'˜Poor quality of homes' contributes to fall in profits at Bovis

The Kent-based group said pre-tax profits in the year to December 31 fell 3% to £154.7 million, below expectations.

Bovis admitted customer service standards “fell significantly” during 2016 after being dogged by complaints over homes that were sold unfinished and had electrical and plumbing faults.

It said: “Our customer service standards have been declining for some time and combined with the delays to production towards the year end, we have entered 2017 with a high level of customer service issues.

“Our customer service proposition has failed to ensure that all of our customers receive the expected high standard of care.”

The £7 million provision will cover remedial work and compensation for affected customers and Bovis has announced a raft of measures to improve service.

This includes more staff to deal with complaints, the creation of a dedicated homebuyers’ panel and an improved quality assurance process.

Nevertheless, revenue rose 11% to £1.1 billion with completions up 1% to 3,977.

Interim chief executive Earl Sibley said: “We have a clear set of operational priorities for 2017 and are fully committed to improving our levels of customer service and delivering high quality homes this year and in the future.

“The fundamentals of the business remain strong with a robust financial position and high quality land bank.”

In January David Ritchie stepped down as chief executive after eight years in the role, weeks after warning over profits.