It’s estimated just 2% of all new build homes reach the market snag-free and this issue is predictably at its worst in the capital. Across London, there are some 52,300 homes waiting to be built having been granted permission, accounting for 18% of all approvals across England.
However, with just 2% predicted to reach the market in a suitable condition, HouseScan’s research shows that as many as 51,254 new homes yet to be built within the capital will have some form of snagging defect. If they were to reach the market today, that’s nearly £27bn worth of property that would need further work.
With 43,200 housing units granted planning permission in the South East, it ranks as the region with the next largest level of homes reaching the market with snagging issues (42,336).
The North West (39,592), East of England (34,790), East Midlands (30,380) and West Midlands (29,302) are also predicted to see some of the largest numbers of homes reach the market with snagging defects based on current planning permissions granted.
In total across England, over £100bn worth of new homes that are still yet to be built will be sold with snagging issues, and that’s based on today’s market values alone.
Harry Yates, Founder and Managing Director of HouseScan, commented: “Unfortunately there’s an incredible number of new homes purchased every year that come complete with a number of snagging issues and these issues can range from something minor such as the poor fitting of light switches or plug sockets, to something as serious as subsidence or other structural instabilities.
"It may seem unfair to tarnish housebuilder outputs by using the law of averages, but to say that just two per cent of new builds are sold snag-free really is the reality. In addition, it’s the new build process that allows these issues by using similar practices, to begin with, with inspectors often passing off the standard of an entire development based on inspecting just one single home within it.
"Of course, our research has focussed on planning permissions and so it remains to be seen as to whether this level of homes will be riddled with snagging defects or not. However, we wanted to highlight this severe problem within the industry as a wake-up call so that those delivering this pipeline of property stock can address the issue now and prove us wrong.”
