A record nine out of 10 people who bought a new-build property were pleased with the quality of their home, a survey showed today.

Around 88 per cent of people who bought a new home during the 12 months to September 2009 said they were very or fairly satisfied with its overall quality, up from 77 per cent during the previous 12 months.

Of those questioned, 88 per cent also said they would recommend their builder to a friend, up from 76 per cent last year, according to trade body the Home Builders Federation.

The group said its annual customer satisfaction survey showed increased levels of approval across the board, despite the fact that it covered a period during which housebuilders were struggling with the worst property market downturn for 80 years.

Around 84 per cent of nearly 15,000 people questioned said they were very or fairly satisfied with the service they received from the builder during the buying process, while 83% said their builder was good or fairly good at completing the property on time, up from 70 per cent the previous year.

And 86 per cent of people were satisfied with the condition of their home on the day they moved in, and 83 per cent thought the standard of finish was good.

The weakest area for builders was the service they provided after people had moved in, with 76 per cent of people satisfied with this, although this was 11 per cent more than a year earlier.

Around 93 per cent of people reported a problem with their property after they moved in, but nearly a third of these said they experienced fewer problems than they expected, and most people reported five or fewer issues to their builder.

Stewart Baseley, executive chairman of the HBF, said: "These results are truly outstanding and a testament to the efforts made by our industry to deliver ever increasing satisfaction levels to new home buyers."

Imtiaz Farookhi, chief executive of the National House-Building Council, which works to increase customer satisfaction, said: "As a consumer protection body, we are of course delighted that customer satisfaction has risen in the midst of the most savage downturn the industry has seen in post-war years.

"Clearly the challenge for the industry is now to maintain and build on this level of performance as we move into more stable economic conditions."