Buying a new-build home: reservation, the warranty, snagging and the New Homes Quality Code

What is the New Homes Quality Code?

The Code is a code of practice set by the New Homes Quality Board, and it applies to homes sold by developers who are registered with it. It sets requirements that developers must meet to provide quality, fairness and good customer service.

Which version of the Code applies to my home?

The version depends on when you reserved the home from a registered developer. The Code page says that if you reserved your home from a registered developer from 2 March 2026, Code V2 applies. The rest of this guide describes Code V2.

What does a reservation agreement involve?

Under Code V2, a customer who wants to reserve a new home must enter into a formal Reservation Agreement with the developer, which both sign and the developer copies to the customer (section 2.2). The terms must include the amount of the reservation fee, the customer’s right to cancel and the terms on which the fee can be refunded.

Every Reservation Agreement must include a cooling-off period of at least 14 days, during which the developer must refund the full reservation fee if the customer cancels (section 2.3). After the cooling-off period, the developer must refund the fee less any deductions set out in the agreement, within 14 days of the customer’s notice (section 2.4).

The agreement must also state a date for exchange of contracts, which must not be less than six weeks after the reservation date unless the customer asks for an earlier date (section 2.2). The developer must have adequate arrangements to protect deposits and reservation fees (section 2.13).

What warranty comes with a new build?

Before contracts are exchanged, the developer must give the customer’s legal adviser a summary of the cover provided by the home warranty and contact details of the warranty provider (section 2.6).

Terms differ by provider. As one example, NHBC says its Buildmark product provides pre-completion deposit protection, a two year builder warranty period and then an eight year insurance policy for physical damage caused by a failure to build to NHBC requirements, subject to its terms and exclusions. Read the policy documents for your home.

What about snagging?

The Code says the developer must give the customer the opportunity to carry out, or to appoint a qualified inspector to carry out, a pre-completion inspection, which should take place after the notice to complete has been served (or earlier if both agree) and before the completion date, using the standard NHQB checklist (section 2.8). If issues breach the warranty technical standards, the developer is responsible for addressing them, ideally before legal completion or within 30 days if that is not possible.

After completion, developers are expected to work with customers to identify and put right any snags, and must make sure snags are covered by the after-sales service (section 3.3). In most situations, the Code says the developer must be able to settle an after-sales issue within 30 days, unless there is a significant reason for delay.

What is the New Homes Ombudsman Service?

Developers registered with the New Homes Quality Board that have active status on the Register of Developers agree to comply with the Code and to accept the decisions of the New Homes Ombudsman Service.

Customers who reserved their home from a registered developer on or after its registration date are eligible to use the Ombudsman from the point of reservation and for two years after legal completion.

Will new leasehold houses be banned?

Section 1 of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 is headed “Ban on grant or assignment of certain long residential leases of houses”. Its first subsection provides that a person may not grant or enter into an agreement to grant a long residential lease of a house on or after the day the section comes into force, unless it is a permitted lease.

As at 2 November 2026, the legislation.gov.uk page for section 1 is marked prospective and records that the section was not in force at Royal Assent. Commencement can change, so check the current status before relying on it.