Kate Murray, founder of housing delivery platform Ubrix, explores why the period between reservation and the end of the defect liability period remains one of the most fragmented and consequential stages of modern housing delivery.
Housing delivery has changed markedly at the front end. Digital reservations, online specification tools, virtual walkthroughs and customer relationship management systems have reshaped how homes are marketed and sold. By comparison, what happens after reservation remains far less resolved and far less visible.
Between reservation and the end of the defect liability period lies a complex operational phase that plays a critical role in how housing performs in practice. This is where handovers take place, defects are identified and addressed, information passes between teams, and early patterns of use begin to emerge. Despite its importance, this stage is often treated as a series of disconnected tasks rather than as a coherent part of the housing lifecycle.
Design intent does not end at practical completion, yet the mechanisms that carry information forward into occupation are frequently fragmented. Drawings, specifications, schedules and compliance documentation can lose clarity as responsibility shifts between project teams, contractors, managing agents and customer care functions. Over time, this dilution of information undermines accountability and makes it harder to understand how buildings are performing against their original assumptions.
Many housing organisations continue to rely on a patchwork of legacy platforms, spreadsheets, inboxes and manual processes to manage this phase. These tools were often introduced incrementally to solve individual problems rather than to support the home as a continuous system. The result is siloed working between sales, delivery, aftercare and asset management, with no single, consistent view of the dwelling once it moves beyond completion.
The consequences of this fragmentation are widely felt. Communication breakdowns lead to unresolved defects, repeated site visits and unnecessary rework. Inconsistent information creates friction for residents and repeat enquiries for delivery teams. Aftercare teams are forced into reactive modes of working, while delivery teams struggle to identify recurring issues across schemes. For housing professionals, this makes it difficult to close the loop between design decisions and real-world outcomes.
At the same time, expectations are shifting. Residents increasingly expect clarity, responsiveness and transparency across the early years of occupation. Regulators and funders are placing greater emphasis on record keeping, accountability and long-term building performance. Against this backdrop, the limitations of fragmented post reservation processes are becoming more visible and harder to justify.
The early years of occupation offer valuable insight into how homes perform in use, yet this information is rarely structured in a way that meaningfully informs future design decisions. Defects, resident feedback and early maintenance issues often sit in isolated systems or informal records, limiting their value beyond resolving individual problems and obscuring patterns that could inform better outcomes elsewhere.
The defect liability period represents one of the most valuable opportunities to understand how design decisions perform in practice, yet it remains largely unmanaged as a source of structured learning. Patterns emerge quickly during this phase, revealing recurring issues in materials, detailing and coordination. However, without continuity of information, these lessons are frequently lost once immediate issues have been addressed.
There is also growing recognition that responsibility for the housing journey does not stop at legal completion. Instead, it extends across the early years of occupation, when buildings are first tested in real use and assumptions made at design stage meet reality. This period provides a rare opportunity to observe how homes are inhabited, adapted and maintained, offering insights that are difficult to capture at any other point in the lifecycle.
In response, some organisations are beginning to reassess how this stage of housing delivery is managed. Rather than relying on isolated tools and handovers, they are exploring more connected approaches that link reservation, construction, handover and defect management into a single operational framework. The focus is shifting away from managing individual issues towards understanding the lifecycle performance of homes over time and across portfolios.
This shift is not solely about technology. Addressing the middle of housing delivery requires clearer ownership, better coordination between disciplines, and a shared commitment to long term outcomes. Design quality, build quality and resident experience are closely linked, and the systems that support them need to reflect that interdependence if improvements are to be sustained.
One example of this approach can be seen in platforms such as Ubrix, which have been developed to support continuity across the post-reservation journey by bringing delivery, communication and defect management into a single workflow. Used appropriately, such platforms illustrate how fragmentation can be reduced while preserving professional judgement and design responsibility.
As the industry continues to invest in improving sales processes and construction efficiency, attention is gradually turning to this overlooked phase. How effectively the period between reservation and the end of the defect liability period is managed willshape resident satisfaction, building performance and long-term reputation. Engaging with this stage offers an opportunity to ensure that design intent carries through into lived experience, long after the keys have been handed over.