Why Snag Scout

The 60-second version.

What’s broken, why it matters now, and how we put it right — for homeowners and builders alike.

The problem

Homeowners are isolated, gagged, and ignored.

The UK builds 120,000–170,000 new homes a year, and almost all of them have snags — that’s normal, and not really the problem. The problem is what happens next: the delays, the failed repairs, and the silence. The organisations buyers turn to are industry-funded or industry-adjacent, and there’s no independent, homeowner-side place to put a builder’s response on the public record.

~94%

of new builds have snags — and that’s normal. Snags are part of building.

~70%

of complaints that reach the New Homes Ombudsman are upheld — the issue is the response, not the snag.

2 yrs

the window when defects are the builder’s to put right — after that, the cost often shifts to you.

Sources: Home Builders Federation national survey, 2025 (snags); New Homes Ombudsman Service (complaints upheld).

Why now

This isn’t just you — it’s a national story.

New-build quality is firmly in the spotlight. An independent homeowner review platform fits the moment — and the category is open.

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TV documentary

Channel 4 Dispatches

“Britain’s New Build Scandal” — a snagger found ~295 defects in a single new home.

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Press feature

New Statesman

“Britain’s new-build nightmare” ran as a major feature in 2025.

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Regulator

The regulator (CMA)

Accepted commitments from seven of the largest housebuilders over the new-build market.

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Social media

Viral snaggers

Independent inspectors are racking up millions of views exposing defects.

Coverage shown to illustrate that the issue is widely recognised — not an endorsement of Snag Scout.

How it works

From snag to public record — in four steps.

Share it

Write your review and confirm you live there with a document you already have.

Builder’s right of reply

The builder gets a free right of reply — a fair chance to respond and put their side.

On the record

Your review and the builder’s reply go public. Their silence becomes part of the record too.

Keep your record

Your own dated account of what happened — useful supporting context if you escalate to the Ombudsman, a consumer-code adjudication, or your warranty provider.

Snags are normal. The timeframe is the issue.

We don’t penalise builders for having snags — that’s part of building. We measure how long they take to fix them, against the builders’ own published code: a routine snag should be put right within 30 days, and after 56 days a homeowner can escalate to the New Homes Ombudsman. A builder who fixes things quickly looks good here.

What counts as reasonable — and what’s too long →

What makes us different

Fair to homeowners. Fair to good builders.

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Free forever, and anonymous

Every homeowner tool is free for life, and your review stays anonymous — published at county level only, never tied to you.

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A fair right of reply

Builders get a permanent, free public reply on every review — their side, on the record.

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The record is never for sale

No builder can ever pay to remove or hide a genuine review. That’s the whole point.

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Genuinely independent

Not industry-funded and not industry-adjacent — we answer to homeowners.

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Verified residents only

Every reviewer proves they live there before posting — no bots, no competitors, no fakes. Unlike open review sites, anyone can’t just post.

Who sees what

Anonymous to the public — and anonymous even to your builder.

🔒Only Snag Scout sees

In our secure vault — shown to no one, not even your builder.

•Your name

•Your proof-of-ownership documents (for verification)

•The private link between you and your review

🏗️Your builder sees

Enough to recognise the review and reply — nothing that identifies you.

•Your review — the ratings and your summary

•The builder’s own name (so they know it’s about them)

•A reference number to track their reply

No name, plot or address from us — they reply to the review, not to a named person.

🌐The public sees

What anyone searching the platform can find.

•Your county

•The builder’s name

•The ratings, your summary and the builder’s reply

✕Never your name, development, plot or address

Your name and address are kept off the public record — so a snag can never follow your home to a future sale.

Your strongest evidence

The thing that wins cases is the thing most people don’t have.

If it ever goes to the New Homes Ombudsman, your case is decided on the paperwork — above all, a clear, dated record of what you reported, when, and how the builder responded. Almost everyone has their purchase contract. Hardly anyone has that correspondence trail — it’s the single weakest point in most complaints, and nearly impossible to rebuild months later from memory and a messy inbox.

That’s exactly what Snag Scout builds for you — automatically.

Your review is a dated account of how it went — what happened, when, and how the builder responded. If you ever escalate, that dated record is useful supporting context for whichever route covers your home. You bring the contract and the paperwork; you’ve also got your own record.

Which route is yours — the Ombudsman, consumer codes or your warranty →

Be one of our first 50 founding reviewers

Free, private, five minutes. Help build the South West’s first independent new-build review platform.

Share your experience →