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The most expensive sentence in new housebuilding? "We'll deal with it when it happens." It's understandable, but the worst way to handle after care!

In many UK SME housebuilding businesses, customer care is still treated as an extension of site management. Once homes are handed over, the site manager often becomes the default point of contact for defects, snagging, and homeowner complaints. On the surface, this appears efficient. After all, the site manager knows the development, understands the build, and has relationships with subcontractors. But in practice, asking site managers to run customer care is one of the most

For many SME housebuilders across the UK, customer aftercare is still viewed as a necessary cost rather than a strategic business function.

In the UK new homes market, customer expectations have changed significantly over the past decade.

Across the UK SME housebuilding sector, there is a common operational pattern that quietly damages efficiency, profitability, and business growth. When customer complaints escalate, directors step in personally.

One of the biggest misconceptions we hear is: “Outsourcing after care means losing control.” In reality, many developers are not losing control of after care because they outsource it. They are losing control because construction teams are trying to manage too many non-construction activities.

Most complaints do not begin with: “There is a crack in the wall.” They begin with: “I cannot get anyone to tell me what is happening.”

The overlooked financial benefit of fixed-price after care In a strong market, inefficiency is often hidden. In a market where sales slow, every recurring cost is examined. UK developers are currently operating in an environment where: Sales can take longer Incentives are higher Finance costs remain significant Margins are under pressure In that context, after care becomes more than a customer service function. It has become a cash flow management issue. Variable costs create

What many developers discover is that after care does not grow in a straight line. It grows in waves.

For many UK developers, after care is one of the few departments where costs can rise after the sale has completed.

After Build has been providing aftercare for over two decades and, until recently, has operated on the principle that we fix the service cost (per plot) regardless of how many defects may be reported.

It has become significantly harder to get a mortgage than it was a decade ago ....

We have a brand-new government, and a noticeable optimism has returned. At the moment we can only judge them by their stated intent, as they haven’t actually done anything – and that’s fair enough, they have only been in power a few days. Among the many statements uttered by various senior cabinet ministers is the pledge they have made to address the UK’s chronic housing shortage. And to that end, they have indicated that 1.5 million new homes will be built over the term of t

"You should get very few problems with our build" ... If we had £1 for every time we heard this, we would be rich by now!

One of the biproducts of providing after care is the accumulation of data. Capturing information to assist our management of new homes...

This is a desperately simple question to answer (YES of course you need to snag) and an equally difficult one to write about. Why – well...

It has been a very difficult market for some time now. The new homes sector has been challenged by so many adverse conditions; Brexit,...

When times are tough (and few would disagree that they are tough right now) most business owners look to save money wherever possible....

There are things we do in business, not because it will make us more money, but because not doing them is likely to diminish what we’ve...

Did you know, if you’re building anything between 5 and 50 plots a year, you’re likely to be paying between 8 to 20 times more than you...