Our customer charter

Sovereign have been providing quality homes for our customers since 1989. We are a not-for-profit organisation, with a strong social purpose that is at the heart of everything we do. 

When you invest in a home with Sovereign your purchase helps ensure continued housing and opportunities for others. Profits from the sale of homes will be reinvested into quality properties, support programmes and community improvement projects for people across the south and southwest of England.

We are committed to providing an excellent service for all our customers. This charter outlines the procedures we will follow, and the information we will provide to you throughout your home-buying journey. Digital version available here

  1. Transparency in our processes, procedures, and documentation. We are committed to ensuring accuracy and transparency in all our marketing materials, and throughout the buying process. We will never intentionally supply material that could be misleading or incorrect.
  2. The contract for your purchase will be clear, fair and comply with all relevant policies and legislations.
  3. Before you reserve the property, we will provide you with all the information required to make an informed decision. This will include detailed information on pricing and specification. We will include all information required to comply with the New Homes Quality Board (NHQB) code. You will be given a copy of the code.
  4. We will provide clear information on cancellation rights at the point of reservation and when payments will be required throughout the sale.
  5. Throughout the buying process you will be provided with a point of contact for any queries you may have. We will also keep you up to date with information on the build and conveyancing processes via regular phone and email updates.
  6. We are committed to Health and Safety on all our sites. This means we will only offer viewings by appointment with a member of our team until your home has reached build completion. Viewings will be subject to approval from the site manager, and we will invite you as soon as it is safe to do so. If protective equipment is required to facilitate your viewing, we will provide this.
  7. We will provide you with an anticipated completion date in the quarter the property is due to be completed. Your contract of sale will protect you against significant delays via a longstop date. Should significant delays occur that exceed this longstop date, you will be entitled to cancel your contract with Sovereign with a full refund of any fees paid to us until that point.
  8. When you move into your new home, we will provide you with a Home User Guide and any relevant documentation for appliances and installations. On the day of completion, we will meet at your home and provide keys once in receipt of the completion monies from your solicitor. We will and conduct a new home demonstration on the day of completion.
  9. Our homes are covered by a 10-year NHBC warranty. We will provide you with information on what this covers, along with any other warranties that are relevant to your property.
  10. We commit to providing you with clear guidelines on after sales care and emergency services throughout the aftercare period. We will provide you with contact details for emergency and standard repairs. For emergencies we will aim to have someone to your home within 24 hours. For non-emergency issues or replacement parts, we will aim to attend your home within 20 working days.
  11. If problems do occur, Sovereign are committed to finding a resolution as quickly as possible. In the first instance please contact our customer resolutions team. Should we not be able to solve the matter via our resolutions team, the issue will be escalated to the Regional Manager for your development. Should a resolution still not be achieved, then you may refer your complaint to the New Homes Quality Board independent resolution service.