Buying a new build: the process, step by step

How buying a new build is different

When you buy a second-hand home, you agree a price, your solicitor does the legal work, and you exchange contracts and complete close together at the end. Buying a new build changes that order.

• You buy from a builder, not a person, so there is no chain above you.
• You pay a reservation fee to take the home off the market while the legal work starts.
• You usually exchange contracts within weeks of reserving, and the home may not be finished yet.
• Completion happens when the home is built, after the builder serves a notice to complete.
• You get protections a resale does not come with: a structural warranty, a pre-completion inspection and, if the builder is registered, the New Homes Quality Code, which covers nearly 60% of new homes being built.

The steps below follow that order. Each links to a deeper guide if you want more detail.

Step 1: Work out what you can spend

Start with cash, not price. The price you can reach depends on your deposit and what a lender will let you borrow, but the cash you need on the day is more than the deposit alone.

The money you need up front

Stamp duty

In England and Northern Ireland, standard stamp duty is nil up to £125,000. First-time buyers pay nothing up to £300,000 and lose the relief entirely above £500,000. On a £350,000 home, a home mover pays £7,500 and a first-time buyer £2,500. If you will own more than one home, a 5% surcharge applies on top. Scotland and Wales have their own taxes. The stamp duty calculator works out yours, and the stamp duty guide explains every rule.

How much you could borrow

Get a mortgage agreement in principle early. It tells you roughly what a lender would lend and shows the builder you are a serious buyer. The borrowing calculator gives you a starting figure from your income and deposit, and the cash you need calculator adds up the deposit, stamp duty and fees on a real home, less the builder's incentive. Both are an illustration, not advice. Before you commit, speak to a qualified, regulated mortgage adviser of your choosing.

Step 2: Check which schemes you can use

Several schemes are aimed at new builds or at first-time buyers. Each has its own rules, and some are run only by certain builders or lenders.

• Your First Home: a new government equity loan for first-time buyers of new-build homes in England. GOV.UK says it is expected to open for applications in February 2027.
• Shared ownership: buy a share of a home and pay rent on the rest.
• First Homes: a discount on the market price for eligible first-time buyers in England.
• Lifetime ISA: a savings account with a government bonus you can put towards your first home.
• Deposit Unlock and Own New Rate Reducer: builder-backed schemes that change what lenders offer on new builds.
• The mortgage guarantee scheme: a government guarantee behind some low-deposit mortgages.
• Rent to Buy: rent a new home below market rent while you save.

Help to Buy has closed to new buyers in England, though GOV.UK says equity loans are still available in Wales. See what replaced Help to Buy and the full list on the schemes page.

Step 3: Find the right development and plot

Search every new home for sale by place, or start near you. Right now there are 22,334 new homes for sale across 2,339 developments. If you are early, developments coming soon shows sites not yet selling.

Choosing a new build means choosing twice: the development, then the plot within it.

• The area. Check schools, transport, shops and broadband. The area guides cover towns and councils.
• The plot. Look at the site plan. Which way does the garden face? Is the home on a main road through the estate, next to a play area, or overlooked by taller homes? Where is your parking?
• The phase. Ask what is still to be built nearby and for how long, because you may live next to a building site for a while.
• The price. Compare the asking price with similar homes nearby. The new-build premium tool sets a new home's price against similar local resales, and new-build incentives shows where builders are cutting prices.

The guide to choosing a development and plot goes through this in detail.

Step 4: View the show home and ask questions

The show home is usually the builder's best-specified version, often with upgrades and furniture chosen to make rooms feel bigger. Ask which features are standard on your plot and which cost extra. Then ask for the facts in writing.

• What tenure is the home: freehold or leasehold? If leasehold, how long is the lease?
• Are there service charges or estate management charges, and how much are they expected to be?
• Which structural warranty covers the home?
• When is the home expected to be ready?
• Is the builder registered with the New Homes Quality Code?
• What incentives are on offer, and are they stated in writing?

Builders registered with the Code must tell you the home's size, tenure, specification, indicative energy rating, price, expected completion date, warranty, service charges and expected council tax band before you buy. The viewing guide has the full list of questions.

Step 5: Reserve the home

When you find the home, you reserve it by signing a reservation agreement and paying a reservation fee. Under the New Homes Quality Code, the agreement must set out, among other things:

• the price and how long it is valid for
• the reservation fee and the terms for refunding it
• a cooling-off period of at least 14 days, during which you can cancel for any reason and get the full fee back
• the date by which you must exchange contracts, which must normally be at least six weeks after you reserve unless you ask for an earlier date
• the tenure, and the estimated yearly cost of any management services
• the warranty provider and a summary of the cover

If you cancel after the cooling-off period, the builder can keep only the deductions the agreement sets out, and must refund the rest within 14 days. While your reservation is valid, the builder cannot sell the home to someone else.

The Code also bans high-pressure selling. A builder must not offer a financial incentive in return for an immediate decision. At a time-limited launch event, the incentive must be held open for seven days so you can think it over, although the home itself can still sell to someone else in that time.

Step 6: Instruct a solicitor and apply for your mortgage

The day you reserve, instruct a solicitor or licensed conveyancer and make your full mortgage application. The exchange deadline in your reservation agreement is short, and both take time.

The builder may recommend a solicitor or a mortgage adviser. Under the Code, you are free to choose your own, the builder must tell you about any fee it receives for the referral, and it cannot offer you an incentive for using its recommendation. Choose a solicitor who handles new builds often.

Your solicitor will check the contract, the title, the planning consent, any lease and management charges, and the warranty. Your lender will value the home. Builders also complete a form for your lender listing any incentives, so the lender knows the true price you are paying.

Step 7: Exchange contracts

At exchange, you and the builder sign binding contracts and you pay your deposit. If you pull out after exchange, you are likely to lose that deposit. Before you exchange, make sure:

• your mortgage offer is in place and runs long enough to cover the expected completion date
• you understand the contract's terms on delays, and when you can cancel if the home is late
• you know how your deposit is protected, whether through the warranty or a separate client account
• any spoken promise you are relying on is written into the contract, through your solicitor

If the home is not finished, you may exchange with a fixed completion date or "on notice", with the date set once the build is nearly complete. The off-plan guide covers this in depth.

Step 8: The notice to complete and the pre-completion inspection

When the home is nearly ready, the builder serves a notice to complete. The Code expects the notice period to be at least 14 calendar days unless you agree otherwise. The NHQB's buyer guide says the exact completion date is not usually confirmed until about two weeks before, so keep your removal plans flexible.

After the notice is served, and before completion, you have the right to inspect the home yourself or send a suitably qualified inspector. The inspection uses the NHQB's standard pre-completion inspection checklist. If it finds problems that breach the warranty's technical standards, the builder should fix them, ideally before completion, or within 30 days if that is not possible.

Set up buildings insurance to start on completion day. Your lender will usually not release the money without it.

Step 9: Completion and moving in

On completion day, your solicitor sends the rest of the money, the home becomes yours, and you collect the keys. Under the Code, by completion the builder must also:

• give you a list of any work still to finish on your home, with timescales
• offer a home demonstration showing how the heating and appliances work
• give you the warranty documents and the details of what they do and do not cover
• give you a copy of its complaints procedure

Your solicitor then pays the stamp duty, if not already paid, and registers you as the owner.

After you move in: snags, warranties and complaints

Most new homes have some snags: small defects in the finish. The builder must provide an after-sales service for at least two years after completion. In most cases, it should settle an issue you report within 30 days, or explain why not and update you at least monthly. Report problems in writing as soon as you find them. The snagging guide has a room-by-room checklist.

The structural warranty usually runs for 10 years. For the first two, the builder fixes defects. After that, the warranty provider covers specified structural problems. See how new-build warranties work.

If you are not happy with how the builder handles a problem, make a formal complaint. Under the Code, the builder must acknowledge it within five days, set out how it will investigate within 10 days, and send a full response within 30 days. If it is still not resolved after 56 days, you can take it to the New Homes Ombudsman Service, free of charge, as long as the complaint arose within two years of completion.

The whole process at a glance