Short answer. You can walk through a flat before it is built. Take the plan of your exact flat, turn it into 3D, check one wall against the brochure's room sizes, and walk it at eye level with your own furniture at its true size. You can then order furniture, choose finishes and spot problems months before the keys. On handover day, bring the plan, a tape measure and the checklist below.
New-build snagging checklistBuying a flat off-planMoving into a new flat
Step 1: get the right plan
Ask for the plan of your own flat number, as a PDF, with the brochure's table of room sizes. Treat every size as approximate until you have checked it.
Step 2: turn it into 3D and check one wall
Upload the plan (with a PDF, you pick the page) or draw it from the size table, largest room first. Then compare the longest room with the table and correct it: if that one is right, the rest is to scale.
Step 3: put your life in it
Place the furniture you are taking at its real size first: that is where the surprises are, such as a wardrobe taller than a sloped ceiling or a table that blocks the balcony door. Add new pieces you can actually buy, walk from the front door to the bedroom at eye level, and see whether one ceiling point per room is enough light.
Step 4: the sun
Listings rarely say how much sun each room gets. Find which way the windows face, check the winter sun at your address, and look at what stands, or will stand, opposite.
Step 5: decide your changes before the cut-off
Developers often let you choose fronts, worktops, tiles, floors or extra sockets until a set date. With the furniture in place you can put sockets by the bedside tables and on the television wall, and pick tiles in the room's real light.
The handover day checklist
Take: the floor plan, the brochure's size table, a tape measure, your phone charger (to test sockets), a torch, a notebook or your phone's camera, and a roll of small sticky labels.
Sizes and layout
- Measure each room and compare with the plan. Note any difference over a few centimetres.
- Check the ceiling height in a few places.
- Check doors and windows are where the plan shows them, and that the layout is the right way round.
Doors and windows
- Every door opens, closes and latches without catching. Keys work in every lock.
- Every window opens, closes, locks and seals. Look for scratches on the glass and the frames.
Walls, floors and ceilings
- Look along walls and ceilings with the torch held flat: it shows bumps and cracks.
- Floors are level and firm, with no gaps, chips or squeaks.
- Paint is even, with no patches round sockets and switches.
Kitchen and bathrooms
- Taps run hot and cold; drains empty quickly; nothing drips under the sinks.
- Sealant round baths, showers and worktops is complete.
- Tiles are level, with even grout and no cracked pieces.
- Appliances switch on, and their manuals are there.
Heating, power and air
- Every socket works (use your charger), every light switch works.
- The heating comes on and every radiator gets warm.
- Extractor fans run in the kitchen and bathrooms.
Outside and paperwork
- Balcony: floor drains, railings firm, no damage.
- Meter readings photographed.
- Keys, fobs, guarantees and manuals collected.
Photograph every fault next to a label and send the developer one written list. Check your contract and local rules for how long you have to report faults.
Common mistakes
- Planning from the brochure's furnished picture. Furniture drawn on marketing plans is not your furniture. Place your real pieces.
- Using the wrong flat's plan. Check the flat number and the mirror image.
- Ordering fitted furniture from plan sizes. Measure the built rooms first.
- Leaving finishes until the last week. The choices close before you expect.
- Rushing the handover. Allow two hours, in daylight.
What Flatwalk does that older planners skip
Lights
Add ceiling lights, lamps and LED strips and see the new flat at night before you live there.
Your flat in its city
Give the address and the street and buildings around you appear in 3D where the map has them.
Sun for your address
Real sunlight through your future windows, by date and hour.
One piece, in your own room
Through the live camera or in a photo of the room, stand a sofa on the floor at its true size, as soon as you have the keys.
Detail
Kitchens, wardrobes, bathrooms, floors, tiles and paint, built piece by piece, so you can choose finishes before the cut-off.
Made for a thumb
Tap a wall, a door or a sofa and the choices for that thing appear.
Swipe for more. Every picture is the app itself.
One flat, free
Most people plan one home. For that, Flatwalk costs nothing: no trial clock and no card. Drawing, exact wall sizes, furniture, lights, sun and walking are all part of it, and each AI tool, such as reading your floor plan from a picture, gives one free try. A membership is for people who want more flats or more AI.
Questions people ask
Can I see my new-build flat in 3D before it is built? Yes. Turn the developer's plan into a 3D model by uploading it or drawing it, check one wall against the brochure's room sizes, and walk through it at eye level.
How accurate are developer floor plans? They are usually close, but most say they are approximate. Check room sizes against the brochure's table and measure again at handover before ordering fitted furniture.
What should I check at handover? Room sizes against the plan, doors and windows, walls and floors, the kitchen and bathrooms, heating, sockets and fans, the balcony, meter readings, keys and paperwork.
What should I bring to a new-build handover? The plan, the brochure's size table, a tape measure, a phone charger to test sockets, a torch and a way to take notes and photos.
When should I plan furniture for a new-build flat? As soon as you have the plan, and before the developer's deadline for choosing finishes, so sockets and kitchens can follow your furniture.
Flatwalk turns your developer's floor plan into a flat you can walk through, light and furnish before you get the keys, free for one flat. It is launching on Google Play; join the waiting list at flatwalk.app.
Join the waiting list