NHBC

NHBC stands for the National House Building Council. The NHBC was created in 1936 and leads the market in providing a warranty scheme for new properties. This provides cover against all major structural defects for the first 10 years of the property’s life.

NHBC is an independent body. They work hard to ensure the standards for new builds are as high as possible. They have created the Buildmark warranty and insurance product to make sure buyers of new properties are fully protected against potential building defects.

They also have a builder register which includes the names of all builders in the UK that are registered with them. You can search the register by entering the company name, city or county, and their registration number if known. There is no charge for this service, and it can be done online.

The Buildmark cover provided by NHBC is created to help the process of securing a mortgage. It provides the lender with confirmation that the property is covered in case anything should go wrong with it. Buildmark provides a two-year warranty on a new property and an additional eight years’ worth of insurance after that. The cover begins when contracts are exchanged on the property. Cover is typically available for new builds, but it can also be applied to newly converted homes. The maximum period of cover is 10 years. It also provides deposit insurance, covering the value of your deposit in case the builder goes out of business before you complete the process of buying the property.

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