Development of a customer focused strategy in speculative house building

The UK housing industry has been slow to adopt new working practices which have brought improvements in product quality and customer focused operations to many sectors of manufacturing industry. Instead, the dominant business driver has been land and house price inflation, with the market characterized by pronounced boom-and-bust cycles. Reports on the sector often have highlighted the need for research and action aimed at bringing about fundamental changes in its operations, both to satisfy social needs and benefit the companies in the industry. This paper examines the drivers needed for implementing new customer focused business processes in the sector. Of particular importance is the development of a product strategy based on an understanding and analysis of the market. Results are presented from a large market survey that was carried out, and their implications for the industry are discussed.