New Build Buyer Checklist: From Reservation to Keys

Buying a new-build home has more deadlines than buying an existing one, and most of them are set by the developer. This checklist puts them in order, from the day you reserve to the day you collect the keys. It covers England; the steps are general information, not advice on your purchase.

1. The day you reserve

• Read the reservation agreement before you sign it. Note the date by which you must exchange contracts and what happens to your reservation fee if you pull out.
• Choose your solicitor. A developer may suggest firms, but the choice is yours, and your solicitor acts for you.
• Send your solicitor the reservation agreement, the plot number, the developer's sales particulars and your lender's or mortgage broker's details on the same day.
• Apply for your mortgage straight away. The developer's exchange deadline usually allows little time for a late mortgage offer.

2. What your solicitor checks before exchange

The developer's solicitor sends a contract pack. We check:

• The plot plan and the boundaries against what you were shown in the sales office.
• Planning permission and building regulations approval for the home.
• The new home warranty. Most lenders will only lend on a new build with a warranty from a provider they accept.
• Whether the roads and sewers will be adopted by the council and the water company. Developers agree this under a section 38 agreement under the Highways Act 1980 (roads) and a section 104 agreement under the Water Industry Act 1991 (sewers). If they will not be adopted, you may pay towards their upkeep.
• Any estate management charge. On many new estates a management company looks after the shared spaces, and freehold owners pay it too.
• The lease, if the home is leasehold: its length, the service charge budget and the ground rent. For most new long leases of homes granted from 30 June 2022, the ground rent can be no more than a peppercorn, in effect nothing (Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022).
• The transfer deed. A new house is split off the developer's land, so it usually moves to you on a TP1 (transfer of part), not the TR1 used for an existing home. A new flat is usually granted to you by a new lease.

3. Your mortgage offer and the build date

Off-plan, you exchange contracts before the home is finished, and you are then bound to buy it.

• Check your mortgage offer's expiry date against the developer's estimated finish date. If the build may run past it, ask your lender or broker early whether the offer can be extended.
• Read the long-stop date in the contract. It is the date after which you can usually pull out if the home still isn't finished.
• Pay your deposit at exchange. The contract says how much and when.

4. Snagging

Snagging means listing the small defects in a new home, such as poor finishes, gaps or doors that stick, so the developer puts them right.

• Ask the developer whether you can inspect the home before completion.
• Check it yourself with a list, or pay a surveyor to do a snagging inspection. We do not do surveys or snagging inspections, and we don't recommend a particular firm.
• Send your snag list to the developer in writing and keep a copy. The developer's after-sales terms and your warranty say how long it has to fix defects.

5. Completion on notice

• When the home is finished, the developer serves notice to complete. The contract says how many days' notice you get.
• We ask your lender for the mortgage money, and you send us the balance of the purchase price.
• On completion day we pay the developer's solicitor and you can collect the keys.
• After completion we file the Stamp Duty return (SDLT1), which is due, with the tax, within 14 days of completion, and register you at HM Land Registry.

What it costs

Our fee for a new-build purchase comes from our new-build fee scale. For a freehold home up to £500,000 bought with a mortgage, it is £1,360 + VAT (£1,632 including VAT), our fees checked 20 October 2026. Third-party costs (disbursements) are on top, typically £319 to £341 for one or two people, including VAT where it applies. Our fee includes a "New Build Property" line of £250 + VAT. A leasehold home also has "Dealing with Leasehold" at £150 + VAT. Every figure, by price band, is on our new build conveyancing solicitors page.

Government charges are paid on top. Stamp Duty Land Tax is worked out the same way as on any purchase. The HM Land Registry fee is higher on a new build, because a new plot pays the full Scale 1 fee: £330 for a home priced from £200,001 to £500,000, against £150 for an existing home applied for online.

How long it takes

For a finished home, a purchase typically takes 8 to 10 weeks for freehold and 10 to 12 weeks for leasehold, from instruction to completion, depending on the chain, the searches and your lender. Off-plan, completion follows the build.

Moving soon? Our moving house checklist covers the weeks around completion day.