Snagging Survey in Brighton and Hove

A new-build in Brighton and Hove can look finished on the surface and still need a long snag list. That matters just as much for a £293,000 flat as it does for a £843,000 detached house, because cosmetic finish and build quality are not the same thing. Our inspectors look for the items buyers often spot only after moving in, then we log them before the developer’s defects period starts to run down.

Cosmetic snags are the easy ones to see, but they are only part of the job. Paint scuffs, plaster blemishes, chipped tiles, poor mastic, dirty frames, and patchy touch-ups all go on the report, along with functional faults such as doors that do not latch, windows that do not seal, sockets that sit out of square, and cupboards that bind. In a Brighton and Hove flat, those defects can hide behind clean flooring and bright white walls.

Construction defects need a sharper eye. Uneven floors, gaps in skirting, poorly fitted kitchens, weak joints, bad falls to outside drainage, and garden levels that do not match the specification all show up in our inspection notes. We also flag regulatory issues separately, because missing fire stopping, weak ventilation, drainage problems, and structural cracks beyond normal shrinkage sit in a different category from a paint mark in a hallway.

• Cosmetic defects such as paint, plaster, scuffs, and sealant
• Functional defects such as doors, windows, sockets, and latches
• Construction defects such as floors, kitchens, skirting, and drainage falls
• Regulatory defects such as fire stopping, ventilation, and compliance issues

This varies street to street, so we go on your exact address rather than a town-wide average. That is the safer way to do it. A flat in central Brighton, a new house in Hove, or a scheme on the edge of the city can all be handed over with the same basic defects, even when the finish looks good on first viewing.

homedata.co.uk records 2,918 houses and flats sold in 2023, which tells you this is a live market with plenty of movement through the system. In that setting, new-build buyers often have less time than they expect to spot defects, and they may be dealing with more than one trade on the same property. Fresh plaster, fitted kitchens, glazing, and external works all need checking before the warranty period starts to run.

The local research did not identify the dominant construction method, the named builders, or any verified planning conditions for Brighton and Hove, so we keep the inspection broad and practical. That means checking for paint and plaster issues, missing sealant, poor falls to drainage, garden levels that do not meet spec, and the smaller things that later become awkward to fix. A £404,000 average house price in March 2026 does not change the snag list. It only raises the cost of getting it wrong.