Meeting the Evolving Expectations of Today's Homebuyers

At In-house Research Ltd, we’ve spent over 25 years helping housebuilders understand what their customers think, feel, and need. As a leading provider of independent customer satisfaction research in the UK housebuilding sector, we partner with more than 70 national and regional developers, along with social housing providers and local authorities to deliver the insight they need to improve quality, service, and ultimately, customer loyalty.

Our services – including real-time feedback platforms, completion and aftercare surveys, performance benchmarking, and sector-recognised awards – are designed not just to measure satisfaction but to understand what buyers genuinely value. And what buyers value today has changed significantly.

Working with In-house has been a positive experience for Story Homes, and the process is always seamless thanks to their expertise and collaborative mindset, as well as their professional approach and deep understanding of customer research. 

The customer surveys conducted by In-house have been invaluable in driving our customer satisfaction efforts forward. The clear, actionable insights provided have enabled us to identify key areas for improvement, leading to tangible changes in our customer communication processes and service delivery.

In-house has significantly influenced our approach to customer service by offering a structured, data-driven way to gather and act on customer feedback. As a result, our commitment to exceptional service has strengthened, and we’ve seen a notable increase in customer satisfaction. We would recommend In-house to any business looking to enhance their customer experience strategy.

Hayley Blair, Sales & Group Marketing Director, Story Homes

A New Era of Homebuyer Expectations

The modern homebuyer is more informed, more vocal, and more service-conscious than ever before. Empowered by online reviews, digital tools, and higher consumer standards, they no longer just expect a well-built home – they expect a well-managed journey.

From our research, which draws on tens of thousands of post-completion interviews annually, we’ve identified key shifts in buyer expectations:

• Speed and responsiveness are no longer luxuries – they’re basic requirements. Delays in communication are now seen as service failures.

• Personalisation matters – not in terms of bricks and mortar, but in communication, tone, and how their concerns are addressed.

• Transparency and trust are non-negotiable. Buyers expect open dialogue about timelines, issues, and responsibilities, and most importantly, accountability.

• Post-completion care has become the defining stage of the customer experience – the point where long-term trust is either earned or lost.

These expectations reflect broader trends seen across industries. Homebuyers now benchmark their experience not just against other developers, but against seamless, customer-first brands like Amazon, Apple, or John Lewis. As a result, the housebuilding industry is under increasing pressure to rethink how it delivers value beyond the home itself. These expectations aren’t limited to experienced buyers or high-value homes—they span all price points, tenures, and customer types. Social media plays a significant role, amplifying individual experiences and allowing others to witness, share, and form opinions based on them.

We’ve used In-house for many years, and it’s become an essential tool for constant improvement. Our score has climbed to 98% of our customers willing to recommend us, thanks to real-time customer feedback that shapes everything from our communications to our internal processes.

The data helps us understand individual impact across our team and the trust we build with customers. It’s clear, insightful, and helps us to improve year after year

Mark White, Managing Director, Bargate Homes

Reducing Friction in a Complex Process

Buying a new home is emotionally and logistically complex. Yet there are key ways housebuilders can reduce friction and make the process feel smoother, even when issues inevitably arise.

• Set expectations early: Misaligned expectations – whether about completion dates or snagging processes – are a major cause of dissatisfaction. Honesty and clarity upfront build trust.

• Proactive, regular updates: Silence during legal processes or construction delays causes anxiety. Even a quick “no change” update can help buyers feel informed and respected.

• Support through snagging: The snagging process can feel combative if mishandled. Reframing it as a collaborative quality check, backed by timely action and clear communication, helps de-escalate issues.

• Simplify systems: Intuitive portals, mobile-friendly platforms, and a single place for documents, updates, and issue logging significantly reduce buyer stress.

• Assign clear points of contact: Being passed between departments is a common frustration. A consistent relationship – even just one familiar name – can make the experience feel personal and joined up.

• Structure a ‘settling-in’ plan: Proactive follow-up in the first few weeks after move-in shows care and helps resolve minor concerns before they grow into major complaints.

  
  

These small adjustments – based on insight into real buyer pain points – can dramatically improve overall satisfaction.

In-house captures detailed customer feedback and reports in a way that is easy to digest and understand, helping us improve our customer satisfaction scores.

Les Trott, Quality Assurance & Customer Service Director, Weston Homes

Human Connections Matter – Beyond Customisation

True personalisation isn’t about options for flooring or tile finishes. It’s about recognising and responding to buyers as individuals, not just case numbers.

• Relationships begin early. A warm, interested approach from day one makes buyers feel valued. Sales and site teams who ask about the “why” behind the move help tailor the experience with empathy.

• Respecting communication preferences. Whether buyers prefer texts, emails, or phone calls, letting them choose helps reduce friction and improve engagement.

• Celebrate key moments. A personalised “congratulations” message or a check-in call after handover costs little but delivers big on perceived care.

• Acknowledging their emotional journey. Buying a home is personal. Recognising this with a human tone – not just procedural language – creates meaningful connection.

• Using data to anticipate needs. Knowing which buyer groups are likely to need more support (e.g., first-time buyers, downsizers) allows teams to offer tailored guidance before it’s even requested.

Harron Homes have utilised the extensive expertise of In-house Research for some years and our recent results testify the importance of our customers having ‘a voice’ with an independent impartial company.

In-house have been available and supportive, and the reporting system is informative and simple to use. Reports provide visuals across the business to drive response rates and results, it is more likely that a customer may not conduct a survey if they are happy, meaning opportunities can be missed. The data allows us to track potential results, and then breakdown each answer to assist with internal KPI’s. The research assists with constructive feedback whether that be positive or not, this allows us to concentrate resources in the right areas to improve and move forward by continually measuring our performance.

The surveys have increased our customer care awareness throughout the business, not just engagement from front facing teams such as sales, construction, or customer services, as the questions asked relate to the whole customer journey, and offers a customer perspective of our product, as well as how we have managed their experience with us.

Surveys are balanced and fair and conducted via conversation which provides a deeper level of invaluable feedback. This in turn not only provides us with opportunities to improve weaker areas, but congratulate teams that are achieving our goals, which is ultimately a happy and satisfied customer that not only would recommend us but have received a personal service that provides confidence in their purchase.

Margaret Watkinson, Customer Services Manager, Harron Homes

Designing for the Unseen: Inclusive Service Through Awareness and Action

According to the Family Resources Survey (FY 2023 to 2024), approximately 1 in 4 adults in the UK is living with one or more disability. Importantly, around a third of these individuals own their own home – meaning that a significant proportion of buyers in the private market may have unique needs that aren’t always visible or declared.

Many of these disabilities are hidden – such as chronic pain, mental health conditions, learning difficulties, or sensory processing disorders – but they still shape how a person experiences the homebuying journey. When overlooked, these needs can become unintended barriers, from inaccessible documentation and confusing communication, to noisy showrooms or rushed processes that leave buyers feeling overwhelmed.

At In-house Research Ltd, we’ve developed tools in the social housing sector to address this gap, such as welfare alert systems that identify vulnerable customers and segmentation models based on customer needs. We are working on adapting these for the private housing sector to help developers serve all buyers more effectively.

Inclusive service begins with training. Sales and customer care teams must be able to recognise when a buyer might need extra time, simplified information, or a quieter space. Frontline staff should feel confident asking the right questions and offering appropriate adjustments – without putting the onus on the customer to disclose or justify their needs.

For example, if a customer has a memory impairment (which data suggests almost 1 in 5 adults with a disability has), if the customer is inundated with legal documentation and conversations with different team members, how can they be expected to remember agreements or promises made. This can lead to differing expectation levels, which later lead to disappointment and frustration. Another example, if a customer has a mental health condition, that causes anxiety and stress, are delays or changes managed in a supportive way that shows empathy for the impact these situations may cause, whilst providing a clear and constructive path forward to rebuild trust.

Process design must also support this approach. Builders should consider whether their communications are accessible in language and format, whether appointment booking systems allow for adjustments, and whether all staff – even those behind the scenes – understand the role they play in creating a supportive experience.

We help housebuilders embed these inclusive practices by identifying hidden customer needs through survey insights; and safeguarding policies to alert when immediate support is needed.

Inclusion isn’t just about compliance – it’s about creating a culture of care. As the population ages and diversity of need grows, housebuilders who lead on this front will be the ones trusted, recommended, and remembered.

In-house Research is the perfect partner for all our customer insight needs. Their expertise, combined with their technological capabilities and real-time reporting, have been invaluable.

Our partnership has enabled us to streamline our data collection methodology, allowing us to fully evaluate and segment customer feedback, and provide a more personalised service to our customers.

Demelza Campbell, Head of Customer Experience, Places for People

Culture Counts – Internal Teams Make the Difference

Customer care isn’t the job of one department – it’s the result of an entire business working in sync. Behind every great customer experience is a culture where all teams understand and embrace their impact on the buyer’s journey.

Customer care starts upstream. When technical, legal, or commercial teams design processes with the buyer in mind, outcomes improve. For example, build programs with realistic timelines and fewer last-minute changes protect trust.

Feedback should be shared, not siloed. At In-house, we encourage sharing satisfaction data across all functions. Hearing direct feedback – good and bad – helps non-customer-facing teams connect with their impact.

Celebrate cross-functional wins. Site operatives, planners, and finance staff all contribute to a smooth journey. Recognising their role in delivering great service reinforces collective accountability.

Training beyond frontline roles. When everyone understands how their work supports customer experience, pride and purpose increase – and so does care in decision-making.

Leadership sets the tone. When senior leaders visibly engage with customer feedback, it signals that experience is a strategic priority, not just a KPI.

Ultimately, customers judge the whole journey, not isolated moments – and every role, from head office to the homesite, shapes that journey.

Bewley Homes and “In-house” have worked in partnership together for over 8 years.  As a developer, who values and puts Customer Satisfaction as a priority, the service and feedback that we get through the “In-house” surveys is invaluable.  From the outset, delivering a high-quality home to our clients has been a priority and part of our DNA but is evidently only a small, but vital part of the equation of making the experience of buying a new home as stress free and a positive experience.  Bewley Homes has always prided itself on delivery of a quality home to our customers, but truly understanding the customers journey and being able to make improvements to our product and how we deal with our customers both before and after exchange of contracts, has a big influence on an individual customers’ journey.

The customer surveys are carried out in a personal manner which encourages them to elaborate more on their experiences and journey of buying a new home.  Over the years, Bewley has carefully reviewed all feedback from these surveys, implementing numerous changes to our processes and offering based on honest client comments gleaned through their surveys.  This as well as falling back on the experience and advice from the “In-house” team has allowed us to enhance our customers’ journey to ensure that the experience of making one of their biggest investments, is as smooth as possible.

Andrew Brooks, Managing Director, Bewley Homes

Looking Ahead – Insight for a Changing Market

As new buyer demographics emerge and the industry adapts to new standards, like the Future Homes Standard and greater ESG expectations, the definition of good service continues to evolve. Buyers increasingly care not just about the home, but about the values of the company behind it.

In-house Research is investing in new tools to help housebuilders stay ahead – including AI analytics, tailored dashboards, and deeper segmentation. We’re helping clients turn insight into foresight – so they can deliver not just what customers expect, but what they’ll need next.

Because in a market where homes may be similar, it’s the experience that makes the difference. And we’re here to help housebuilders make that experience exceptional.