WHEN you walk into a new homes sales office, one of the big selling points to be promoted is the new homes warranty that covers your new home.

So, what exactly is this, and what is it worth to you and what is it worth to your future buyer when the time comes to resell?

It seems obvious that newly constructed or newly converted properties should be covered by a new home warranty, and there are several brands in the market which are acceptable to lenders. Lenders will need to be satisfied that the building has an adequate warranty against defects, and even after the first conveyance, lenders will continue to regard the property as ‘new’ for some years to come – usually six years from the date of the completion sign-offs.

Even if you are buying with cash rather than a mortgage, your solicitor will want to protect your position by ensuring you will have no trouble reselling the property in the future to a non-cash purchaser.

The brands of new homes warranty currently popular with developers include LABC, CRL, Premier, and of course NHBC. There will be slight differences between these, but in the main they protect the buyer from the point of reservation, and they usually offer protection for reservation deposits and exchange funds – particularly valid if you are buying off-plan.

When you complete, there is usually a two-year ‘settling in’ period, where you can report any defects which emerge straight to the developer and after that the warranty guarantees the structure of the building – walls, roof and foundations for a further eight years.

The property will have been inspected at each stage of the build and been signed off in order for the warranty to be approved.

There are other warranties too. BLP, for example, is gaining a larger slice of the warranty market, especially with the higher end developments.

This warranty, and those similar, start from the date of completion, and the buyer reports any defects direct to the warranty provider. It is essentially a building insurance policy, and will covers both new builds and newly converted property, and newly converted.

So what if you are buying a newly converted property – so popular in Brighton and Hove, which has so many beautiful heritage buildings?

In almost every instance, and especially with apartments, a newly converted property is deemed to be a ‘newly created dwelling’ and for the purposes of your mortgage it is a ‘new home’ and the same rules apply – to get a mortgage you will need a warranty.

BLP is a popular choice for converted properties, but the alternative option is a PCC warranty – a professional consultants certificate.

This is produced by a surveyor, engineer or architect for example, who personally guarantees the works which have been done to the building, for six years. This is very popular with developers who specialise in converted historic property, and is perfectly acceptable by lenders.

So, if you are interested in buying a new home, it is worth buying through a specialist new homes sales office and asking your sales adviser for full details about the warranty on offer. You should be free to check it out online for the peace of mind of both yourself and your solicitor, and ultimately be confident that the property is mortgage-worthy – saving yourself a lot of time and money and heartache inthe nightmare scenario of the lender rejecting the home you have set your heart on.