The idea of Fizzy living is good and I like the concept of it. It is a nice idea to have a central reception/office, along with communal space with refreshments etc as this is not something I’ve come across before, however I’m not sure many people use it in practice – preferring the privacy of their own flat. Location is good in terms of nearness to the station and walking distance from Walthamstow Central. The area is still largely under development, so there are a lot of building works currently underway which is less desirable. It’s great to be so close to Walthamstow Wetlands. The design of the building is quite good in terms of layout. Living in a 2 bed flat, it is great to have 2 bathrooms and a balcony, as well as storage. It is also good having our own parking, as well as bike storage, both of which are difficult to get in London. The spec of the flat is not that high though, with a lot of cheap materials etc and I think some of the finishings have been done in a rush. We have had a few maintenance people in to check water temperature etc which is good, however the follow up to put things back in place has not really happened and we often have to chase things up ourselves. A recent issue with a power failure in the secure car park caused us a huge amount of hassle, stress and money. We were unable to get our car out at the weekend when we were supposed to be travelling to a funeral, and were unable to reach any of the staff to help or to get an emergency maintenance person on site in time. In addition, and more worryingly, when we used the emergency exit button in the car park, it failed. This is a major concern which we will be following up on and makes us question other health and safety aspects of the building.

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

It would have been useful to be given a more definitive answer to how long building works will be underway on the development. I knew the area relatively well before I moved, but it would have been better for the staff to sell the area more (in terms of nearby amenities and the Wetlands for example).

3

Facilities

3

Design

3

Location

3

Value

3

Management

The BOBs at Walthamstow are great and dedicated to the tenants at Fizzy Walthamstow. Unfortunately we have had a lot of issues with Fizzy changing the terms of our arrangements since we moved in in January 2018. Due to this our experience has been tarnished somewhat. The costs associated with living in a Fizzy building are significantly higher than other rented accommodations in the Waltham Forest area, something we felt we were misled on when signing up. Carparking: The biggest contention at present is the price for parking, as we are in a new build we are exempt from street parking in Wlatham Forest which costs £35 per year for our car. When signing up we were given a deal as we had a budget to work with, instead of paying £100 per month per car. George Amos suggested and confirmed in writing that she was able to do a deal so we pay £50 per month per car. This was a deal that was to the length of our 36 month contract. In January 2019 after the rent went up in line with RPI, we were told we were now expected to pay £100 per car from now on. After some back and fourth with the BOBs, the last word was car parking charges would increase in line with RPI. This isn’t correct, as the cost for us is doubling. This is a topic we are still questioning and will seek further advise if not resolved between us. I believe there needs to be more transparency when signing up to live at a Fizzy apartment especially when buying add ons such as carparking. A side note to this the car park is not well kept, we got a puncture as the needles put up to deter the birds were scatted on the floor. Along with rubbish and other items constantly littering the area. We also had the misfortune of being locked out of the car park, were had to pay for an on the day train ticket to Devon for a funeral we were going to. Fizzy did repay us for the tickets (via the help of Jason and Meena) but we got no compensation for all of the premium numbers we had to call trying to get the matter resolved. The issue was the emergency exit button failed to work along with the fob. My partner still has trouble using he car park, sometimes the fob doesn’t connect to the sensor. She works in Cambridge so if the car is locked, she would be unable to get to work. Kitchen surfaces: Kitchen surfaces are very easily marked. Tenants were told in December (this would be 11 months after we moved in) not to use certain cleaning products (products with bleach) or we would loose money from our damage deposit. We emailed back stating this can’t be the case, if tenants were not aware of this prior to moving in. We sent photos of the light white marks on the surfaces and were told this isn’t caused by cleaning products but caused by burning the surfaces which is not the case. This matter is still unresolved. Building Noise and intercom There is constant building noise of the Taylor Wimpy flats have made living in our apartment unbearable at times, we have had very little support from Waltham Forest or Fizzy as a company in getting this resolved. We all work full time and this impacts all aspects of our lives. Building works would be happening during the weekends from 8am. Weekdays as early at 7am. The intercom for our block is constantly broken, due to lack of street lighting and groups of men smoking and drinking in the evenings. I feel unsafe going down at night.

Flats are very big all round, with great balconies and new appliances. If you want an unfurnished flat, you get it with no part furnished surprises. If you want it furnished, there is a clear list of what will be included.A 60mb internet connection is ready on day 1 and included in the rent without catches. There is a nice working space in the main office, open to all residents on weekdays. Parcels during working hours are received and safely dropped off at your flat at the end of the day.However, these positives have so far been overshadowed by problems, hence rating 2 stars for now.There are ongoing issues, such as broken lifts, intercoms, and half-finished work, which take a fair bit of resident noise to encourage Fizzy to chase up and communicate about.Unfortunately, fair and typical queries – be it admin or maintenance (more common than usual as this is a new development) – often seem to require repeated follow ups until an answer or resolution, sometimes going ignored until asked again.Escalation has helped with some of these problems. Head office appear to take them seriously, take the time to respond kindly, and take action to sort things out. This is appreciated and has been a small sense of hope that things have potential to improve with time.However, living here would be much nicer (for both staff and residents) if people didn’t have to nag, and there was simply more pro-active and consistent management of things from the start.

Fizzy Canning Town is a nice place to live – I’ve been in the building for around three years now. I’ve lived in two different flats and they’ve both been finished to a high standard – none of the usual issues you might get in a London rental such as mould, damp or mice! Customer service is brilliant – our Bob, Serina is great as were our previous Bobs Daniel and Bilal. We’re allowed pets, parcels are received while we’re out at work and repairs are done very swiftly. We also receive an annual flat clean. We’ve stayed this long because we like it so much. Only thing I miss is an active Facebook forum for the building, but there is still a sense of community as many people have been here a while and we also chat to Serina.

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

Great location for the underground and DLR – only a few minutes away. Not so great at the moment for local cafes but it’s improving and it’s so easy to jump on the tube. Really hoping for more supermarkets at some point and a new retail development is coming.

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

I wish I had known more about the angle of the sun as our balcony doesn’t get much sun at the moment. But it is also worth considering that in summer it can get pretty hot as the flats are very well insulated (great for winter!). Worth getting a fan / some sort of air con machine if you can especially if you are on higher floors.

4

Facilities

5

Design

4

Location

4

Value

5

Management