About Countryside

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

Issues:
Poor quality fittings
All the door handles had to be changed within a year of normal use. The locksmith we engaged told us that the handles and doors were of poor quality in the first place which was why they broke so quickly.Lift breakdown
Within the first year, the only lift in the building used to break down every alternate week for about a period of 6-12 months until residents protested against paying the increase in service charge until a new lift was fitted. This inconvenience has caused the elderly and disabled a lack of access and frankly should be illegal.

Hot water
It’s been about 6 years since phase 1, and we’ve been having issues with the communal boilers / power cuts up till today. The hot water would be down for long periods especially over winter and any fix would only be temporary. It’s come to a point where you can’t take being able to have a warm shower for granted.

Communications
We are currently receiving text messages informing us of any outages – primarily hot water related issues. However, this usually comes much later after we have reported it to the L&Q emergency number, which might be useful to some, but not the majority who have had to experience it firsthand. When reporting and asking for updates on outages, helplines are staffed with rude CS agents who sound like they need additional training / are inadequately informed by the service/operations team, so they are not in a position to provide proper updates.
What is concerning is that these issues (hot water, broken lifts and poor quality fittings) are not unique to Acton Gardens. Properties all over the country by L&Q are experiencing similar issues. A simple search online would surface lots of examples. Save your hard-earned money for another place with a developer who genuinely wants to provide quality homes.

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

The area itself is fine being close to South Acton overground and Acton Town tube. There has been a growth in amenities around the high street too.

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

I wish I had done more research into the issues L&Q developments have been facing all over the country. The amount of grief this development has given me and other residents is unimaginable.