Moving into a new build: the first year

Before moving day

With a new build, you may only get a firm completion date a couple of weeks ahead. The New Homes Quality Code expects the notice to complete to be at least 14 calendar days, unless you and the builder agree otherwise. Plan for that.

• Book removals with some flexibility, or choose a firm that can move dates at short notice.
• Arrange buildings insurance from the completion date. The New Homes Quality Board's buying guide notes that lenders usually need insurance in place before they release the mortgage funds.
• If an insurer or utility company does not recognise your new postcode, give them the development name and plot details.
• Tell your bank, employer and other organisations your new address.
• Arrange broadband early. The Board's guide to settling in says you will usually need to arrange your own internet connection.
• Book your pre-completion inspection if you have not already. Our guide to snagging a new build has a full room-by-room checklist.

Completion day and the handover

On completion, ownership passes to you and you can move in. If your builder is registered with the New Homes Quality Board, by the point of completion it must have:

• completed the home to the agreed standards
• carried out its own final quality inspection and given you a Schedule of Incomplete Work for the home, with timescales for finishing any work or fixing defects
• given you the chance to carry out a pre-completion inspection
• offered an appointment for a home demonstration, explaining how to use the appliances
• given you full details of the guarantees and warranties for the home and appliances
• provided the warranty cover note or certificate and policy documents, including any exclusions, limits, excesses or conditions
• given you a copy of its complaints procedure
• provided a health and safety file for the home (for apartments, this goes to the managing agent or management company)
• provided the building regulations completion certificate if it is available, or told you when and where you can get it

The builder must also give you a Schedule of Incomplete Work for the development, with what it knows about future phases and when outstanding work is expected to be finished.

At the home demonstration

Use the demonstration to learn how the home works. Ask to be shown:

• the heating controls, thermostat and hot water settings, and how to use a heat pump if you have one
• the stopcock, the consumer unit and how to reset a tripped circuit
• the ventilation system, including any MVHR unit and its filters
• the meters, and how to read them
• the emergency contact numbers for after-sales, including outside office hours

Your first week

• Take meter readings on the day you move in and give them to your energy and water suppliers.
• Register appliances with their manufacturers. The Board's settling-in guide says this helps activate warranties and means you receive safety and recall notices.
• Keep all manuals, warranties and handover documents in one place.
• Start a log of any issues, with dated photos, and report them to the builder in writing.
• Check your council tax position (see below).

Council tax on a new home

Council tax bands are set by the Valuation Office, not your council. A newly built home is assessed automatically. The band is based on what the home would have sold for on the open market on 1 April 1991 in England, or 1 April 2003 in Wales, even though it did not exist then. The Valuation Office considers factors such as size, layout, character and location.

Wales has nine bands, A to I, based on 2003 values. In Scotland, bands are set by local assessors; you can check them through the Scottish Assessors Association.

Before and after you move in

A builder registered with the New Homes Quality Board must tell you which band the home is expected to be placed in, before you buy. If you move into a home that does not yet have a band, the Valuation Office says to contact your local council, which will give it the information it needs to set one. Your council's charge for your band, and any discount you can claim, make up the bill. For example, you get 25% off if you live on your own, or everyone else living with you is disregarded for council tax. Ask your council how billing works while a band is being set, and put money aside so a first bill does not catch you out.

Checking and challenging your band

You can look up any band in England and Wales on GOV.UK. You have a legal right to challenge your band (known as making a proposal) if you think it is wrong and you have been paying council tax on the home for less than 6 months, or the Valuation Office changed the band in the last 6 months.

After 6 months, you can still ask for a band review, but you need evidence, such as the addresses of up to 5 similar homes nearby in a lower band. On a new estate, compare homes of the same type, size, age and design on the same estate. You must keep paying council tax while a challenge is reviewed. GOV.UK also notes that your band can change if a similar property in your area has its band changed.

Settling in: the first 12 months

A new home goes through a settling-in period, usually during the first 12 months, as it dries out and adjusts to heating and everyday use. The New Homes Quality Board's guide to settling in explains what is normal.

How to help your home dry out

• Keep trickle vents open and use extractor fans when cooking and bathing.
• Open windows regularly, especially in kitchens, bathrooms and utility rooms.
• Heat steadily and adjust gradually; the guide says around 18 to 21°C across rooms is often recommended.
• Do not dry laundry on radiators.
• Keep large furniture slightly away from walls, and leave fitted wardrobes and cupboards open at first.
• Do not block air bricks, vents or weep holes.
• Where possible, wait at least 12 months before wallpapering or major decorating.

The garden, loft and garage

Keep off new turf for the first 4 to 6 weeks, depending on the weather, and water it in dry spells. Only use the loft for storage if it has been boarded and confirmed as suitable; storing things on insulation squashes it and reduces how well it works. Garages are not built to the same insulation standard as the home, so some damp and draughts are normal; store belongings off the floor, and report standing water or leaks. Before you drill into walls, use a cable and pipe detector.

Living on a new development

The management company

Many developments have a management company that looks after shared areas the council has not adopted, such as landscaping, play areas, private roads, paths, drainage and lighting. You may pay a service or estate charge, follow estate rules, and in some cases become a member or shareholder of the company. Your builder should have given you details of the management company, any managing agent and the likely charges; if not, ask. Our guide to leasehold, freehold and estate charges explains your position in detail.

Unfinished roads and ongoing building

Roads, pavements, street lighting and landscaping are often finished later, once heavy construction traffic has reduced. Until they are complete and adopted, the builder or a management company usually looks after them. Expect mud in winter and dust in summer while work goes on, take care around unfinished groundworks, and keep children away from active work areas. Play areas must pass inspections before use, so they may stay closed even when they look finished.

Covenants

Your home may have covenants: legal conditions on how you use it. Common examples include limits on parking caravans or commercial vehicles, on extensions and sheds without permission, on "for sale" signs while the builder is still selling, on changes to fences or the front of the home, and on running a business from home. Some last only while the builder is on site, some for a set period and some permanently. Your title deeds and your solicitor's report tell you which apply.

Maintenance: what is yours to look after

Day-to-day maintenance is the homeowner's responsibility. The Code requires a registered builder to give you clear guidance on what counts as normal maintenance.

• Service the boiler or heat pump, ventilation and alarms as the manufacturers recommend, and keep records.
• Clean gutters and check the roof and drains.
• Repaint render, woodwork and metalwork every few years, and maintain fences and gates.
• Do not flush wipes or pour fats down sinks; blockages caused by misuse are usually not covered.

Before you bought, a registered builder had to give you a schedule of the expected costs of tenure and management over the first five years, including estimated maintenance costs. Use it to set a yearly budget, and keep a small fund for repairs.

Problems, warranty claims and complaints

Report every problem to the builder first, in writing, with photos.

Under the New Homes Quality Code, the builder should usually settle a reported issue within 30 days, and update you at least monthly if it takes longer. If you are not happy, make a formal complaint under the builder's complaints procedure. You have two years from reservation or completion, whichever is later, to make a complaint and refer it to the New Homes Ombudsman Service, and you can refer a complaint after 56 days if it is not resolved.

If your warranty is with NHBC, its resolution service may help with problems the builder has not fixed in the first two years. Before you can ask, you must have told the builder about the problem within the builder warranty period, given it reasonable time and access to fix it, and completed its complaints process. Other warranty providers have their own claims processes, set out in your policy. Our guides to new build warranties and the New Homes Quality Code and Ombudsman explain each route.

A first-year checklist

• Completion day: meter readings, keys, handover pack, emergency numbers
• First week: register appliances, check council tax, start your issues log
• First month: report snags in writing, and chase anything not settled within 30 days
• First 6 months: check your council tax band, and challenge it in time if you think it is wrong
• First 12 months: ventilate and heat steadily, hold off on wallpaper, care for the garden
• Before the end of year two: send the builder a final list of any outstanding issues