers from building, and order developers to fix inadequate work.
Where there is a dispute with developers, the government explained that the ombudsman would act “swiftly and independently” to resolve it. The government said it doesn’t want people to face long waits and costly court cases trying to sort out problems with their new homes.
Developers would be subject to the disciplinary authority of the ombudsman by law.
