About Metropolitan Thames Valley

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

There is one shop in the immediate area which is built into the ground floor off one of the block of flats which is open late and of great convenience. Other shops that are close are about a five minute walk but town centre would take about 45 minutes. There is a bus stop just outside the area which is ideal for those who don’t or can’t drive.
Parking is honestly quite atrocious. Not enough parking bays we’re made for every flat to have one and there are only 6 unallocated bays which have been deemed visitors parking and are now about to be charged for usage. This means that for flats; without a bay, with more than 1 vehicle and visitors, there is no available parking in the immediate area. It is frankly ridiculous and has added to many peoples’ reasons for wanting to move.
The main road the site is attached to has a traffic light crossing but no speed cameras so there are a lot of people revving their engines and testing their 0 to 60.

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

We knew we weren’t allocated a parking bay but we never knew there wouldn’t be any other parking either.

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

I really like the location, the town is lovely and it’s close to offices. It’s about a 15 minute walk to the train station which is great. There is a real problem with parking though, as there is extremely limited visitor parking and only one space per resident. It’s a major downside of living here.

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

A good thing is I think my flat is soundproof. The bad thing is the parking – think carefully about how important it is to you. There will always be good and bad things about any development, so it’s just about weighing up what’s important to you.

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

Snagging issues in my flat were dealt with reasonably well, but issues with the wider building seem to drag on as nobody takes responsibility within the management team.

The gardens are generally well maintained, and I like that there are green spaces within the complex.

The downside to the design of the development is the lack of parking. It would have been so much better if there were underground parking, to allow for two cars per apartment. There is limited public transport this side of town and therefore it should have been considered in the planning permission that most households would need multiple cars to get to work.

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

The onsite Budgens is a life saver for days when I can’t get to the supermarket. There are a good range of supermarkets (Asada, Aldi and Tesco) all within a 5 minute drive.

There is one bus route that serves the area, so you do need a car or bike to get around.

But if you have a car then you get get to the town centre, leisure centre, train station and Old Town within 10 minutes and there are a good range of bars, bowling, cinema, restaurants, etc.

The area has lots of green spaces within a few minutes walk – there is Great Ashby park, just 20 mins walk away (or 5 mins drive), Fairlands Park is 20 minutes in the other direction, and St Nicholas Park about 10 minutes after walking through the woodlands at the back of the estate. So if you like green spaces but need to live in a town, this side of Stevenage works great! All these parks have free car parking, so bonus!

There are well maintained cycle pathways linking our development to the town centre, so it is easy to get around on bike.

One downside is the limited parking. Each resident has one parking space, however all the roads in the industrial estate are double yellowed and therefore those with additional cars have to park about a 3 minute walk away.

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

That parking had not been carefully thought through.

What is the best feature of your home:

The large balcony, the floor to ceiling windows in every room, and overlooking the small woods.

The new build blocks themselves are large and pleasing to the eye.

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

Close to the town, shops, bars and local restaurants as well as mainline train to London.

Limited parking facilities in close proximity to development.

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

The amount of new builds being built on the site and close proximity

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

Current issue of balconies need replacing is taking an extremely lengthy time to resolve