A new build comes with protections a second-hand home does not: a ten-year structural warranty, a code the developer has to follow, and an ombudsman who can award up to £75,000. It also comes with risks a resale does not. We act for you, not the developer, and our fee is paid by the seller.
Structural cover for a decade, with the first two years covered directly by the builder for defects. A resale gives you none of that.
The New Homes Quality Code sets out your rights on reservation, deposit protection, pre-completion inspection and pressure selling. Awards up to £75,000 through the Ombudsman.
New fabric, new systems, an A or B EPC in most cases. No chain above you, and no boiler about to fail in your first winter.
The on-site sales team works for the developer. We work for you — on price, on incentives, and on what the contract actually commits you to.
Area, budget, timing and whether you need to be in by a date. We will send schemes that fit, including allocations released before public launch.
We look at the specification, the service charge, the lease and the developer’s record — not just the show home. You get our honest view, including when it is a no.
Price, incentives, the reservation agreement and the long-stop date. Then snagging and completion, with us chasing the developer rather than you.
Most major developers are signed up to the New Homes Quality Code, updated in March 2026. It requires a cooling-off period in the reservation agreement, protection of any deposit you pay, a pre-completion inspection you can carry out yourself or have done professionally, and an estimate of your ownership and maintenance costs for the first five years. It also restricts high-pressure selling and time-limited incentives.
Where the code applies, the New Homes Ombudsman can award up to £75,000 on an upheld complaint raised within two years of reservation or completion, whichever is later. Roughly six in ten new homes are covered, so it is worth asking which code the developer is signed up to before you reserve, not after.
Buying off-plan usually fixes the price now for completion later, which is an advantage in a rising market and a problem in a falling one. Three things decide whether it works for you:
Ground rent on new residential leases has been a peppercorn — effectively nil — since the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022, so any new lease quoting a rising ground rent should be questioned hard. The service charge is the number that actually matters, and it is the one most often underestimated at launch. Ask for the estimate, ask what it excludes, and ask what it was on the previous phase.
How many units in this phase are already sold, and at what. What the developer’s last three schemes completed like against their original dates. Whether the incentive on offer is genuinely worth more than the equivalent taken off the price — usually it is not, and a lower price helps your valuation while a free kitchen does not.
No. Our fee comes from the seller or the developer. What that buys you is someone reading the contract and the lease on your side of the table — the on-site sales team, however helpful they are, is employed by the developer.
Less than most buyers assume. The first two years are typically the builder’s own defects cover, which is where snagging is dealt with. Years three to ten are structural only — foundations, frame, roof, that category of problem. Cosmetic issues you do not raise in the first two years generally become your cost, which is why the pre-completion inspection matters.
Different rather than simply riskier. You fix the price early, which helps in a rising market. Against that, completion dates slip, mortgage offers expire, and valuations at completion can come in under the price you agreed. The long-stop date and your lender’s offer window are the two things to get right, and we will check both before you reserve.
Usually the price. Developers prefer incentives because they protect the headline value on the scheme, but a lower purchase price reduces your stamp duty, improves your loan-to-value and helps at valuation. A free kitchen upgrade does none of those things. We will tell you which is genuinely worth more on the specific deal in front of you.
Your position depends on the long-stop date in the contract. Before it, you generally have to wait. After it, you can usually rescind and recover your deposit. Plenty of buyers never check this until it becomes urgent. We read it before you sign, and we chase the developer through the delay rather than leaving you to do it.
