The New Home Construction study conducted by EPSI Rating's Rakennusnoteollisuus RT ry for the largest member companies found out the satisfaction of home buyers with construction companies. The survey was conducted as a telephone interview in May-June 2017. 470 new apartment buyers participated in it, to whom the finished apartment had been handed over in 2016. The results were produced with an index of 0-100, where 75 is a very good level.
"The quality of housing construction has sparked a lot of discussion in recent years. Rakennusnoteollisuus RT ry's eight largest house construction member companies decided to cooperate and investigate the satisfaction of home buyers with new home construction by an impartial body. In this way, home buyers get reliable information to support perhaps the most important purchase decision of their lives. Finland's largest housing builders participated in the study," says director Jukka Pekkanen from Rakennusteollisuus ry.
The most satisfied customers in Western Finland
According to the study, customer satisfaction in new apartment construction is high, 75,7 index points, although the differences between different construction companies are large. "The customer satisfaction of large construction companies is very good. It ranks first in the comparison of all the Finnish industries we studied, right after the insurance industry and electricity retail sales. Customer satisfaction in new housing construction is therefore better than, for example, banks or mobile communication companies," says Tarja Ilvonen, CEO of EPSI Rating.
The most satisfied home buyers are in Western Finland. In the rest of Finland, customers are slightly more dissatisfied, but the differences between other regions are small. Consumers who bought a new apartment for investment use are more satisfied than those who bought an apartment for personal use. A quarter of the respondents were investment apartment buyers.
Staying on schedule and the professionally handled modification work received the most praise from customers
The image of the surveyed construction companies is very good (78,1). Being a customer of new home builders was perceived as easy and the builders were perceived to take good care of their customers. Apartment builders were considered reliable (78,9), although social responsibility was slightly below the otherwise high level (74,0).
Customers' expectations towards new apartment construction are high (80,3), although the significance of expectations for customer satisfaction is low.
Customers consider the product quality of new apartment construction to be very good (79,6). Staying on schedule received the most praise from customers. The second was the suitability of the floor plan of the apartment and the level of equipment in the apartment. The weakest grades came from the cleanliness of the apartment.
"The number of complaints in new housing construction is relatively high compared to other studied industries in Finland. On average, 30 percent of new apartment construction customers had reason to complain. In Finland, this figure is an average of 16 percent in the other surveyed industries," says Tarja Ilvonen.
The price development of new apartments is generally feared, but according to the study, apartment buyers do not agree. Buyers do not consider new apartments too expensive, as the overall value for money is good. Additions and changes were made by 74 percent of the home buyers, and the construction companies were considered to have found the solutions and implemented them excellently. About half are ready to recommend the construction company's apartments to their friends and relatives.
Half of the buyers contacted the construction company themselves. Only one in three contacts came from the construction company. 11 percent of the buyers would have liked closer contact from the construction company during the construction work and 21 percent after the move.
Summary of the new construction 2017 study
EPSI Rating's research on new construction for member companies of the Construction Industry Association investigates the companies' customer satisfaction. The target group of the study consists of Finnish private customers who have bought a new apartment and the apartment has been handed over during 2016. The survey was conducted as a telephone interview for home buyers in May-June 2017, and 470 home buyers participated in it. The index is produced on a scale of 0-100, where 75 is very good, 60-75 satisfied and 0-60 dissatisfied.
More information:
Tarja Ilvonen, CEO EPSI Rating Finland, +358 50 569 1921, tarja.ilvonen@epsi-finland.org
Johan Parmler, Chief Analyst EPSI Rating Group, +46 73 151 75 98, johan.parmler@epsi-rating.com
EPSI Rating is the leading independent company in the Nordic countries in researching and measuring customer and job satisfaction of companies. EPSI Rating produces and publishes unbiased research and measurement data on the non-financial indicators of industries. In addition, the company conducts company-specific studies and supports management in decision-making. Research results from various industries, such as municipalities, healthcare, energy, banking and insurance, tourism, transport and telecommunications, are published regularly, and the information is freely available. They allow both consumers and companies to compare different operators. In addition to the Nordic and Baltic countries, EPSI Rating operates in Central Europe and the UK.