The area has some shops, but very little in the way of restaurants, bars or open spaces. It’s very close to the Bakerloo and Overground lines which is convenient.
Please review your development:
I think the development has a lot of potential, but management is very poor. For example, a water tank broke and the building was without water. Residents notified the concierge/maintenance service and we were told it wasn’t a big deal and that someone would deal with it later. It took several residents to push the concierge to call maintenance and request an emergency repair. Information on the situation did not go out to residents until late the next day. We did not have water for almost an entire day. After that, a community notice was sent out stating that we should only share positive information on the community forums and that they would delete any criticism.
While I understand that things go wrong sometimes, communication is key. We are often told to contact management with issues, but management does not respond or tells us to go to concierge – who then tell us to go to management. Around and around we go… This makes it difficult to get anything fixed. The day we moved in our oven and stovetop weren’t working and it took them over 3 months to replace one fuse to get it working again. They had us going in circles the entire time.
Probably one of the worst things is the gaslighting that management seems to engage in. They tried to tell us that existing damage that we documented on day one wasn’t there (we have pictures). They also provided paperwork stating that someone had walked through the apartment with us to review damage (they never did). They told us we requested a furnished apartment (our application paperwork clearly has the unfurnished box checked). Anytime anyone points out an issue with the community – even if they are being rational and respectful – they are told that they are being negative and rude.
We have considered going through the complaints process through the Housing Ombudsman and the Local Authority, but it is incredibly difficult and time consuming. We are counting down the days until our lease is over and we can move somewhere else. Whenever I’m asked how I like living in London, I always say it’s great with the caveat that WEM Tower has been a terrible place to live.
Please share one thing (or more) which you wish you had known before you moved in:
The building looks shiny and nice on the outside. The sales team are good at what they do, especially being nice and personable. But, once you sign and they have your money, that niceness goes away entirely and no one is there to help you. In the future, I plan on staying far, far away from Canada-Israel and Home Made.
How has the building management responded to any problems or issues you have raised:
Usually management ignores us. We let management know the day after we moved in that our oven/cooktop wasn’t working. We notified them via the maintenance app, concierge email, and property management emails. Their first response was to say that it was working when they handed over the apartment the day before. Over the course of 3 months, we sent several emails and had to talk to the concierge directly to finally get it fixed. They acted like we were being completely annoying the entire time.
