Shoreham Snagging Survey

A snagging survey is not a cosmetic once-over. Our inspectors check paint, plaster, skirting, doors, windows, sockets, kitchens, roofline, drainage, and external works against the standard you should expect from a new build in TN14. In Shoreham, where older homes sit beside newer plots, buyers often expect a brand new property to feel finished from day one. It rarely does.

The defect list usually starts with cosmetic items, paint runs, chipped woodwork, patchy plaster, hairline scratches on glazing. Then come functional faults, doors that do not latch, windows that do not seal properly, sockets not square, trickle vents missing, taps that drip, and extractor fans with weak draw. These are the things a solicitor will not see, and they are also the things developers are quickest to dismiss if you cannot point to a photo and a room reference.

We also flag construction defects and the more serious compliance issues. Uneven floors, gaps in skirting, badly fitted kitchens, failed sealant, poor garden levels, drainage falls, fire stopping, ventilation shortfalls, and cracks that go beyond normal shrinkage all belong on the report. On a new home in Shoreham or the wider Sevenoaks area, that mix matters because one plot can hide a dozen small defects and one larger item that needs proper follow-up.

The point is simple. A snagging survey catches work that is unfinished, out of tolerance, or not built to the expected standard. If it belongs on the developer’s fix list, we document it. If it is only wear and tear, we say so. That distinction saves time when the site manager starts working through the report.

• Cosmetic defects, such as paint, plaster, scuffs, and poor finishing
• Functional defects, such as doors not latching, windows not sealing, and sockets out of square
• Construction defects, such as uneven floors, gaps in skirting, and badly fitted kitchens
• Regulatory defects, such as missing fire stopping, undersized ventilation, and drainage issues

Shoreham’s conservation area changes the way a new-build is read. A plot in TN14 can sit beside older, characterful properties, so uneven brickwork, mismatched pointing, roofline errors, or unfinished boundary treatment stand out quickly. Our inspectors look past the brochure and check what is actually finished on the day, not what the show home suggested would be there.

Kent’s wider sales figures give this even more context. Homedata.co.uk records 21,000 property sales in the county over the last 12 months, with 497 newly built homes, only 2.4% of the total. Sales also dropped by 13.6%, or 4,000 transactions, over the same period. In a market with that small a new-build slice, a few defects can dominate your first impression of the home, especially when the builder is moving on to the next plot.

We do not need a named Shoreham scheme to know the pattern. Across Sevenoaks and the rest of Kent, snagging work repeatedly turns up painted-over damage, awkward door furniture, sealant misses, kitchen alignment issues, and garden levels that do not match the handover paperwork. Planning conditions in conservation areas can also affect externals, so we pay close attention to paths, fencing, render, windows, and anything that should have been built to a particular finish.