About Oxley Holdings

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

DLR station is within a 5 minute walk (either Pontoon Dock or West Silvertown, depending on which side of the development you’re on). There’s a brand new pier for the Thames Clipper service just for Royal Wharf too – great way to get to work if it fits your commute. Shops and amenities are improving with time. There are 2 cafes in the development, a beautiful new pub by the riverside (The Windjammer). The main grocery shop is a Sainsbury’s Local in the centre of the development. You can walk directly from Royal Wharf onto the riverside, and get great views of the Thames Barrier. The development is also right next to Thames Barrier Park, which is beautiful (but a little small). If you walk around 10 mins you end up at the Royal Docks which are also quite nice. There is little in the way of restaurants in the area.

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

There is plane noise from London City Airport but this is barely noticeable with all the windows closed. Ask the agent to wait for a plane to go by so you can hear what the noise is like for yourself. There are a lot of families and married couples living here, so that’s typically who you’ll see walking around the development. The area inside Royal Wharf itself feels incredibly safe but if you leave the development it turns dodgy really quickly.

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

Very fast and proactive building management. Respond to queries very quickly but I think action can take a long time depending on the type of fault.

Ours being a townhouse, the initial estimate was GBP1.59 per sq ft which would be about GBP2385 for our house. However, it seems the charges will in fact be somewhere close to double this amount. It was unclear from the bill how they have apportioned the cost and some seemed bizarre. I won’t go into all the detail here and I had many emails back and forth with BAML to explain why charges had been proportioned as they had.

The whole thing is much too opaque and it seems to be made intentionally difficult or impossible to check if they have made a mistake with the way the costs are being shared out. It is also frustrating to have such high charges when so much of the development – such as the leisure centre – haven’t been completed. Residents agreed to pay and now a Residents Association has been set up to challenge.

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

Don’t take estimations as actual. Visit the Royalwharf forum and hear from other residents.

I hate complaining as in general we are very happy here and the rerst of the development and facilities are great, but our experience has been overshadowed by this unfortunately and I know lots of people on top floors are having the same issues so be warned.

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

Not to live on the top floor!

The wardrobes are really badly designed and with outward facing doors as opposed to sliding, mean they take up a vast amount of space in already small rooms.

The development is also missing a few key facilities – a post office or similar for instance, and the dentist is private only meaning you’re looking elsewhere for NHS dental facilities.

It’s a nice development, but it seems to just miss the mark on every possible point leading to disappointment.

The abusive SW energy system is the biggest flaw and because you have no choice but to stay with them, there is no help available.

We’re also now currently over a month with no royal mail letter deliveries, which seems exclusive to the resort when talking to others within the immediate off site area.

Lastly, there is a horrific lack of parking leading those with allocated spaces to hike prices knowing full well there’s the demand there.

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

The homes themselves are much like any other similar development. Where Royal Wharf falls down is it’s use of SW Energy and their horrific pricing and attitude. Many residents are waiting 5 months plus for accounts to finally be set up, and those that have them set up are finding bills of £120+ a month for a 1 bed flat (for heating and hot water only). The council tax bands are also horrifically unfair, placing 1 bed apartments in E band.

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

SWs incompetence and abusive pricing. This is a reason alone to avoid renting or buying a home here and instead focus your search on one of the other sites under a different district heating company.

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

They’ve dismissed residents concerns in terms of both postal issues and SW taking months to set up accounts and then over charging.