Crest Nicholson

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

Very Bad experience with Crest Nicholson, I brought their show home in May 24 and within few months I had to report issue for wall cracks and rendering issues in March 25, It took them 9 month to respond on Dec 25 stating that we will not fix this issue and closed my complaint. I am very disappointed with their customer service and very poor communication without any explanation they closed my complaint and not fixed my rendering wall issue. I would not recommend anyone to buy new house from them in future. Very frustrating and disappointing experience with Crest Nicolson.

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

Very bad build and cracks developing in all the walls outside and inside

What is the best feature of your home:

Not a good feature at all very bad build quality and regrettable to buying from Crest Nicholson

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

TGV is located in a lovely area just on the outskirts of Swindon, with open spaces, lakes and wildlife areas. The transport links are adequate but one part of the village has quite a walk to the bus stop. There are four local shops - Sainsbury's local, a charity shop, a coffee shop and two hairdressers. There is no takeaway of any kind which would be very welcome in the village but apparently, due to planning regs because of the flats above, a takeaway would not be allowed. Most houses have driveway parking but, although there are laybys for additional parking, it is still not suffucient. There has been some anti-social behaviour in the village but other areas are worse. Trafic noise is minimal.

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

We wish we had realised how poor Crest Nicholson are at finishing off a development. We have driven over unfinished, uneven roads for many years now and the development is still not finished despite actual house building having been completed a long time ago. It's not always about your actual house builder but about the developer who runs the whole site collectively.

What is the best feature of your home:

Our home was built by Bellway Homes who are a five star builder and we have no complaints about them.

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

Buying a home in Tadpole Garden Village has been one of the biggest disappointments. While the property itself was delivered, the overall development has been nothing short of a disgrace. We are now over 3 years in, and the roads are still unfinished, the landscaping is incomplete, and the whole estate looks like a never-ending building site. Crest Nicholson made countless promises about community facilities, infrastructure, and a high-quality finish – but these have been consistently missed or delayed. The lack of proper planning and delivery makes the development feel neglected and half-done. It is completely unacceptable that after so many years, residents are still living with poor roads, unfinished areas, and a lack of basic completion. The marketing painted a picture of a well-designed, thriving community. The reality is very different. Deadlines come and go, promises are broken, and accountability is nowhere to be found. Crest Nicholson have shown little regard for the people who invested their life savings here. If I could turn back time, I would never buy from Crest Nicholson. They care more about selling houses than fulfilling their obligations to residents. My advice: avoid at all costs.

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

I would never move in if I would of know that the roads and nature reserve will be so neglected and half-done

What is the best feature of your home:

Open plan kitchen/dining room is the jewel of the house

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

Great green space available, with parks for kids to play. Although no maintenance is in place for these areas, despite residents paying a montlhy charge for grounds maintenance.

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

Crest did not inform us about montlhy standing charges when we purchased our home.

What is the best feature of your home:

Solar panels are the only good feature of these homes.

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

We do most of our food shopping from Ocado and Riverford veg box deliveries. There are a number of Co-ops within a short cycle or drive away and there's a bigger Sainsbury's in the centre of town and an M&S on the outskirts that we sometimes use. Restaurants in Bicester aren't great. Our favourite's are Nando's and Monty's Burger Bar. There's a bus stop right outside my house but I've only used it once. I prefer to cycle into town. The bus timings aren't convenient for my wife's commute by train from Bicester Village into Oxford. We park on our driveway. It's much nicer now that parking is no longer allowed in the street. Bin collections are reliable but the bins sometimes blow away down the street in strong winds if the collectors don't tuck them back into the bin store. Traffic noise is very low. The main annoyance with traffic is some drivers ignoring the bus gate and driving through the whole estate when this is not allowed. There's very little anti-social behaviour, but some people are a bit careless with their bins and dump bags of stuff at the recycling bins.

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

I wish I had known how poor Crest Nicholson's after sales care was. It may have made us think twice about buying or at least be more prepared to log each issue and chase them for a response.

What is the best feature of your home:

It's warm and cosy and we generate some money towards our electricity bills from our solar panels.