Snagging Survey Irvine

A snagging survey is not a quick look around the house. On a home in Montgomerie Park or a plot at Kings Meadow on Lochlibo Road, our inspectors work room by room, then outside, so the small faults do not get missed. We photograph each defect and set it out clearly, because the builder cannot fix what has not been written down.

The usual list is longer than most buyers expect. In Irvine, we often see paint and plaster defects, doors that do not latch, windows that do not seal, missing sealant around showers and sinks, sockets that sit out of square, and kitchen units that are not fitted cleanly. None of that is unusual on a fast-moving development, but it still needs recording while the home is under warranty.

We also pick up the deeper faults that a buyer's solicitor would not catch. That includes uneven floors, gaps in skirting, poor drainage falls, missing fire stopping, weak ventilation, and structural cracks that go beyond normal shrinkage. On the Fullarton Street homes in KA12 8PE, where the mix includes bungalows and two and three-bedroom houses, those details matter as much as the finish on the walls.

• Paint, plaster and joinery defects
• Doors, windows and seals that do not work properly
• Kitchen fitting tolerances, sockets and plumbing faults
• Fire stopping, ventilation and drainage issues

The point is not that every Irvine new-build is a problem house. It is that even on a good site, such as Bellway's work at Montgomerie Park, the final trades often leave a trail of small faults that add up. Our inspectors typically find 100-250 snags in a new-build home, and larger plots in KA11 can sit at the upper end of that range.

Irvine has a strong timber frame presence, and that shapes the snagging job. Alexander Timber Design opened its Irvine facility in 2025, and the site supplies major housebuilders such as Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey, Bellway and Ashleigh Construction, so we pay close attention to plasterboard joints, floor squeaks, airtightness seals and the way internal finishes meet the frame. On a fast build programme, those are the details that tend to slip.

The ground deserves just as much attention. Irvine sits on clay soil that shrinks and swells with changes in moisture, so cracks wider at the top, sticking doors, sloping floors and gaps at skirting level are all worth logging properly. That local risk sits alongside the coastal setting, where the River Irvine meets the Firth of Clyde, and flood-warning areas such as Irvine Waterside/Low Green and River Garnock keep drainage and external levels on our checklist.

Planning and delivery also matter. North Ayrshire Council obtained planning consent for the 43-home Fullarton Street scheme on 24 November 2025, with work due to start in early 2027 and completion expected in spring 2028. The mix there, 36 general needs homes, four amenity bungalows and three wheelchair-user properties, means thresholds, access routes, external falls and landscaping all need to work first time, not after a call back.

Local market data backs up why buyers are watching close. homedata.co.uk records show average sale prices around £172,000 in KA11 and around £135,000 in KA12, both steady year-on-year, while the wider Irvine average sits at £161,110 over the last year. That is a serious outlay, so a missing sealant bead, a misfitted kitchen panel or a drainage issue at the edge of a new driveway on Montgomerie Park is not something to shrug off.