“There is pressure to get these houses handed over, [and] hit target… The time scales are all wrong,” said John Cooper, director, New Homes Quality Control, while speaking on The Clive Holland Show last week.

“People are put under so much pressure at the top of developers, and they just roll it down the line to contract and site managers. Site managers put pressure on the trades. The trades are being paid peanuts, so it is a case of slam it in and move onto the next one,” he added.

Cooper has built a TikTok audience of over 230,000 people who tune in to see his reviews of new build houses.

Property expert Henry Pryor, also speaking on the show said that corners were being cut as developers scrambled to meet government housing targets.

“Enthusiasm to throw up these units, get the volume out, and meet government targets inevitably means corners are being cut,” said Pryor.

“Buyers beware – that was never been more true than it is today in the new build housing sector,” he explained.

With the price of housing stock booming, pressure from developers and builders on tradespeople to complete work will intensify.

With the focus on speed of delivery, rather than quality of the work, tradespeople are often expected to put out sub-standard work. “The sector is entirely focused on delivery of volume. As a result, people are paid for what they are delivering, not the quality of what they are delivering,” said Pryor.

According to Cooper, a lot of tradespeople working on large housing developments are poorly paid, often inexperienced, and without a great understanding of the necessary housing regulations.

Making matters worse few developers are conducting quality control checks on the completed work.

“The people that own the companies – they don’t visit sites; they don’t know the procedures. It is all target-driven from above. Putting checks in place will delay the build, the time scales, the moving-in dates, the target dates, and ultimately their bonuses,” said Cooper.