Finally we’ve had an offer accepted on a new house in our village – build by a small developer, but overseen by quite a large architects/consulting firm.

The house has an architects certificate and is covered by the architects PI insurance. The developer has also agreed to 12 months snagging/latent defect fixes.

So, in the great STW collective wisdom – do I need a survey on the house. If so, what kind should I be thinking of getting?

Does it have a NHBC certificate and guarantee?

How long will architects P&I cover it for?

You shouldn’t need one for mortgage purposes and a basic valuation survey will tell you nowt and even a full structural would be pretty pointless on a new build with a certificate.

Also, there are plenty of horror stories of dealing with the NHBC.

So short answer long – I wouldn’t bother. IANACS.

No NHBC. But the architects certificate covers it for 6 years of structural warranty.

I was thinking of maybe a snagging survey?

I was thinking of maybe a snagging survey?

You can do that yourself. I wouldn’t pay for it.

http://www.brand-newhomes.co.uk/new_home_diy_snagging_guidance.htm

The three guys i know who have tried to claim on Architects PI for build issues have all gone to court to get the matter resolved or given up.

The PI insurance will cover errors or omissions in the design only. I would give there insurance a jolly good review if i were you.

My friend had a lentil fail, some £9,000 to resolve. Architect advised no fault in design so jog on.

Big thread on this already running somewhere. I wouldn’t buy one without an NHBC warranty or similar.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/architects-certificate-am-i-protected

Make sure they’re not doing the leasehold ‘honest you can buy the freehold later for a peanut’ ploy as well,
Seems to be the new build scam of choice at the mo,

I recently avoided that. Had first option on a plot and was a bit worried about the leasehold situation but it appears to be quite prevalent these days (particularly oop North).

Thankfully ended up buying an old cottage instead. Sale agreed just as the horror stories of new build leaseholds hit the press.

Thanks all. Solicitor is on top of all the architect certificate stuff and warranties. The company that issued the certificate is a multi-million pound local consultant. My solicitor said she’d be stunned if all the appropriate cover wasn’t in place.

My solicitor said she’d be stunned if all the appropriate cover wasn’t in place.

they may well be but would they be willing to put their money where their mouth is if it all wasnt and something went wrong as that is basically what you will be doing without knowing for sure.

My friend had a lentil fail, some £9,000 to resolve. Architect advised no fault in design so jog on.

If your new house is built of lentils then it could get really dahl.

new build

tiny windows? tiny garden? front drive all paved and just big enough for 2 cars?
don’t bother!
I despair with new builds these days, they’re mostly all awful. Wish they built houses like they used to now it seems they’re just concerned about squeezing in as many properties on the patch of land as possible.

They built 2 on a tiny plot up from us a couple of years ago.
There is a steel frame acting as a car port with a deck on top with balustrade etc, all attached to the house .
Bearing in mind we live in a costal area, they used steel that just had a thin primer coat on and never finished with a decent top coat. Should have been galvanised IMO.
They are rusting to buggery , but the builder went pop 6months ago, so don’t know who would cover the rebuild when it happens / it collapses