Berkeley Homes

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

The development is based in a good quite area, in a lovely little village, with good facilities around, that was one of the reason for buying.

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

My first time to buy a new build, it might be very common to have so many issues on a new house.

What is the best feature of your home:

Thanks to the leaking roof, I can easily find out if it is raining or not outside.

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

Location is good And very close to local town There is a local pub restaurant on the complex The down side is parking Noise and anti social behaviour The local park which is part of the river side Complex also is used by drug users The developer Berkeleys have made no attempt to assist the police in trying to resolve a long on going problem

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

I would have used a better solicitor to purchase my property Berkeley do have an approach that leasehold and freehold are the same Which is clearly not the case Unfortunately for me if I had looked into The management company more I would have not purchased my house Just on there reviews alone After the purchase of my home Berkeley completely change there approach to customer service Over the last 2 years the development Has become scruffy And Berkeleys have allowed that to happen

What is the best feature of your home:

Well built house Attractive design Good size garden

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

Home is now 4 years old. Very well built and has the Berkeley quality stamp that we had expected. One lift in our block causes problems when it is defective and living on the top floor is then not good. Excellent situation by the river Medway, with good walks and surroundings. Management of the development is about as poor as you can get. We moved from Scotland to our forever home to be near of grandchildren. Glad we made the move and would buy again, but not if Berkeley employed the same 'management' team, FirstPort.

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

Poorly is the best description I can provide. FirstPort are not good!

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

That the accommodation block where we live only has one lift was not something that I had considered. However when the lift fails, it becomes an issue!

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

I have lived in Royal Arsenal for over 8 years and it has drastically deteriorated in this time. Although there has been a lot of positives regarding transport links, development and amenities, this has attracted a lot of antisocial behaviour. Drug use, particularly cannabis is present on a daily basis around the development. Security and concierge are limited in their ability to prevent this behaviour. The police do not care. Even when there was an incident between gangs involving one person being run over in front of our eyes, the police were reluctant to get involved and it was left to residents to try and de-escalate the situation. With the warm weather, many people from surrounding areas who do not live/ own the properties make use of the water features. I was not told my property, which I own, would be in the middle of a free water park. Children frequent the area all day long, screaming and urinating in the water feature. There are not toilet facilities as they were designed for the residents to enjoy as a visual feature but have been monopolised by non residents. It is difficult to work from home unless you work between the hours of 2am - 7am. Opposite the development on Beresford Road is a function room which plays music into the early hours. After dark and in the summer, many people are seen urinating around the buildings. Despite there being several pubs and spaces which have toilets. I have reported the antisocial behaviour multiple times with no change. The service charge continues to rise, yet the service provided is laughable. Many people dump their cars in the spaces outside the car parks as they know the tickets are not enforced and any fines are cheaper than paying for parking anyway. Furthermore, the onsite nursery has rude, inconsiderate parents who regularly park unsafely blocking the road. It is only a matter of time for an incident to occur due to selfish behaviours. I would not recommend sending your hard working money on a property here unless you are a self centred inconsiderate party animal who endorses regular screaming and public urination. You would definitely fit in. Eggs have been thrown at our windows with no investigation.

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

Completely disregard, do not respond . Raised issue with service riser which was not repaired for 1 month. Car park gates break down - no communication on repair timetable.

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

The disruption from general public. It is marketed as a safe, secure, quiet environment and this is frankly not true and is a mis-selling.

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

So disappointed regarding the area bad behaviour from some of the owners/tenants lots of noise and the smell from the facility over the road

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

Not at the moment is taking to long to answer but to charge you is quicker

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

Run from the greedy agency’s some of them is to greedy is charging you more than what so call rent/price