Research to Inform the Five Year Review of the Home Report

Appendix I - Depth interview and focus group Discussion guide

INTERNAL USE ONLY 14-029755-01
Five year review of the Home Report - Stakeholder topic guide
Standard version FINAL

Introduction

• Introduce self and Ipsos MORI.
• Thank participant for taking part and for their time.
• Explain that the interview will take 20-30 minutes.
• Explain background to the research - aims to investigate how the Home Report has performed over its first five years of operation. During this interview we will explore your views and experiences of the home report.
• Emphasise confidentiality
• Explain that while the research is anonymous, i.e. the individual will not be named and their organisations will not be named, there is a small chance that other stakeholders in the industry may be able to identify them through their comments. We will anonymise any findings that could be identifiable (e.g. removing place names) and let participants know we will exclude any comments from the report if they are not comfortable for us to include them.
• Ask permission to record.

Overall views of the Home Report and its objectives

To begin with, we are going to talk about the how the Home Report has been performing and whether it is meeting its original objectives.

• Could you please tell me a little bit about how you use the Home Report within your role? What about your organisation as a whole?
  IF NOT COVERED. What does your role involve? Do you mainly deal with buyers or sellers?
• Which aspects of the Home Report work particularly well?
  IF NOT COVERED. What about… a) the single survey b) the property questionnaire c) the energy report d) the valuation
  • PROBE for each issue raised - What is it about that aspect that works well? Why do you say that?
• And what aspects do not work well?
  IF NOT COVERED. What about… a) the single survey b) the property questionnaire c) the energy report d) the valuation
  • PROBE for each issues raised - What is it about that aspect that does not work? Why do you say that?
  • What about the information collected on accessibility…
  • Is it collected in sufficient detail?
  • Is it accurate?
  • How useful is it?
• Have you dealt with any complaints about the Home Report?
  IF YES. What was the complaint about? Was it resolved? How was it resolved?
• In your opinion, how successful has the Home Report been in meeting its original objectives?
  Probe on:
  • impact on improving the quality of the housing stock
  • impact on addressing the issues of multiple buyers commissioning surveys for one property, and buyers having to commission surveys for every property they are interested in
  • impact on addressing the issue of artificially low asking prices
• What impact has the introduction of the Home Report had on the housing market? Anything else?
• How have changes in the housing market affected the way the Home Report is used?
  • In which market conditions are the HR most/least useful?

Practicalities and procedures

I'd now like to ask about the Home Report and the impact it may have had on the way your organisation works day to day…

• What impact has the introduction of the Home Report had on your organisations internal procedures and processes?
  • IF NOT COVERED. What about… paying for HRs, marketing homes with HRs, providing customer access to HRs, engaging with other professionals, changes to timescales
  • PROBE: positive/negative impact?
  • PROBE: would this differ in different market conditions?
  • PROBE: issues around non-compliance - who was involved?

Other survey and valuation reports

Data from the interim one year review report suggests that a third of buyers are still commissioning further surveys or valuation reports in addition to the Home Report.

• To what extent is this still happening?
• What is the main reason for commissioning a further survey or valuation report? What other reasons are there? Anything else?
  • PROBE: lack of confidence in HR, lack of understanding of HR, require additional information, lender requires it?
• Who is it that usually initiates a further survey or valuation report?
  • Who else provides clients with advice in this issue?

Improvements

And finally…

• What are the main ways in which you feel that the Home Report could be improved? Anything else?
  • PROBE: what about improving processes e.g. speeding up processes, reducing costs?
  • What about improving the content e.g. including further information, such as rental costs, flooding, Japanese Knotweed and radon, or removing information that isn't used?
  • What impact are these improvements likely to have?
• Are the current Home Report objectives still relevant? (If necessary, read out existing objectives)
  • IF NOT - what new objectives, if any, should be set instead?
• Is there anything else you would like to add to the discussion, that we haven't already covered?

Thank and close.