The design and layout of the development is generally quite good and the estate is quite attractive. There is not much in the way of site facilities however, although we knew that when we purchased the property and that is ok with us.
Management of the site is poor, in my opinion. There is a POS (Public Open Space arrangement) in place between Strata and Meadfleet which seems to restrict residents/owners from having a constructive input into how our site is managed and what our service charges are spent on. I tried to engage with Meadfleet and ask when the management would be handed over to the residents but was told they had the agreement in perpetuity, so the residents have no say on what Meadfleet do or how they spend our money.
And when Meadfleet operatives do turn up on site to cut the grass and do other gardening then what they do is really sub standard, but we have no control over this, nor do we have the ability to change it. That is really quite poor in my opinion. It feels like a closed shop where owners of freehold properties are expected to pay for a service but have no say in who is contracted to perform those services and with that will surely come poor performance, since there is nobody challenging or questioning. Not good.
Please tell us what you like and dislike about this area:
The development is on the edge of the village and so there is a little walk/drive to shops and other amenities, but you would know that before committing to buy and so it id not a problem for us. Transport links are ok and in general it is quite quiet and peaceful. There is quite a bit of traffic noise from Staveley Lane as they use it as a cut through and the speeds of some cars is quite scary at times. The local authority need to consider some form of speed control before there is a serious accident, or worse
Please share one thing (or more) which you wish you had known before you moved in:
Build quality (or lack of). Poor customer service. Inconsistency of communication. Unreliable contractors. Shoddy workmanship. Inferior materials used. Had we of known that £280,000 brought you such poor workmanship and quality then we may have spent our £280,000 elsewhere.
How has the building management responded to any problems or issues you have raised:
In the early days we were chased daily for our snagging list, and were actually told we had to have the snagging list to them within 8 weeks of moving in. We did this as we used an independent surveyor to conduct a full survey, and we are so glad we did as we had over 200 “snags”. Now, 5 months on from moving in, the communication and updates on who is coming and when have stopped alltogether. Its like if we dont chase them then they dont do anything.
