The results of the Home Builders Federation annual customer survey, released today, show record levels of satisfaction.

Nearly 9 out of 10 buyers (88%) said they would recommend their builder to a friend, up from 76% before.

The same number said they were very or fairly satisfied with the overall quality of their new home.

These are the best set of customer satisfaction results seen the survey was started and were delivered in the worst housing downturn for 80 years.

Stewart Baseley, executive chairman at HBF, said: “Raising customer satisfaction levels in a home building company, where each house is effectively a bespoke product, built on location, requires commitment from everyone in the process, from senior management through to site sales and construction staff and subcontractors.”

He added: “These results are a credit to our industry in what has been the most difficult period many can remember.”

Imtiaz Farookhi, chief executive of NHBC, which collects and compiles the results, said: “As a consumer protection body, we are of course delighted that customer satisfaction has risen in the midst of the most savage downturn the industry has seen in post-war years.

“Clearly the challenge for the industry is now to maintain and build on this level of performance as we move into more stable economic conditions.”