The design of the property is good, but the finishing is below standard with poorly fitted doors, fences, gates, showers, kitchen cupboards and skirting boards. When we first moved in, the cupboards in the kitchen weren’t fitted correctly and we had to ask the supervisor on site to remove the skirting board so that we could fit our fridge in. We were very lucky with our plot and our garden has sun coverage for the vast majority of the day. The roads aren’t well designed, with no grit salt bins on the estate but we haven’t been adopted by the council so the roads do become very dangerous, even more dangerous when there are cars parked on the roads instead of the drives. People don’t take their bins back in after collection, so when there is bad weather there is always a lot of bins on the road which can be a struggle when you have to get out every 20m to drag another bin into a driveway.
Land was previously made ground so it is really poor soil conditions and can cause a lot of water retention as drainage hasn’t been properly done. Sewerage is also a problem and we have had various drainage issues due to things being disposed of incorrectly. The attenuation pond and bird boxes would be a nice addition to the estate if they were actually done. Encore (who manage the estate) are really prompt with their replies but Barratt’s have a really long lead time for any aftercare support. They will take your money and give you a house but fail to repair anything for a long time afterwards.
Please tell us what you like and dislike about this area:
Good local shops and services, e.g. nearby gyms, doctors, pharmacy, dentist and good school options for those with children. There are some parking issues as people don’t park on their drives and instead park on the pavement, and this causes frequent visibility issues as they also park on the corners of the roads. Bin collections for both apartments and houses are on a Wednesday, however I live nearby the bin stores and am frequently appalled by the state of the bin stores – rubbish is left outside of them which then fly onto my property. The council will not tidy it up unless it’s reported as flytipping. There has been a lot of anti-social behaviour in the past with teenagers and burglars, but it all gets reported thanks to the Neighbourhood Watch Team. Traffic noise isn’t bad for the A45, but it is terrible with the amount of Uber’s due to a lot of students on the estate. It is less of a family estate and more of a student village. Lots of properties have CCTV and I would recommend getting one just for peace of mind.
Please share one thing (or more) which you wish you had known before you moved in:
Wish I had known about the trouble in the area a lot more before I moved in. Our neighbours have been the best part of moving on to the estate though, and it does have a good community spirit. I wish I had have known that there were a significant proportion of students on the estate though, as they have a lot of house parties that keep me and other neighbours awake. Also a lot of drug deals done on the estate.
How has the building management responded to any problems or issues you have raised:
We get a generic apology e-mail, but the vast majority of the time we sort things out for ourselves. The labourers who do come to property are mostly polite.
