Massive delays (well past long stop date) and dreadful communication (including outright lies) which have cost us a lot of money, but the house is in an amazing location and there is nothing else within budget that suits - either much cheaper requiring lots of expensive work or well over budget. We were lucky to get our mortgage offer extended - we now may not be able to get the same mortgage offer if we needed to reapply, despite still being able to afford it.
So everything is working out - except that due to their financial year end (Dec 31st) and the fact that they close for two weeks over Christmas, the developer is rushing to complete right before Christmas. We have our rental until end Jan, so won't be needing to move on Christmas Eve or anything, but the site closes down until 4th Jan or so, as does my solicitor, who is brilliant but won't be around to help until 4th Jan.
We are going to book a professional snagging firm but no availability til January. We have a friend who has snagging experience who can probably come help before Christmas, but can anyone suggest anything we need to do/ask for etc in what will likely be a very fast 'here's your keys, there's the house' handover late next week, as the builders all pack up and walk off site, leaving us with a shiny, new, untested and rushed-to-finish house?
To further complicate matters, we had planned to visit family for a few days after Christmas, so the house would be left empty. This is weather-dependent, but otherwise we can't not go as it's elderly relatives so 'later' may not be an option. I will sort insurance and local friends can keep an eye, but what else can/should/must I do? Looking for advice even as basic as 'check taps work' etc, but just really worried about something possibly going wrong while the site is closed and we're away.