Most profitable housebuilder in UK has been beset by a pay scandal and quality complaints

The UK’s most profitable housebuilder, Persimmon, is launching an independent review of its customer care, culture and the quality of its work as it attempts to move on from an executive pay scandal and complaints over its new-build homes.

The review, to be led by an independent chair, Stephanie Barwise QC of Atkin Chambers, will look into Persimmon’s customer care approach, systems and culture, quality assurance processes, and the speed and consistency of its response to issues. It said the findings would be published by the last quarter of 2019.

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Persimmon faced an investor revolt last year after a pay scheme tying rewards to share price performance caused a furore, with £500m in bonuses paid out to 150 executives amid a sector-record annual profit of £1.1bn on the back of the government’s help to buy scheme.

Criticism was focused on the former chief executive Jeff Fairburn, who was in line for a £110m bonus package and pointedly refused to answer questions about his pay in an interview with the BBC. He was eventually awarded almost £85m over a two-year period, with the policy ultimately approved by shareholders.

Although housebuilders have had to contend with a sluggish market, Persimmon has enjoyed success focusing on building cheaper family houses, selling more in 2018 year-on-year despite uncertainty in the market amid Brexit.

The FTSE 100 company’s shares have more than doubled since the introduction of help to buy in 2013, according to the Financial Times. Persimmon relied on the scheme for almost half of its sales last year.

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“Persimmon has been focused on rapid change and improvement of its customer care culture and operations, and on eliminating cases of poor workmanship,” the company said. “To assess the effectiveness of the new measures and processes and to determine whether they appropriately position the business for the future, Persimmon’s board ... has commissioned an independent review.”

Persimmon was recently ranked the lowest of all the major housebuilders in the Home Builders Federation’s annual customer satisfaction survey, a key benchmark within the sector.

In March, the company responded to criticism about the quality of its homes by announcing it will allow homebuyers to withhold 1.5% of the property value – an average of £3,600 a home – until all faults are fixed.