“It’s a new build so there’ll be minimal issues!” I was wrong.
This is what I said to hubby when we were looking at buying our first home together. We had been to several viewings and were chatting through if we preferred new builds or not. I should have done more research!
33 blog posts later, I’ve finally reached a point where it’s time to talk about snagging! Hopefully you’ve found the previous posts useful - I’ve tried to cover the start of the property buying journey to completion day.
We completed on a Friday so we spent that weekend at the new flat going through a snagging list and took a lot of pictures of any issues that we found so we could inform the developer.
What are snags?
According to this article from HomeOwners Alliance, a snag is:
“a small defect or problem that remains in your property after the building work has been completed. It is typically something that is damaged or broken; not fitted properly or looks unfinished – think a scratch on a window or a missing hinge on a door.”
Who makes the snagging list?
You can make a list of snags or hire a professional to perform a snagging survey.
I originally wanted to hire a company to do the survey but was informed that the developer would be arranging this. I thought this was odd and was not sure if it’s normal practice. Has anyone else had this too?
The lockdown restrictions were still pretty tight and the number of daily cases in the UK were at its peak when we collected our keys so we decided to do the snagging list ourselves. As we were in the midst of a global pandemic, we weren’t even sure when it would be safe to move. In the end, we moved in about a month and a half later!
In hindsight, I’m glad we didn’t move on the same day we completed as it meant that we could work through the snagging checklist more easily as there wasn’t any furniture.
How did we do it?
I found some handy free snagging checklists online and we slowly got through them! It did take us a while because we were taking pictures too.
We used these checklists:
NHBC: New home checklist
HomeSnag: Snagging Ticksheet
Here are few examples of what we found:
- Front door lock wasn’t working properly
- One of the windows didn’t close properly. Took us ages to close it and I haven’t opened it again in case we aren’t able to shut it again!
- Damaged carpet under the radiator and it looked like there was a leak
- Long scratches across the skirting board and flooring
- Poor paintwork
- Soft close for the front door doesn’t work
- Some soft close attachments in the kitchen cupboard weren’t actually installed, just left in the cabinet
I also documented all the issues in an excel file with the below columns:
- Defect reference number
- Date raised
- Name of photo which shows the issue
- Location of the defect
- Description
- Detailed description
- Comments (to highlight what was urgent)
- Builder response
- Our follow up response
- Resolved (Y/N)
It was disappointing to find a number of issues, especially when buying a property is probably the most expensive purchase I’ll ever make and the development was described as high quality in the marketing materials. It has also been frustrating because the developer has been incredibly slow in dealing with the issues raised!
Thankfully, we didn’t have many major issues but I just wish all the issues were resolved before we moved in. After speaking to friends about their new build homes, they also had issues after they moved in. I wish I had spoken to them earlier!
Tip: During the property buying process, remember to ask how the developer will deal with snags and defects and the timelines for resolving them. Don’t forget to ask what they define as a defect and snag too.
My friends recently bought a new build flat and hired a professional snagging company to perform the snagging survey and they kindly shared their experience so I could share it on the blog!
Useful links:
HomeOwners Alliance: Do I need a snagging list for my new build home?
Which?: Snagging Surveys
BBC: Growing complaints about new-build houses
Ideal Home: Thinking of buying a new build? These 12 mistakes could cost you £5,000
All the best with your property buying journey!
Jess
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