The industry has expressed its satisfaction over the findings of the Office of Fair Trading’s (OFT) report into the UK homebuilding sector which has concluded that it is “broadly competitive” and found no evidence of landbanking in the sector. The report does however raise several customer care issues which the industry must now address through the development of its own code of conduct scheme for consumers. John Stewart, head of economic affairs at the Home Builders Federation (HBF), commented that the report had a long shelf life and would be extremely helpful to the industry in the future: “If there are any later criticisms of landbanking, we can just point to the study.”<br><br>David Bexon, managing director of SmartNewHomes.com stated that the “clean bill of health” that the OFT had given the industry was a boost for the sector in hard times: “Developers have received little governmental support so far during this difficult time, and it is testament to the strength and integrity of the industry that this detailed investigation has highlighted its continued competitiveness in this current climate.” The report recommended that small housebuilders and self builders be given assistance to achieve the various levels of the code for sustainable …