Snagging surveys in Hastings

The first faults our inspectors pick up in Hastings are usually cosmetic. Paint misses around skirting, plaster patches on bedroom walls, scuffed frames, and sealant that has not finished cleanly show up a lot in new homes off Harrow Lane and The Ridge. On a TN34 1SR site, those details can look minor, but they matter because the developer's defect list is built from what we photograph, not from what someone remembers after a sales visit. Buyers are often surprised by the count, because a new-build in East Sussex can return well over 100 snags even when it looks tidy at first glance.

Functional items matter just as much. A door that will not latch, a window that does not seal in a sea wind, a socket that sits out of square, or a kitchen unit with poor alignment is common on new-builds in Hastings, especially on larger plots where the trades have moved through fast. We check water flow, extraction, heating controls, trickle vents, and drainage, because a builder can call something "fine" while the room tells a different story once you live there. A solicitor in Hastings will not test whether the bathroom fan is undersized, and they will not check if the downstairs WC smells damp after heavy rain on the Combe Haven side of town.

Then there are the items that cost more to ignore. Uneven floors, gaps at skirting, badly fitted kitchens, missing fire-stopping, weak ventilation, poor drainage falls, and cracks beyond normal shrinkage all need recording properly. On clay ground in Hastings, especially where Wadhurst Clay sits under the plot, we pay close attention to movement and to whether cracking is settling or something more serious. That is where our reports help, because they separate a paint touch-up from a defect that needs a builder or warranty response.

A lot of buyers assume a clean handover note means the home is sound. It does not. The new-build in TN34 still needs checking room by room, outside as well as in, because patios, paths, garden levels and boundary details are often left for later on larger sites. If you are comparing a fresh Barratt home at The View with an older terrace in the Old Town, the snagging standard is different, but the process is the same, and the report still gives the developer a clear list to fix.

• Paint and plaster defects
• Doors and windows that do not close or seal properly
• Kitchens, sealant and joinery that do not line up
• Fire-stopping, ventilation and drainage defects

Hastings sits on ground that needs a practical eye. The Wealden Group and, in particular, the Wadhurst Clay Formation can bring moderate to high shrink-swell risk, so we keep an eye on minor cracking, patio movement and doors that need adjusting on plots in TN34 and along The Ridge. Modern timber frame and masonry homes react differently, but both can show settlement marks during the first heating cycle. If a new Barratt or Taylor Wimpey home is moving slightly as it dries out, the report needs to separate normal shrinkage from a fault that deserves a builder response.

Water is the other big one. Hastings has river risk around the Combe Haven valley, coastal exposure near the seafront, and surface water issues on steep streets after heavy rain. That means we look closely at drainage falls, external gullies, unfinished paths and garden levels on new schemes, because a neat show home can still hide poor run-off once the weather turns. A bathroom fan and a kitchen extractor matter more in a town with older brick stock around it, because buyers notice damp quickly in homes that sit beside the coast.

The local stock sets the standard buyers use. Hastings is 38.6% terraced and 30.9% flats, so people used to older homes in the Old Town and central streets notice a lot when they walk into a fresh new build. The town had 92,854 people and 40,300 households in 2021, which keeps demand for new homes moving across TN34, TN35 and the wider coast. With The View and Saxon Rise on Harrow Lane, plus Rosewood Park off The Ridge, we see plenty of brick, render and cladding, and we inspect the finish with that mix in mind.

New-build estates around Hastings often arrive in phases, and that can leave landscaping, paths and boundary treatment behind the main build. We document unfinished turf, uneven drives, loose coping, poor sealant and any external detail that has not been brought up to spec. On a coastal town edge like Hastings, the outside of the property matters just as much as the inside, because wind, rain and salt air will find weak points fast.

• Wadhurst Clay shrink-swell risk
• coastal exposure near the seafront
• surface water run-off on steep streets
• mixed brick, render and cladding on new schemes