I’ve already alluded to the situation with poor planning design and the willingness of councils to pass such plans in my previous answer. The estate design lacks forethought, in that many households have two vehicles, and sometimes a company works van. The roads are narrow with few pavements for pedestrians. The number of vehicles parked in dangerous and selfish places is increasing. People do not consider where their vehicle will be parked when buying or renting a property. A number of people drive far too swiftly along the estate roads, and this adds to the noise, at various times during the day. I cannot comment on building/property management, other than some buildings under housing management responsibility are becoming shabby and uncared for, because of lack of responsibility for their own surroundings by some tenants. It’s also true that some owners also have no pride in their own surroundings. I anticipated a nicer feel to the Estate, but a great deal of the current situation is due to a decline in social standards and behaviour, coupled with selfishness, and lack of respect for others. Of course this is nationwide, and global.
This is a development that was initially started in 2014. I moved here in 2015. The local shops and facilities are in the market town centre, about a mile away. As with many rural small towns, it would be fair to describe it as struggling, but not as badly as others. The estate design lacks forethought, in that many households have two vehicles, and sometimes a company works van. The roads are narrow with few pavements for pedestrians. The number of vehicles parked in dangerous and selfish places is increasing. People do not consider where their vehicle will be parked when buying or renting a property. A number of people drive far too swiftly along the estate roads, and this adds to the noise, at various times during the day.
If you buy a new property on a housing estate from a big developer, be aware that the ‘sales pitch’ about subsequent customer care is probably dubious. The reason for customer dissatisfaction is clear: poor workmanship by contractors/sub contractors, a lack of inspection of their work by the developer, an attitude of ‘that will do’, and a willingness for developers to accept that every new build will have an extensive ‘snagging list’.
My house is not managed by anyone other than myself. The two year after-sales service was virtually non-existent, and I quickly learnt it was far easier for me to sort out problems myself.
The house design and layout is nice. Only small gripe is that many people with Long driveways (opposed to the wide ones,) unfortunately tend to park only one car on their drive and one on the road, presumably so they don’t have to keep swapping the cars around.
The location is great, close enough to town yet far enough away for it to be quieter. With a small local shop in the village to pop to for milk etc, and supermarkets a small drive away.
The main issue is that there is only one way out of this fairly large estate, this can get busy at times and will only get worse when the more people move into the remaining houses. It’s a shame there is no road out onto offchurch road to improve this. However, the walk way there is useful.
It’s also a shame the local pub is currently looking for a new owner again.
I was never shown the detailed plans for the building and grounds, which indicates that our garden was to be sloped and what we were promised by the sales team was incorrect… Who designs a house to have an unusable sloped garden? After a lot of effort I’ve managed to level it off, with no prior knowledge of landscaping, so I see this as laziness on Bovis’ part. Either way, these plans should be readily available before reserving a property.
I feel most have been responded to poorly, both in terms of time and quality. I have mentioned some issues in the developer comments, but to give another example with the drive way, we had plants growing up through the surface, resulting in it being dug out and redone, however, the issue is still there and we are still waiting for it to be sorted….over 2 years later.
The development is a work in progress and will still be a number of years until it is close to being finished. This means it feels we are living on a building site all the time however that was our choice when buying.
We love the value and space of the home however the value is reflected on the fittings and workmanship. We are 9 months into living in our home and still have a lot of snags to be completed but that is also due to lack of continuity amongst Bovis with the site managers always changing. I would say customer care is not the top of priorities for Bovis/Vistry.
Dorchester manage the development and they are not very transparent with what is actually happening versus what they promise.
The facilities we are gaining are through the hard work of local residents such as a bike and coffee shop which fits perfectly in this area.
Dorchester have promised a lot in this development and it is very slow to produce its promises. This is not just due to covid delays. On the plus side we recently have a Sainsbury’s local, a good private dentist and a bike and coffee shop.
The main road is badly maintained which is made worse by the constant HGVs and car transporters from the hangars and this is also very noisy. This could be relived by building the road at the back of the estate which was a selling point to new buyers.
There are several parks although not the best I think they are building a couple more that will be better. The schools are in walking distance and there is great community spirit.
I wish I had known we had more choices and upgrades to personalise our new home.
We paid a professional snagger and it was the best money we spent as they look at things we never knew could be an issue.
NHBC guidelines are a public document and I have read many of them since moving in.
Badly. There have been 7 site managers in 9 months and the higher management cannot seem to put a customer care hat on and only talk in money and how much it will set them back.
Perfect London living! A well designed block which is only 4 stories, so doesn’t feel like a ‘high rise’. The flats themselves are a high quality, sound proofing is good and all have great sizes balconys.
Ground rent and service fees aren’t the cheapest, but you get what you pay for and we have well maintained communal areas with a fantastic concierge service who go above and beyond.
The location is one of the biggest selling points, being near to transportation yet feeling very remote, green and village like. Great community in the block itself as well as surrounding areas.
Sits inside the lovely King George’s Park, as well as being a short walk from Wimbledon Park or Wandsworth common.
Short walk to Southside shopping centre for supermarkets, cinema and shops. Also lots of lovely local restaurants nearby.
Lovely apartment block. So peaceful you wouldn’t think you’re in Zone 3 London! Right inside a huge park and near the river Wandle, there’s lots of greenery and water. Everyone here is so friendly and welcoming.
Short walk to Earlsfield station (8 mins) or Southside station (10-15 mins).
How peaceful it is!
Average – not great, can be slow to respond but I’ve experienced worse
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