About Countryside

The facilities and building management seems good for bin collections and parking space. However, there have been a lot of complains by the development’s residents of litter and fouling from dog walkers who live outside the neighbourhood and garbage blowing away from bins and being left in the public green area for days, if not weeks.

Property management has been extremely slow, either due to the pandemic or a poor after-care ticketing system. It can take weeks and several months to get some of your complains heard to fix the major and minor issues. On average, it can take up to half or a full year to resolve all the items on your snag-list, unless your chase the project managers on a daily or weekly basis.

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

Although, Eccles still needs a lot of investment to improve its image within Greater Manchester, the property development is located in a pretty good accessible location. If your don’t drive then this location is very beneficial for commuting to work as the train station, metrolink tram station and the bus station are all 10-15 minutes of walking distance. The local town has all your typical shops, take-aways, pubs, post-offices, banks including two big supermarkets, Aldi and Morrisons for your weekly shopping. One of the biggest shopping centres in the UK, the Trafford Centre is also a 20 minutes walk away.

The inside of the neighbourhood feels pretty safe, regardless of what the crime rate is like in Eccles.

I don’t hear any traffic noise from the main roads outside the neighbourhood as my house is in located in the middle. However, there is a big problem about the constant low humming noise apparently coming from the CarGrill factory based in the industrial state that is across the canal which is located behind the property development.

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

If you are a light sleeper or appreciate peace and quiet, then you might not enjoy the sound pollution of the constant humming noise that is apparently coming from an industrial factory owned by CarGrill across the canal, which is behind the development located at Guinness Road, Trafford Park, Stretford, Manchester.

If you live in a 3 story house, then you can hear the noise through the roof walls or the 6 Velux skylight windows of the master bedroom on the 3rd floor almost every night and sometimes even during the day. You can’t hear it that much from the 1st or 2nd floors, as the windows and walls are a bit sound proof.

However, the frequency of the sounds fluctuates from day-to-day and it can be very irritating when you’re trying to sleep every night. This is an issue that possibly may have stopped me from buying my house, had I knew this noise was always there as it is taking months to almost a year to get complaints heard by Salford and Trafford Council from my neighbours.

Also, almost every house in the development has had an issue with poor drainage in their back garden, which apparently takes several months to a year to get your complaints heard by the developer in getting your garden soil dug up again and new grass tiles relayed by the landscapers.

What is the best feature of your home:

The best feature of my home are the skylight windows in the master bedroom on the 3rd floor and kitchen/dining room. I also like the skin basin/vanity units in the main bathroom and en-suite.

The only thing I currently don’t like too much is the street design and neighbours parking up the roads. The streets are designed to be narrow with dedicated parking bays and crossing exits and neighbours decided to ignore everything and park their cars all over the place, even if it means that they are blocking the narrow part of the street or the crossing or other people’s car ports. The property management was meant to put parking restrictions in place and get a traffic warden, but they find plenty of excuses not to do so (hence a lower property management and design score).

The house is also about a 10-15min walk away from High Barnet station (again, 2 bus stops) and 2 bus lines lead through the development as well.

For children there is also a little park in the centre, though depending on the expansion of the area, there may be the need for a second playground as on some days it gets a bit crowded there.

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

Nice area, friendly people and it’s very quiet. Neighbours mostly keep to themselves. There are plenty of schools and nurseries in the area, which is good for any family thinking of moving here. Barnet high street is only 10-15min on foot (or 2-3 bus stops) away and there is a massive green park area a few minutes away, as well as a Coop mini market and 4 free to use tennis courts.

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

The area is generally very family friendly and most neighbours do have children. So if you’re looking for a retirement home, this won’t be it. This is more for families trying to find the best and safest home for their children with Ofsted outstanding nurseries and schools around the corner. GPs are generally not the best here, but to be fair, they haven’t been anywhere I have lived so far.

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

Slow, partial responses; though this may be Corona related. The traffic management is quite bad in the area and the property management so far has used Corona for not getting double yellow lines put down, in over a year now.

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

Really awesome location in London! Very close to the Thames river, and surrounded by natural beauty such as parks and the gorgeous Nature Reserve. Fabulous shops and restaurants practically on our doorstep or maximum 20 minutes walk away. Safe Bicycle lanes, but nowhere near enough car parking spaces. Super crowded schools and nurseries, we need more of those! Also a new GP practice would be highly beneficial, as well as a better quality gym within the development, accessible to all residents.

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

I wish I had known about the fact that we don’t have access to a fob key to automatically open the doors to the car park…it’s inconvenient to get our bicycles out thorough the very heavy doors of our building. But hey, at least they are secure!

What is the best feature of your home:

I think the best feature is noise and heat insulation! This couldn’t be any better! We love the bricklaying, and the modern ventilation system is so innovative! Everything is high quality, from the floors to the stain resistant carpets to the door handles and shower facilities and all the taps! We also love the wooden finishes in the bathrooms, looks so cosy! Very well spaced throughout, and lovely balcony.

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

Good:
– Location, location, location. The development is on the doorstep of the Canal and there are loads of beautiful nature walks near by.
– Close to the City Centre. Its a really short drive into the city centre and a reasonable walk if you prefer.
– Quiet. Its nice and quiet on the development and near by.

Not so Good:
– Parking. Every house has a double driveway (I think), but there isn’t really much on street parking.
– Finish. As per all new builds the finish is at times questionable. Countryside have been relatively quick to fix everything but there are parts when we moved in that felt rushed.

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

You need to prepare yourself to spend lots of time chasing up outstanding work and snags as the houses seem to be handed over in pretty poor condition when new. The snags are numerous but generally not serious (I’ve not heard of any massive leaks or movement like with some other developers) but an eye for detail will help you identify where corners have been cut on the finish. For example its worth checking that your walls have had a proper even coat of paint and that woodwork has been sanded and finished properly before being painted.

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

Generally they have been responsive, especially when we first moved in. It has become harder and harder to get snags resolved as more houses are handed over and as mentioned above there are large items outstanding on the estate which keep getting promised but never finished.

3

Facilities

5

Design

5

Location

3

Value

3

Management