BUYING a new house is the biggest investment most people ever make. Buying a brand new home should be the hassle free option. It’s clear that this is not always the case.

Over the years I have met too many people who have purchased new homes, identified unexpected problems and found it difficult to get those problems rectified by the building company who sold them their home. Even structural problems which breach Building Control Standards can take months to identify, let alone rectify.

There needs to be more transparency around the quality of house building and more information available to house purchasers about whether there have been concerns identified whilst their house was being built.

There are many different and overlapping processes apparently designed to support home owners who experience build quality problems but the reality is those processes don’t always work well. With the Government encouraging thousands of new homes to be built work needs to be done to ensure more new homes won’t mean more problems with house building quality.

I AM meeting Basingstoke GPs this week to talk to them about the problems local residents have brought to me regarding access to GP appointments and primary health services.

More money than ever before is being spent on the NHS in Basingstoke yet people are still sometimes struggling to get the healthcare they feel they need. We have a growing and ageing population – as a community we need a frank conversation about where health priorities lie, the services people need and how we can use the money we have most effectively.

NEXT month will see another set of GCSE and A-Level results from Basingstoke schools. The facts are that over the last three years Basingstoke secondary school results have improved year on year and now we have results which exceed the average for the county.

What is more, Queen Mary's College achieved its best results ever in 2014 and BCOT is leading the way on degree level apprenticeships.

When I speak to Basingstoke parents they tell me they want the best education for their children – the results show that our schools have heard that message and are striving to deliver. We should congratulate schools and their students for that and do all we can to drive up those academic results even further in the coming years.

You can contact Maria at The Mount, Bounty Road, Basingstoke, RG21 3DD; The House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA; on 0207 219 5749; or email maria.miller.mp@parliament.uk.

Appointments to see Maria at her regular advice bureau can be booked on the above number.