About St Modwen Homes

Facilities wise, things could be improved somewhat. We don’t have any dog waste (or normal) waste bins around the development. The vast majority of residents are considerate and I have never noticed a waste or dog waste problem, outside of what the on site builders, or local cats, leave behind.

The play park has limited equipment and is not fenced off or gated at the front at all. This makes it a little worrisome for parents with younger children who cannot relax knowing their child cannot escape. Furthermore i’ve witnessed balls escape the park area and hit the cars of residents who live opposite the park. This should be considered as it’s not very fair to those residents.

What really lets the development down is the lack of maintenance. Any open, public space has gone to ruin due to weeds. Turf that was only laid within the last couple of months (around the park for example) has been swallowed by weeds. They have been allowed to populate and get so out of control that they have spread to neighbouring gardens, curbs and so on and this is the same story across the development. There are weeds absolutely everywhere and it’s a nightmare as a property owner to maintain. I weed the front garden twice a week and still it’s not enough. This is my biggest concern about the development as it’s a significant time and money sap for residents. It also makes the development look run down and neglected.

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

The local area is pretty good. There are major supermarkets, parks, entertainment facilities and more in very close proximity to the development. Within 20 minutes or so you have convenient access to Stafford, Stoke and Derby as well as the beautiful Peak district just a little further out. There’s something for everyone.
Parking is OK, (but not great) on the St Modwen’s parts of the development in particular. Mid sized homes don’t typically have enough or adequate parking and many cars end up parked on the street or over hanging their drives as they aren’t quite deep enough to double stack modern cars. This isn’t really a big issue but it is certainly something that could have been improved upon. Residents in the flats also either don’t have enough parking, or don’t always use their allocated spots as some part out on the road taking up more space.

Generally speaking it’s a fairly quiet development with the normal noises you’d expect from a housing development (kids playing, dogs barking etc) The development could be improved with a few basic things- dog waste bins for example.

Personally I am quite pleased there are no shops on site as from previous experience these just seem to attract anti-social behaviour as a development ages. Tesco express is just a few minutes away.

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

Relatively minor thing, but I wish i’d known that no door number would be provided so that we could have ordered one prior to moving in, ready to go up. No door number meant that our home was difficult for postmen, delivery drivers and visitors to find initially until we could get a door number delivered.

I also wish i’d known about the council tax banding. The council seem to be banding these properties much higher than you’d expect. Similar sized homes in the area are band C and occasionally band D. Ours has been rated a band E, at double the cost of our (larger) previous home. This need to be questioned not just by residents, but we need the backing of the developers as well as it would make me reluctant to purchase from the developer in future.

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

Emails I have sent have never been replied to unfortunately.

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

The area worked really well for us as we were both raised locally so already knew where everything was when we moved in. We are roughly 30 minutes away from both Nottingham and Sheffield and the Peak District so we thought it was a great access spot for all. A train station in walking distance would be much more convenient than having to go to Chesterfield or Alfreton. There are some nice bars etc in Chesterfield but hopefully following the upcoming development of clay cross there will be more which don’t require a bus or taxi. Parking on the street is very limited, having friends and family round can be a bit of a nightmare as there is literally no spare space for anyone who does live on the estate never mind those just visiting. Aside from the odd party its mostly very quiet on the development which is nice.

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

The show homes are always of a better quality than the one you will purchase. Don’t settle with issues like we did, keep pushing to get things fixed because you don’t spend thousands on a brand new property for it to be at a bad standard. Get everything sorted within the first week because after they have your money they just don’t care.

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

The building management haven’t responded well to any issues. Initially, when doing our snag list, he even failed to write everything on it. So when contractors came round to fix something they had no idea to what kind of extent. When we asked to see the list he actually wrote down, they said to just send over our list again because apparently he just couldn’t write down what we told him to?

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

Train station too far for local transport the X20 now doesn’t run into town which is where I work and that was one of the main pros of moving here. Need more local shops around here as quite limited. The roadworks that have been continuous and cause loads of problems. People keep parking in front of our house which is a problem for when we eventually have 2 cars as we won’t be able to park both on our drives. Any chance we can make it private? Traffic noise is mainly the trains that run late with additional works being carried out at like 2am. Not too much anti social behaviour but we are away from the main area where there is a few problems.

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

View the house or view a similar house before purchasing as we purchased the house blind just based on the blueprints. A lot of people want new builds and sometimes you feel like you don’t get to see the full picture until you actually buy the house and start moving in. So maybe like a virtual tour of the house or a very very similar house so people know what they are buying instead of the layout plan as it gives you more time to plan and not make mistakes etc

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

Time has been taken which has caused more stress for us. Not everything has been fixed yet as we still waiting on the pipe problem. Garden was really bad when they were fixing it as we couldn’t use garden at all. Needs better communication planning and effective results as a lot of people on the estate have been stressed an don’t know when things are going to be fixed as nothing is communicated at the best of times. Also since I have moved in raised an issue with radiator missing a valve and still not fixed or seen too as ‘part still being ordered’

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

Our estate is still currently being developed, although it has doubled in size since the 12 months we have lived here. We are are still awaiting for the roads and pavements to be resurfaced from their current temporary state in the completed streets around us. we expected this to be done sooner as this part of the build was finished some time ago. The road noise from the extremely busy A50 can be heard in the background, especially when widows are open in the summer or in the garden . In the winter when windows are closed this reduces greatly. I have considered contacting our local council as Draycott Road runs in front of the estate this is restricted to a 40 mph zone but cars and especially motor bikes ignore this and this is the traffic noise we hear the most at all times of the day and night, a speed camera along this stretch of road would surely help to reduce this.
We brought our 4 bedroomed house as our forever home, however the parking is very limited. We compromised on a driveway that was shared with a neighbour we would of preferred our own private driveway where we could of parked 2 cars side by side instead of one in front of the other, my husband works shifts so we have to swap cars around a lot. When my children have their own cars in a few years they will have to park on the street which is already very narrow and not possible to double park. This also occurs when neighbours have visitors. If a small overspill car park either for residents/visitors could be made available that would be greatly appreciated by all of the neighbourhood.
The bin collections are very regular and we’ve had no issues with this. I feel we live in a very family friendly community. As part of the development a park/recreation space is due to be completed next autumn this will give the children on the estate somewhere to play with wide open spaces. A 10 minute brisk walk takes you into Blythe Bridge village where there are local shops, barbers, schools.
I hope the above information gives an insight into Blythe Fields.

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

The painting and general standard of decor was poor, I hope since we have moved in this has improved for other buyers.
To have blinds fitted prior to moving in we waited 6 weeks for an outside company to fit these.

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

The ground manager Nathan has always been superb, helping and offering advice. He is an asset to St Modwen.