A guide to living in County Durham

Please tell us about the good and bad aspects of living in your local area:

In our latter years we were looking to downsize to a two bedroom bungalow (no stairs!). Most of the nearby affordable for sale bungalows were old style and required a lot of expensive work whereas other, more modern ones, had a price to match. We decided to look at new build, long term rental solution and visited the show bungalow at The Oaks a year gone November.

How has the building management responded to any problems or issues you have raised:

Reporting via web easy with provision to add photos. Had a couple of new build issues one was completely resolved but other was only a cheap work around solution. Feel that there is an element of interpretation in actioning of reported issues.

Please share one thing (or more) which you wish you had known before you moved in:

Inadequate parking* - especially for older residents with some associated mobility problems. * potential to worsen when all properties are occupied.

Please tell us about the good and bad aspects of living in your local area:

We lived in Esh Winning before moving into our Placefirst bungalow so were familiar with the area. It is a convenient place to live just 15 minutes from Durham City and surrounded by beautiful walks in countryside. Esh Winning is really a big village and has the services you would expect - a Coop, a couple of take aways, hairdressers etc. Big supermarkets are only like ten minutes away. The site is still in development so you are living on a building site, a bit messy and noisy but we know that is temporary and all the guys on site are great - helpful and polite. Parking is a challenge I'm not going to lie - I have no idea why we simply can't have one allocated bay per house. If you have more than one car that is your problem but it is usually a case of first come first served which can be difficult as we have a disabled badge on the car.

How has the building management responded to any problems or issues you have raised:

Urgent problems have been dealt with quickly, less urgent ones not so much.

Please share one thing (or more) which you wish you had known before you moved in:

I wish I'd known parking would be such a challenge.

Please tell us about the good and bad aspects of living in your local area:

Amazing place to live. Plenty of shops and amenities local. Great travel links and access to public transport

How has the building management responded to any problems or issues you have raised:

In a very affective and timely manner. Never any issues

Please share one thing (or more) which you wish you had known before you moved in:

How long it would take for the site to be finished.

Please tell us about the good and bad aspects of living in your local area:

Lovely area and development, plenty of local amenities in Esh Winning including barbers, shops, bakers, butchers and pubs.

How has the building management responded to any problems or issues you have raised:

Raised an issue which was resolved promptly and professionally.

Please share one thing (or more) which you wish you had known before you moved in:

The area is better than expected, plenty of scenery and paths for walks and exercise.

Please tell us about the good and bad aspects of living in your local area:

We're currently challenging our Council Tax bracket, we were expecting our bracket to be Band A due to there being only 6 rooms in the property and no front garden and instead we're in Band B and it's a lot harder to afford. We understand it's not a designation you chose, however you can challenge the bracket, as you own the home, and it'd make life a lot easier for us, your clients. I moved into this property from a 3 bed 2 bath with a front and back garden with almost double the square footage of the home, and my previous house was in Band A.

How has the building management responded to any problems or issues you have raised:

When we had an emergency with our property, the landlord instantly sent someone out and it was fixed within 24 hours. However the smaller issues on our list of things that need addressing have not been touched upon for 3 months.

Please share one thing (or more) which you wish you had known before you moved in:

That the bathtub is FAR smaller than it looks and is impossible to use due to it's undesirably small size.