What a snagging
survey costs.
A professional snagging survey starts at around £320 for a one bedroom apartment and rises with the size of the property to roughly £549 for a six bedroom house. Re-inspections are charged separately. Whether that is money well spent depends on one thing, and it is not the price.
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Actual iPhone app. Demonstration visit.
Published prices, by property size
These are the figures the HomeOwners Alliance publishes for a standard snagging survey. Prices move, and they vary with location and with the individual firm, so treat them as the shape of the market rather than a quote.
| Property | From |
|---|---|
| Studio or 1 bed apartment | £320 to £340 |
| 2 bed apartment | £360 |
| 3 bed apartment | £380 |
| 2 bed house | £419 |
| 3 bed house | £449 |
| 4 bed house | £479 |
| 5 bed house | £499 |
| 6 bed house | £549 |
A re-inspection, to check the builder actually fixed what was on the list, is a separate charge: around £290 to £350 for a flat and from about £369 for a house. Some firms sell a package that includes it. Properties over 2,500 square feet are normally quoted individually.
Source: HomeOwners Alliance, how much does a snagging survey cost. Checked 4 September 2026.
What you are actually paying for
Not the ability to spot a badly hung door. You can do that. Three other things.
A standard to measure against
An experienced inspector knows which of the two hundred things you noticed breach a warranty standard and which are normal for a house that is still drying out. That judgement is the expensive part.
Independence
A report from a third party with professional indemnity insurance is harder for a developer to wave away than a list written by the person who wants the work done.
Somebody else’s afternoon
A thorough walk of a three bed house is a couple of hours, and the write-up afterwards is longer than the walk. That is what you are buying back.
When doing it yourself is the better call
Version 2 of the New Homes Quality Code, published in March 2026, gives buyers the explicit option of carrying out the pre-completion inspection themselves using the New Homes Quality Board checklist. If your developer is registered with the NHQB, self inspection is a route the Code itself contemplates.
The reason people still pay is rarely the inspecting. It is that a list written on a phone in Notes, with photographs scattered through a camera roll, does not read like a document a site manager works through. The gap has never been in spotting the defects. It has been in producing the thing you hand over afterwards.
That gap is what SayScope closes. You photograph each defect, circle it with your finger and say out loud what is wrong. It comes back as a written snagging list grouped room by room, every item photographed and marked, signed off in your name, as an A4 PDF or a link. Visits are free and unlimited, and one report a week goes out free, so the first house costs nothing to try.
It is not a substitute for a chartered inspector’s judgement, and this page is not going to pretend it is. If you want an independent professional opinion on whether something breaches a standard, pay for one. If you know what is wrong and need it written up properly, you do not need to.
Related
If you are not sure what counts as a snag, start at what is snagging. For the list itself, room by room, see the snagging list. If you are the professional doing the survey, the app is what removes the write-up.
Cost questions
How much does a snagging survey cost?
A professional snagging survey in the UK starts at around £320 for a studio or one bedroom apartment and rises with property size to roughly £449 for a three bedroom house and £549 for a six bedroom house. Prices vary by firm and by location, and properties over 2,500 square feet are usually quoted individually.
Is a snagging survey worth it?
On a £350,000 new build a survey of around £400 is roughly 0.1% of the purchase price, and what you are buying is an independent judgement of which defects breach a warranty standard. If you want that judgement, it is cheap. If you already know what is wrong and only need it written up in a form the developer will act on, you can do that yourself.
Does a re-inspection cost extra?
Usually yes. A re-inspection to confirm the builder fixed the items on the list is typically charged at around £290 to £350 for a flat and from about £369 for a house, though some firms sell a package that includes one.
Can I do the snagging inspection myself?
Yes. Version 2 of the New Homes Quality Code, published in March 2026, gives buyers the explicit option of carrying out the pre-completion inspection themselves using the New Homes Quality Board checklist, where the developer is registered with the NHQB.
When should the survey be done?
Before legal completion if the property is finished and the developer allows a pre-completion inspection, since your leverage is highest before you have paid. On an off-plan purchase, around the point the builder issues the notice to complete. If a pre-completion inspection is not possible, as soon as you can after moving in.
What does SayScope cost by comparison?
Capture photos, record notes and review your reports for free. Share one report every seven days with up to 10 jobs. Cloud AI transcription and drafting have a separate usage allowance, explained on the pricing page. Pro removes the weekly export limit and job cap for £34.99 a month or £299 a year. One report costs £19 without a subscription. Every report carries a Made with SayScope credit. It produces the written, photographed record; it does not provide a professional opinion on whether an item breaches a standard.
Or write the list yourself, properly
Photograph each defect, circle it, say what is wrong. Leave with the report written. Unlimited visits free, and one report a week goes out free.
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