8: When are properties no longer classed as 'new-build'?
In March, research from property developer Stripe Property Group revealed that despite there being wide agreement on the broad definition of new-builds among the UK’s leading high street mortgage providers, there were, in fact, significant differences when studying the finer details.
For example, while the likes of Nationwide, Natwest, and HSBC said that a new build must have been constructed in the past two years, Santander only considered a property to be a new build if it was built within the last year (unless never previously occupied) while Barclays said it didn’t matter how long ago the property was constructed, just so long as it has never left the ownership of the developer and was ‘registered’ in the past two years.
