<p><span>The government has announced details of the new homes ombudsman, responding to its consultation on the proposed new independent body.</span></p> <p><span>The ombudsman, which will be enforced in law “as soon as possible”, will protect home owners from “rogue developers,” the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) said, with underperforming companies having to pay compensation for “shoddy work”.</span></p> <p><span>MHCLG said the new homes ombudsman would have statutory powers to ban housebuilders from building if necessary, and order them to fix problems. </span></p> <p><span>“Where people are in dispute with developers, the new ombudsman will act swiftly and independently to resolve any issues – ending the injustice of people facing long waits and costly court cases trying to sort out problems with their new homes,” MHCLG stated.</span></p> <p><span>So that building issues are resolved “swiftly and effectively” if they cannot be resolved early, the government said the new homes ombudsman would have the power to instruct developers to improve their service, prevent them from undertaking work, publish reasons for the “expulsion of a developer”, make recommendations to settle disputes and provide timescales for rectifying them, and request apologies and explanations from housebuilders.</span></p> <p><span>MHCLG also confirmed that housebuilders must join the ombudsman “so …