New research has revealed small house builders come out on top against large builders when it comes to consumer satisfaction.

A Federation of Master Builders (FMB) study into satisfaction levels among people who purchased a home from a SME house builder reveals twice as many people (36%) are 'very satisfied' with the quality of their new build home, compared with 17% who bought a home from one of the top 20 larger builders.

Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB, said the research "draws a clear distinction between what is being delivered by SMEs and what is being delivered by larger firms".

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"There is a popular misconception that new build homes are poor quality compared to period properties that were built to last," he said.

"Small local house builders, who hang their hat on delivering high-quality new build homes, find this view immensely frustrating. Our research shows that you are twice as likely to be 'very satisfied' with the quality of your new home if it was built by an SME house builder as opposed to one of the large top 20 firms.

"If we are to improve the image of the house building sector, all house builders, large and small, need to put quality at the heart of every project. Not only will this make our industry more attractive to new entrants, including children and young people, it will soften planning committees to the prospect of new developments."

(LM/MH)