Snagging - the very name is enough to put you off. No one likes having to deal with problems or hitches. But for anyone who buys a newly built or converted property, the S-word can be crucial. Do it right and you could save yourself thousands of pounds. Do it wrong and you could end up with a problem property.

CMA’s review of NHBC comes amid concerns over lack of protection for homebuyers. The Competition and Markets Authority is examining payments between housebuilders and the providers of warranties for new homes as part of a review of NHBC, the largest warranty provider.

Housing associations responsible for more than 175,000 homes are facing allegations of serial neglect of their residents and properties, focused on an array of new-build developments in London that have received more than £60m in public money.

Harron Homes promises that its newly built houses will “surpass all expectations”. The £324,995 home that James Uttley bought was certainly beyond his imaginings.

Chancellor Phillip Hammond is expected to announce policies in the Autumn Statement aimed at tackling the problem. In January, then Prime Minister David Cameron said government would step in and directly commission thousands of new affordable homes. He pledged £1.2bn over the next five years to build affordable starter homes. But what do we mean by affordable?

Calls for the creation of an ombudsman to protect homeowners from sub-standard new houses are intensifying after concerns emerged over the independence of the biggest warranty provider.

When Helen Batt went to view her recently purchased £389,995 Bovis-built home in Maidstone, Kent, for the first time before Christmas, she was expecting to see a spanking new four-bedroom house. Instead, the property in the Orchard Fields development was barely finished and littered with rubbish – two days before the scheduled completion date of 20 December. “It was a complete shock,” says Batt, a 32-year-old partner in law firm Buss Murton.

NHBC forcing buyers to sign agreement preventing them from contacting media about problems with their property or discussing with neighbours

The NHBC has come under fire for allegedly using gagging orders to stop homeowners speaking out about poor build quality in new homes; an allegation the warranty provider has denied. A report in the Guardian, yesterday, accused the NHBC of seeking to silence homeowners making successful compensation claims through its Buildmark warranty insurance scheme.

Bovis Homes is to pay £7m to repair poorly built new homes sold to customers, raising fresh questions about the standards of new-build properties across the country and the regulation of the market.