About CALA Homes

CALA Homes is a large British housebuilding company with their headquarters in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded in 1875, the company aims to provide ‘exceptional design and build.’

CALA Homes developments

Millbrook Park by CALA Homes is a development currently listed on HomeViews. It features a selection of 92 one, two, three and four-bedroom homes in North West London. Mill Hill East station is in close proximity to the development. It carries Northern line services into the City and Central London. In addition, the A1, A406 and M1 are also close by. The M25 is also just over seven miles away.

CALA Homes reviews

“I would definitely recommend living here. I like the apartment – it’s good quality and well designed. The building company (CALA) did a great job – the finish was really high quality. The area is pretty safe. Our neighbours are all really friendly.” Verified resident, Millbrook Park by CALA Homes

Are you a resident at a CALA Homes development? If yes, please write a review here to share your experience with others viewing the development. Similarly, if you can’t find a CALA Homes development listed on HomeViews, we’d recommend reading similar reviews of other developments to gain an understanding of residents’ experiences in similar properties. You can also submit a new listing here.

Number of Developments

34

Ratings

4.13 Rating

Rating (based on 215 reviews)

Excellent

48.37%

Very Good

37.21%

Average

9.30%

Disappointing

2.79%

Very Poor

2.33%

Developments

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Showing all 34 developments

CALA Homes reviews

Reviews

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Showing 215 reviews

Great Value, Great Design

The design of the Allan home is excellent. We love the kitchen/dining aspect of it and the large kitchen cupboard which stretches under the stairs is great for storage. The bedrooms are laid out well, again with ample storage in the form of built in wardrobes (which are included in the price).

Unlike the Allan homes at Gilchrist Gardens, there is a small porch to the entrance of this home which we love. It gives that little bit extra privacy for anyone coming to the door.

The only thing missing from the design is a driveway. There are two allocated parking spaces for each house right outside each door which would have been a great space for a driveway. Instead, there is a residents owned path between the spaces and the house which makes it extremely difficult to get permission for a driveway to be built. To the front of the spaces is a public pathway which is used more regularly so the residents path is almost redundant anyway.

The building management has been great and friendly. Any snags we have had they have come round to fix them as soon as they could.

The property management team are equally great and friendly. They pick up emails quickly and forward any snags on to the site team quickly.

There were a few things we had asked for early on in the buying stage which were agreed upon and as we got closer to the completion stage we had mentioned and were told it would all be in order. It wasn’t until about 2 weeks before completion that when mentioned again, we were told we hadn’t asked for those things and hadn’t paid for them so would not be getting them. We assumed this would be something added to the final cost and didn’t know any different. Luckily one thing was rectified after fighting for it however the other thing wasn’t and we now have to pay out of our own pocket to have this done which is disappointing.

Despite the property management team having a list of optional extras and prices, this list was not made available to us.

Please tell us what you like and dislike about this area:

Within the area there is a reasonable amount of shops close by with a Sainsburys local within 10 mins walk and an Asda supermarket within 30 mins walk.

There are no bars/restaurants within the development or within a 15 min walk however there are several within 30 minutes walk.

There is only one primary school within the area which is already over capacity and there has been no plans for any new schools.

There is also a lack of doctors surgeries in the area. Each one states they are full and the only option is to go through nhs who then assign you to an already over capacity surgery.

The transport links in the area are great for anyone needing to get the train with a train to Glasgow/Edinburgh every hour. This used to be every 30 mins but was reduced during COVID so it may increase again. The transport links to Falkirk aren’t great with buses which take a long time and do not come regularly. If you drive then you are sorted as Falkirk is only a 10 min drive. The development also has easy easy access to the motorway.

The development has built visitor parking for guests however due to still being in the building stage, these are often full of contractors vehicles or skips.

There have been reports of anti social behaviour in the close by area however this development is a bit more out the way and seems to have avoided it well.

Bin collections are regular.

There is a small amount of traffic noise due to the motorway being just behind the development however it is not loud enough to disturb you and you become accustomed to it.

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

If you want things changed such as plugs moved, extras etc make sure to ask for them very early on in the buying stage and get it in writing. We found that extras/changes we wanted to make as we went along were mostly rejected as they told us it was too late. They will move plugs for you but they will likely forget so make sure to ask early on and keep reminding them.

What is the best feature of your home:

The best feature of our home is definitely the internal doors. They are absolutely beautiful and we regularly get compliments on them. We didn’t get to choose them but definitely would have if we got the choice.

2
Facilities
4
Design
5
Location
4
Value
4
Management
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A very smart value for money development in a great location

This is a 2 and a half year old development built by Cala Homes on the former Inglis Barracks site in Mill Hill East . The development is 7 mins walk from the tube station and has a bus which stops almost at the door of the block .

There are 34 flats but the development itself comprises 3 closely linked blocks with a central garden area and about 16 town houses.

Almost every property has a balcony or terrace and there is dedicated underground secure parking with another 8 or so spaces for visitor parking . Otherwise parking in the locality is quite restricted .

The Sensa Apartments overlook a terraced landscaped garden area with a newly built children’s play area to the west and to the South are views towards the hills of north west London but much of this view will be lost by further development .

The common parts are clean and functional with a very decent sized bin store . The common parts are decoratively acceptable but not impressive .

The flats are well laid out with good quality fittings and white goods . The sound proofing and insulation is very good and the internal doors are all of a high standard . Best of all is the underfloor hearing which means no ugly radiators that take up wall space and this leaves room for the developers to have installed large windows and patio doors . The flats are bright and airy and at roughly £575 a square foot in the current market , have maintained their original cost.

Most of the flats and town houses are occupied by young couples and the block is very friendly. Best of all , the leaseholders own the freehold to the buildings and can therefore have much greater control over the service charges which are quite reasonable .

There are several new developments at the Inglis Barracks site which is now known as Millbrook Park and they are all worth checking out . For my money , the Cala development is the best of the bunch .

Please tell us what you like and dislike about this area:

Great access to public transport and Waitrose and Virgin Active are both 2 minutes drive away with plenty of parking outside . There is also a doctor’s surgery opposite Waitrose

4
Facilities
5
Design
4
Location
4
Value
4
Management
User submitted image of  The Sensa Apartments, NW7
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We enjoy living here – it is well appointed and convenient and a strong community.

This development is well laid out with reasonable size gardens (for a new development) and plenty of open space. Buildings are well finished and the street layouts are quite imaginative, some streets are better than others. They could have done more with the landscaping though – it will take a long time for the relatively few trees to mature and the wildflower meadows may not thrive if the maintenance isn’t up to standard when the management company takes over from Cala Homes. It is a pity that the stormwater attenuation ponds were designed by engineers (with steep sides and fenced off) as they could have had much greater ecological and aesthetic value than they do. However the fact that there is plenty of open space gives a spacious feel to the development and encourages socialising – the spaces are well used already. We await to see what the large open space/park on the edge looks like when complete. Overall we love living here and would recommend it.

Please tell us what you like and dislike about this area:

Benson has a strong community and is a very friendly village. It has enough shops for every day needs as well as cafes, two pubs, parish hall, play facilities and allotments. It is well connected, close to a larger town, Wallingford but also Didcot and Oxford, with good bus connections. Railway connections also not far away. Street is fine with plenty of parking. People are friendly and helpful. It could do with more trees though.

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

I would recommend you check the overall plans for each phase so you understand who your neighbours will be (rental, owned, affordable etc). Also future plans for adjacent land as there is a lot of house building going on in Oxfordshire on greenfield land so what is unbuilt now may not be in 5 years time.

What is the best feature of your home:

The property is well-designed and spacious, with good quality finishes throughout. It is also energy efficient and easy to live in.

5
Facilities
4
Design
5
Location
4
Value
5
Management
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New and disappointing

The garden is too small. The garden for five people living in a three bedroom house is exclusively insufficient for outdoor space for 3 children. The bedrooms upstairs are a ridiculous size. Only the main bedroom upstairs is with a good size but the rest of the bedrooms get completely overcrowded if you put one bedroom and one wardrobe inside. Bathroom and washroom are a good size. Building and propert managenent is completely absent because we have long term issues with the light at the parking lot and the communal areas in front of the house not being taken care of whilst we are Bing charged every month a significant fees for this. Since we entered our new house the floors upstairs and the the stairs is terribly squiking and there is not any noise isolation between the ground and first floor and between the rooms. It is almost the same as living in one big open card box. It is ridiculous that the lights in the open space both need to be on and off at the same time and you cant use it sigularly. There is also only one switch for the lights for such a big space.

Please tell us what you like and dislike about this area:

There is only one local shop with unaffordable for average family of 5 prices. There are 3 pubs nearby so a good enough variety. There are 2 open spaces with cows and horses for the cow lovers e en thoug I’m not one my children are enjoying it. There are also many ducks and some swans during the winter showing up at the pond. A new bus stop was established next to our house but recently the number of buses has been significantly reduced by nearly 50%. At the beginning the buses were fine but nowadays there is only only one bus in the mornings between 8 and 10 which is really ridiculous as I can never get to worn on time. There is bin collection on my street but the number of the Bins does not reciprocate with the number of the habitats who are supposed to use them. Another disappointment is that there are no garden Bins and bare in mind that every house in that development has a garden and pays council tax that is over 3.5k pounds. The lamp that is supposed to work in our parking has never ever worked and there has been accidents in the dark because people cannot see the other cars when they park their own car including my car which was crashed into. The only good thing is there is no traffic noise. There is also no designated area for children cycling or ball games and children do those activities but on the roads without supervision which creates sometimes traffic chaos and is a hazard for a traffic road accident.

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

I did not like that we had no flooring on the second floors and stairs- this means we needed to be financially well prepared and to afford to live somewhere while the renovations of the already newly finished house were still going.

What is the best feature of your home:

The size of the open space downstairs is quite good. The fact that there are two WCs in the house.

2
Facilities
2
Design
5
Location
2
Value
1
Management
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These reviews are the subjective opinion of a HomeViews member and not of HomeViews

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