Building Safety & Cladding
Essential reading for any new or recent apartment purchase.
Conveyancing Services
New Build Purchases: What to Know
Buying from a developer runs on the builder's timetable, with tight deadlines and plot-specific contracts. The essentials differ between Scotland and England and Wales, including whether you get a survey at all.
England & Wales
The Process Under the Law of England & Wales
Buying a new build from a developer runs on the developer's timetable, which is the defining feature. You typically pay a reservation fee to take the plot off the market, then your solicitor must usually exchange contracts within a set period, often 28 days, even though the property may not be finished.
Where the build is incomplete, completion is set on notice: the developer serves notice when the property is ready, and you complete within a short window (commonly 10 to 14 days). Your solicitor reviews the plot-specific contract, the transfer, planning and building-regulations compliance, road and sewer adoption arrangements, warranties (such as NHBC), and any management-company obligations.
Watch points
Scrutinise developer incentives (they can affect your mortgage valuation), the estate management charges on new estates, and, for any leasehold flat, the lease terms, ground rent and service charge. Building-safety documentation matters for apartments.
Key Steps in England & Wales
- Reservation fee paid, plot reserved
- Solicitor reviews plot-specific contract
- Searches, warranty and planning checks
- Exchange within the set period (often 28 days)
- Build completed, developer serves notice
- Completion on notice: funds, keys, registration
Scotland
How It Works Under Scots Law
In Scotland, a new build is bought through missives like any other property, but the developer's missives are often extensive and weighted toward the builder, so careful review matters. New build properties are exempt from the Home Report requirement when sold for the first time, so you do not get the seller-provided survey a resale would carry.
Completion happens at settlement on the date of entry, which for an unfinished plot is tied to build completion. Your solicitor examines title, checks planning and building standards compliance, confirms road and drainage arrangements, reviews the builder's warranty, and registers title with Registers of Scotland. LBTT (and ADS if it is an additional property) is reported to Revenue Scotland.
Watch points
Because there is no Home Report, consider your own survey or snagging inspection. Check factoring arrangements for the development, the deed of conditions governing shared areas, and any developer incentives that could affect your lender's valuation.
Why Scotland Is Different
Scotland has its own legal system. The binding contract is formed by concluded missives, not exchange of contracts; property tax is LBTT (with the Additional Dwelling Supplement on second homes), collected by Revenue Scotland; title is registered with Registers of Scotland; and sellers must provide a Home Report before marketing. There is no CQS scheme in Scotland: firms are regulated by the Law Society of Scotland.
Common Questions
New Build Purchases: FAQs
How quickly do I have to commit on a new build?
Developers move fast. In England and Wales you usually pay a reservation fee and then have to exchange contracts within a set period, often around 28 days, even if the home is not finished. In Scotland the equivalent is conclusion of missives within the developer's timescale. This pace is why having a solicitor and mortgage ready before reserving matters.
Do new build homes come with a Home Report in Scotland?
No. New build properties sold for the first time are exempt from the Home Report requirement, so unlike a resale you will not receive a seller-provided survey and valuation. Many buyers commission their own survey or a professional snagging inspection instead, particularly before completion.
What is a completion-on-notice arrangement?
For a home that is not yet built, the completion date is not fixed at exchange. Instead the developer serves notice once the property is ready, and you must complete within a short window, commonly 10 to 14 days. Your mortgage offer must still be valid at that point, which is why offers with longer validity are useful for new builds.
What should my solicitor check on a new build?
Plot-specific contract terms, the transfer or disposition, planning and building-regulations or building-standards compliance, road and sewer adoption, the builder's warranty such as NHBC, estate management and factoring obligations, any developer incentives that could affect the mortgage valuation, and, for leasehold flats in England and Wales, the lease terms, ground rent, service charge and building-safety documentation.
Related Reading
Guides You Might Find Useful
Leasehold & Short Leases
What to check in the lease of a new build flat.
How Long It Takes
Why new build timescales run to the developer's clock.