A developer ignoring your snagging list is one of the most common and most frustrating experiences facing new build buyers across the North East. You have moved into your new home, you have identified issues — some cosmetic, some more serious — you have submitted your list, and then nothing happens. Calls go unreturned. Emails get a holding response. The site manager says someone will be in touch.
Weeks pass. This guide sets out exactly what your rights are, what steps you can take to force a response, and at what point you should stop handling it yourself.
Why a developer ignoring your snagging list is so common — and why it works on most buyers
Understanding why this happens and why it is such a common tactic helps you more effectively stop your developer ignoring your snagging list. Developers build hundreds or thousands of homes a year. Once a property completes and the buyer takes the keys, the site team’s attention moves to the next phase and the next set of completions.
Customer care teams are frequently understaffed relative to the volume of complaints they receive. Response times slip. Things fall through the cracks.
Some of this is genuine organisational failure. Some of it is deliberate. Developers know that a proportion of buyers will give up if ignored long enough. They know that informal complaints — phone calls, casual emails — are easy to deprioritise and hard to escalate. They know that most buyers do not understand the formal complaint process well enough to use it effectively.
The result is that new build buyers who make the most noise through the right channels tend to get their issues fixed, while those who make the most noise through the wrong channels — angry phone calls, repeated emails — none of which really resolve a developer ignoring your snagging list — tend to get nowhere.
What Your Legal Rights Actually Are
When you’re stuck with developer ignoring your snagging list, it is worth understanding precisely what obligations they are under before you start escalating.
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, goods and services must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose, and as described. A new build home that has defects at handover is arguably not of satisfactory quality, and the developer’s obligation to remedy those defects does not expire simply because you have taken the keys.
The two-year defect liability period under the NHBC Buildmark warranty and equivalent warranty schemes creates a contractual obligation on the developer to fix defects arising from faulty workmanship or materials within that period. This is separate from and additional to your consumer rights.
If your developer is registered with the New Homes Quality Board — and since the New Homes Quality Code came into force in 2022 all developers who sign up to the scheme are required to have a formal complaint procedure — they are obligated to acknowledge your complaint within a specific timeframe and respond substantively within a defined period.
The New Homes Quality Board’s consumer guidance sets out exactly what registered developers are required to do and how to escalate if they fail to do it.
5 Steps to Take When a Developer is Ignoring Your Snagging List
Step 1 — Submit Everything in Writing, Formally
If you’re in the situation where you have a developer ignoring your snagging list which you submitted verbally or through casual emails, the first step is to convert that into a formal written complaint.
This means a clearly headed letter or email stating that it is a formal complaint, listing every outstanding item from your snagging survey by reference number if you have a professional report, specifying a reasonable deadline for a substantive response (14 days is standard) and stating that you will escalate through the appropriate channels if no response is received. Keep a copy of everything you send and note the date.
Responding formally to a developer ignoring your snagging list submissions changes the legal and procedural position. Developers who have ignored informal contact are far more likely to respond to something that creates a paper trail and references their obligations explicitly.
A developer ignoring your snagging list consistently and then receiving a formal written complaint with a named deadline is taking a significantly greater risk than one ignoring a WhatsApp message.
Step 2 — Get a Professional Snagging Report If You Do Not Already Have One
If you have a developer ignoring your snagging list and you compiled that list yourself without a professional inspection, now is the time to commission one. A professionally produced report referenced against NHBC Technical Standards and building regulations carries substantially more weight than a homeowner’s list.
Developers and their legal teams know which items they are obliged to fix under warranty and which ones they can reasonably dispute. A professional report removes the ambiguity they use to delay — every item is described precisely, its location is documented with photographs, and the standard it fails to meet is cited.
At EPCIQ we carry out post-completion snagging surveys across the whole of the North East and produce photographic reports within 48 hours. Visit our snagging surveys page for full details.
Step 3 — Escalate to the Developer’s Senior Management
If the site team or local customer care team is the point of contact where things are going quiet, escalate above them. Every major developer has a regional director and a head of customer care.
Writing directly to senior management — by name where you can find it, or by title — with a summary of the outstanding items and the lack of response to date frequently produces results that the local team have failed to deliver. Directors do not want formal complaints escalating to external bodies on their watch.
Step 4 — Submit a Formal NHQB or NHBC Complaint
If the developer is registered with the New Homes Quality Board, their failure to respond to your complaint within the required timeframe gives you grounds to escalate to the NHQB’s resolution service. T
his is a free service for homebuyers and it carries real weight — developers who are found to have breached the Code face consequences including being required to leave the scheme.
For NHBC warranty issues specifically, the NHBC warranty claim process is a separate route that runs alongside any complaint to the developer. You do not have to choose between them.
Step 5 — Letter Before Action
If all of the above has produced nothing, a letter before action — a formal letter stating your intention to pursue the matter through the courts if the issues are not remedied within a specified timeframe — is the final escalation step before legal proceedings.
For defects with a combined remediation cost under £10,000 the small claims court is accessible without a solicitor, and the process of issuing a claim is relatively straightforward. Many developers resolve outstanding issues promptly when a letter before action arrives, because the reputational and legal cost of defending a small claims action over a handful of defects is not worth it.
A Recent Example From the North East
EPCIQ recently worked with a buyer on a development in County Durham — a textbook case of a developer ignoring a snagging list — where the developer had gone completely quiet for over six weeks following handover.
The buyer had submitted a list of around 35 items informally — a mix of paint defects, a poorly fitted kitchen unit, a bathroom extractor fan that was not working, and a section of external brickwork where the pointing was incomplete. No response had been received beyond an initial acknowledgement email.
We carried out a post-completion snagging survey, produced a formal report referenced against NHBC standards, and submitted it on the buyer’s behalf with a formal covering letter giving the developer 14 days to provide a remediation schedule.
Within ten days the developer’s regional customer care manager had been in contact, a site visit had been arranged, and all but two of the items had been agreed for remediation.
The two disputed items, both cosmetic paint issues the developer categorised as within tolerance, were re-examined against the RPSA inspection standards and one was conceded. The whole process from survey to agreement took three weeks. Without the formal report and written escalation, the buyer told us they had been going round in circles for a month and a half with nothing to show for it.
How EPCIQ Can Help When You Have a Developer Ignoring Your Snagging List
If you have a developer ignoring your snagging list, EPCIQ’s managed snagging service takes the entire process off your hands. We carry out the inspection, produce the professional report, handle all written communication with the developer, chase responses, and escalate through the appropriate channels if necessary. You do not have to deal with the developer directly at any point.
This is a service in addition to our standard survey and is something that few, if any other snagging survey services offer. We are able to handle all communication with the developer on your behalf, should you choose to go down this route.
We know that a developer ignoring your snagging list is extremely frustrating and stressful, and our clients invariably find that professional involvement changes the tone of the conversation with the developer almost immediately.
It signals that the complaint about the developer ignoring your snagging list is being handled more formally and that escalation through the NHQB or NHBC is a genuine next step rather than an empty threat.
We cover the whole of the North East including Teesside, Darlington, Durham, Newcastle, Sunderland, and all surrounding areas. For more information visit our snagging surveys page or get in touch using the form below.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a developer have to fix snags?
There is no single legally defined timeframe, but 30 days is generally considered reasonable for cosmetic defects and the NHQB Code sets out specific response timelines for registered developers. For urgent issues affecting habitability the expectation is considerably faster.
If a developer is ignoring your snagging list entirely, the escalation steps above apply regardless of how much time has passed.
How can a developer ignoring your snagging list be legal?
No. A developer ignoring your snagging list is breaching contractual obligations under the warranty, statutory obligations under consumer law, and — if they are NHQB registered — code obligations that require them to respond to complaints.
A developer ignoring your snagging list submissions is in breach of those obligations, especially if the list has been formally submitted. The question is whether you pursue it effectively enough to force a response.
Does getting a professional snagging survey really make a difference?
If you are a buyer and dealing with a developer ignoring your snagging list, yes — for two reasons. A professional report is harder to dispute than a homeowner’s list because every item is documented precisely and referenced against published standards.
And when dealing with a developer ignoring a snagging list, the involvement of a professional signals to the developer that the buyer is taking the matter seriously and knows the escalation process. Both factors produce faster and more complete responses in most cases.
Ready to Book Your Snagging Survey?
EPCIQ provides professional snagging surveys across the whole of the North East — Teesside, Darlington, Durham, Newcastle, Sunderland and everywhere in between. Get in touch today and we will confirm your appointment within 24 hours.