Renegotiating or walking away
A snag on a reserved new-build plot is not the same negotiation as a rating 3 on a private sale. Who do you ask first, and why?
Ask the solicitor first. A snag on a reserved new-build plot is raised with the developer under the reservation and the contract, not as a price chip against a private seller. Do not rename the snag as a rating 3 and demand a cut as if this were an older house on the open market. What to do now, on a private purchase that actually has a rating 3, advises that buyer. It does not invoice a housebuilder.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
The two paths get muddled because both involve a list of things that are wrong. On a private purchase, a rating 3 means the element is serious and/or urgent and that you should obtain written quotations before you enter a legal commitment. It does not order you to withdraw. On a reserved plot, the person who can answer for incomplete or unsatisfactory items is the developer, on the terms of the reservation and the building contract. Your solicitor reads those terms. The estate agent on a second-hand sale is the wrong first call for a plot you have reserved from a builder.
Do not borrow private-sale tactics. Do not present a snag list as if it were a set of RICS condition ratings, and do not ask the developer for a percentage off because a rating 3 on some other house would have started a quotation exercise. What to do now is advice to a buyer reading a home survey. It does not set the housebuilder's process, and it does not say a show house is this plot. Ask the solicitor who to write to, what the reservation allows you to raise, and what you should not call a condition rating.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Is this a reserved plot with a developer, or a private purchase with a rating 3?
- Which items are snags on this plot, rather than findings in a home survey?
- What should the solicitor read in the reservation before anyone talks about price?
What are the typical next steps?
- Speak to the solicitor before you contact the developer about the snag.
- Do not describe the snag as a condition rating 3.
- Keep any private-sale quotation advice off this reservation.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
Does a snag list use ratings 1, 2 and 3?
No. Do not pretend it does. A snag on a reserved plot is not a RICS condition rating.
Should you threaten to walk away in the language of a private rating 3?
Ask the solicitor what the reservation allows. Do not import What to do now as if the developer had commissioned that survey.