A guide to living in East of England

I moved in and it was clear the place wasn’t fully ready for me, even though I did move in a couple of days later than planned. The curtains were already coming loose, and one of the kitchen cupboards is basically unusable—it can’t hold much without risking broken plates and glasses. Another major issue is the smell from the bins in the hallway. Even though the bins aren’t close to my door, the out-of-order chute causes a constant odor and makes loud noises every few hours. The smell also attracts fruit flies, which end up in my apartment, leaving me constantly trying to get rid of them.

The Clarendon in Watford benefits from a well-designed building and an excellent location. The communal facilities, including the gym and cinema, are of a high standard. However, several aspects of the property could be improved. Many flats appear to have been finished hastily, resulting in ongoing maintenance issues—some of which have remained unresolved nearly a year after residents moved in. Car parking is particularly problematic. The bays are extremely narrow, making parking difficult without risk of damage, and the lack of allocated spaces often results in residents using bays without payment, which can impact those who have paid for a space. Hygiene and cleanliness in communal areas, including bin storage, are inconsistent, and there seems to be limited accountability for maintaining standards. Additionally, the removal of the advertised 24-hour concierge has created challenges for parcel collection and general assistance. The concierge service itself lacks clear structure and accountability, which has made addressing issues or complaints particularly difficult. Overall, while the location and facilities are strong, there are notable shortcomings in property finishing, maintenance, parking, hygiene, and management that potential residents should be aware of.

Building design works well, and the management company have been good with fixing any issues in good time. I like the fact theres downstairs toilet and we have a bath & shower. Theres 2 storage cupboards which are quite deep and useful. I like that theres 2 controls for heating, one upstairs and one downstairs and its isolated. The floors are quite creeky tho, and the loft isnot easily accessible. Sounds silly, but i wish all the doors werent the same colour on this site. The bedroom 2 &3 are on the smaller side.

Lovely are, well kept, good amenities and access. Very good public transport The building management is reliable The designs mean there are large open spaces Lovely walks for the dog Pet friendly and clean Well kept houses that aren’t in top of each other Good size garden

Uninspiring development layout with cheapest properties having the best countryside views. Took two years from purchase to sort all the ‘snags’ with the property, including non-compliance with Building Regs that meant our home insurance was invalid. Our ASHP heating system was costing us over £35 per day the first winter we were here - heating would switch off at 4am meaning we woke up to a freezing house and no hot water. Turns out the system had not been set up or commissioned properly (as later confirmed by a Mitsubishi engineer) and this took two years to rectify. The stress was huge and it got to the point where I wanted to hand back the keys! Involving local Council Building Control and threatening solicitors finally brought about corrective action by Lovell. High turnover of staff in ‘customer services’ meant constantly having to chased outstanding issues and several mix-ups with orders of replacement items (e.g. faulty kitchen unit doors) caused further delays in rectifying problems. The site management company are rarely seen and over 50% of their charges are ‘admin’ rather than actual maintenance, so not good value. But at least the majority of our neighbours are pleasant and friendly!