Buying and selling
New build purchase
Buying a newly built home from a developer, with reservation and exchange deadlines, warranty checks and completion on notice.
Every cost on its own line: the law firm's legal fee, VAT, the searches and other third-party costs, and any property tax. Your quote opens as soon as you send the form.
Have your mortgage application under way and your deposit ready before you reserve. The exchange deadline in a new build reservation is often only a few weeks away.
Buying a new build home is different from buying from another homeowner. You buy from a developer, often before the home is finished, using the developer's standard contract and to the developer's timetable. That timetable usually includes a short deadline to exchange after you reserve, and a completion date that depends on when the build is finished.
This service is for buying a newly built house or flat from a developer, whether freehold or leasehold. It covers checking the plot, the estate arrangements, the planning and the structural warranty, and fitting your mortgage around a finish date that can move. Our new build guide has more background.
The instant quote includes the new build admin fee and, for flats, the leasehold admin fee. If you go ahead, Keyfolio introduces you to a regulated law firm that is used to developer deadlines and is on your lender's panel.
What is involved
Your conveyancer's work on a new build usually runs like this:
- Reservation pack: reviewing the reservation agreement, the price, any incentives such as paid legal fees or upgrades, and the exchange deadline.
- Developer's contract pack: checking the contract, the plot plan against what is being built, the transfer deed and the arrangements for the estate's roads, sewers and open spaces.
- Searches and planning: ordering searches and checking the planning permission and any conditions affecting the plot.
- Warranty and building control: confirming a structural warranty is in place, which lenders insist on, and that building control sign-off will be provided.
- Estate charges: explaining any charge for maintaining shared areas that the council will not take over, and who manages them.
- Mortgage: checking your offer will still be valid when the home is finished, and that your lender knows about the incentives.
- Exchange: signing and exchanging with your deposit, often within weeks of reserving.
- Completion on notice: once the home is finished, the developer serves notice and you must complete within a set period, often around ten working days.
- After completion: filing the tax return and registering your new plot, which can take longer than for an existing home.
What the legal fee covers
- Reviewing the reservation agreement and any incentives
- Checking the developer's contract, transfer deed and plot plan
- Ordering and reviewing searches and the planning position
- Confirming the structural warranty and building control arrangements
- Explaining estate management charges and who looks after shared areas
- Reporting to you and your lender, including on incentives
- Exchanging contracts and completing on the developer's notice
- Filing the property tax return and registering your new home
Costs you may see on top
- The new build admin fee for the developer contract and its deadlines
- A leasehold admin fee and management company fees if you are buying a flat
- Searches and HM Land Registry fees. The registration fee is usually higher than for an existing home, because a new plot is split from the developer's land and does not get the lower fee for registering a whole title
- A fee for acting for your mortgage lender
- A Lifetime ISA admin fee if you are using one towards the purchase
- Fees for registering with the estate management company, where the transfer requires it
- Stamp Duty Land Tax, or the Welsh equivalent
What to have ready
- The reservation form, price list and details of any incentives
- Your mortgage offer, or confirmation that the application is under way
- Your deposit, in an account you can access quickly
- Photo identification and proof of address for each buyer
- The developer's sales contact and the build timetable you have been given
- Your Lifetime ISA details if you plan to use one
How long it takes
Developers commonly want contracts exchanged within a few weeks of reservation, so the early stage moves fast and you need your mortgage and deposit ready. After exchange, timing depends on the build. If the home is finished, completion can follow soon after; if not, you wait for the developer's notice, which might be weeks or months away. Mortgage offers expire, and if the build runs late your offer may need extending. Ask about the longstop date, the latest date by which the developer must finish.
Things to watch for
- Tell your lender about every incentive, such as cashback, paid fees or free extras. Lenders take them into account, and leaving them out can cause problems with your mortgage.
- Check the longstop date in the contract. It is often much later than the estimated finish date, and it decides when you can pull out if the build is delayed.
- Ask about estate charges for roads, play areas and landscaping that the council will not take over. They can rise over time and are payable on top of any leasehold service charge.
- Compare the plan of your plot with what is actually built, including parking spaces and boundaries. Differences are easier to fix before completion.
- Arrange a snagging inspection before or soon after completion, and find out how to report defects to the developer and under the warranty.
Questions people ask
Why is the exchange deadline so short?
Developers want certainty that reserved plots will sell, so the reservation agreement usually gives a short period to exchange, after which the developer may cancel and keep some or all of the reservation fee. Instructing your conveyancer the day you reserve, with your mortgage application already under way, gives you a much better chance of meeting it.
What is completion on notice?
Where a home is not finished at exchange, the contract has no fixed completion date. Instead, the developer serves notice when the home is ready and you must complete within the period the contract sets. Your mortgage funds and the rest of the price need to be ready at short notice, so keep your lender and conveyancer updated about any changes in your circumstances.
What does the structural warranty cover?
A new home warranty usually covers structural defects for the first 10 or 12 years, and the builder is normally responsible for putting right most defects in the early years. It does not cover everything, so read the policy. Lenders will not normally lend on a new build without an acceptable warranty, and your conveyancer checks the cover is in place before completion.
Will I pay stamp duty on a new build?
Yes, the same rules apply as for any purchase, including first-time buyer relief in England and Northern Ireland if you qualify. If part of the price covers items such as furniture, your conveyancer will check how they should be treated for tax. Use the stamp duty calculator for an estimate, and your conveyancer will confirm the final figure.
Who does the work
Your matter is handled by a law firm regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the Council for Licensed Conveyancers or CILEx Regulation, or in Northern Ireland by a solicitor regulated by the Law Society of Northern Ireland. At the moment the law firms on our panel act for property in England and Wales, so for property in Northern Ireland we tell you whether a firm can act for you before we pass your details to anyone. The firm confirms who will work on your file, their experience and its terms before you instruct it. How we choose our firms.
Helpful guides
The other costs of your move
- Stamp duty calculator: stamp duty in England and Northern Ireland, Land Transaction Tax in Wales
- Moving costs calculator: the other costs of the move, from the survey to removals