Customer Satisfaction

How we are addressing this issue:

The customer is at the heart of every decision we make at Berkeley. Our success depends upon us continuing to meet our customer's expectations and delivering on our promises. This begins at the land acquisition stage and continues right the way through to our after sales care.

Customer care and customer service is reported at every Board Meeting at all levels in the business. Every operating company has a Customer Service Department, which in conjunction with our Sales Department, ensures that we look after customers from the initial reservation through to legal completion and then onto post occupation maintenance.

Our customer service teams are committed to offering the highest quality service, and we abide by the Consumer Code for Home Builders, which we make available to consumers, including in alternative formats if requested. Although we do welcome the Homebuilder Code (launched in April 2010) as a way to drive up standards within the industry and help raise the reputation of the new homes sector, we expect that it will have minimal effect on our operations. This is because we have had extensive customer service procedures in place for many years.

Across the Group, we have over 200,000 enquires a year, an extremely high figure within our industry. Our Sales, Customer Relations and Customer Service Departments each play a vital role in shaping the customer experience, from initial enquiry through to the purchase of the property and beyond. We have put in place detailed protocols setting out what the experience of customers should be, and what the roles and responsibilities of each department are, to ensure a smooth and professional service and ultimately satisfied customers. Click here for full details of our commitment to customer care.

We use customer satisfaction surveys undertaken by an independent external agency to measure how well we are meeting our customers' expectations.

Our performance:

In 2010/11:

• The percentage of customers that would recommend us to a friend was 96.2%. This result emphasises the success of Vision2020 in embedding our commitment to The Customer Experience.

GRI Indicator: PR5

Data qualification notes for this KPI can be found here.

Our Vision2020 commitments and ambitions:

As part of delivering Vision2020 we have set specific objectives for continuing to have satisfied customers.

Our commitments from May 2011:

• Survey every customer to measure satisfaction and continue to target that over 90% would recommend us to a friend
• Carry out post-occupancy monitoring of electricity, water and gas/heat consumption on at least four completed developments in order to measure the success of our designs and to influence the design of future schemes

Our ambitions from May 2012:

• Survey every customer to measure satisfaction and target that over 95% of customers would recommend us to a friend
• Extend our programme of post-occupancy monitoring to cover the internal living environment and the design of external space

Case studies:

Examples of feedback we have received from our customers is shown below:

"I would definitely recommend Berkeley Homes and Royal Arsenal Riverside to any of my family and friends who are seeking a new home. I felt very well taken care of by Berkeley Homes throughout the purchase of my home. As a first-time buyer this was especially important to me. The Berkeley Homes team were able to answer any questions that I had. What made the biggest difference for me were that even after the sale they still as helpful and friendly to me which is fantastic. I would definitely recommend Berkeley Homes and Royal Arsenal Riverside to any of my family and friends who are seeking a new home. Berkeley Homes is undoubtedly the leading housing developer as they provide excellent quality homes and service."

Greg Hall, Resident at Royal Arsenal Riverside

"We were very impressed with Holborough as a development. We liked the architectural style of the housing, both from the outside and inside. The fact that the buildings look different from each other is a big plus point and this makes it stand out from other new build developments. We've found our Lexington apartment is extremely well-insulated and there isn't much of a draught. We've barely had to use the radiators. In fact, the heat from our two heated towel rails is often enough to warm the whole apartment. Our home always feels cosy and we're very happy living at Holborough."

Resident at Holborough Lakes