About Swan Housing Group

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

Overall Blackwall Reach is positioned in the heart of Blackwall with Blackwall DLR being seconds away while East India DLR, Poplar DLR, Canary Wharf DLR and Jubilee and eventually Crossrail being minutes away. So links are amazing here. Also, Canary Wharf is so close that makes the 3 different malls it has and the numerous bars and restaurants very accessible. The business centre is also less than 5 minutes away offering F45 training, yoga, pilates, physiotherapy, sports massage studios, coffee shops, one of the best ice cream shops I have tasted with greek iced coffee (you really need to try this), italian restaurant Salento and its new deli shop and a newly announced whiskey bar. Don’t forget the nails spa, bubble tea, dock cafe right under the Blackwall Reach buildings. Unfortunately there is no parking on site but in the business centre there is underfloor parking and of course you can have residents permits for the area. Bin collections were horrible in the beginning but have now improved a lot with new, bigger bins provided for us and more regular collections from Tower Hamlets. We are not street facing so I would say the traffic noise is to the bare minimum, if any. Anti-social behaviour exists, not in great extend but we had the odd occasion where someone was blasting music very late or dodgy people in the streets, however, we fortunately haven’t encountered any issues on a personal level. The community that is being built here with young professionals is pretty amazing and I hope for more of those around and some good nurseries etc.

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

Bad: Funnily enough a lot of the issues we had with the bins was because people don’t dispose their rubbish properly. So, if you are to become a new neighbour, please be considerate about this.

Good: Explore the area! It’s much better than we thought initially. Definitely walk around in the business centre at different times, even night time, it’s so beautiful and has a few things to offer.

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

They respond quickly saying they are busy and then you have to chase them a lot in order to get a response. We are currently still waiting on the 2 years guarantee form we filled for them to check on a couple of things. We sent that 3 months ago followed by a couple of emails and we are still waiting on a response.

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

Best: Flat is new build, large, has good views, heating is good, DLR is convenient, nice layout in flat

Bad: No additional facilities (gym, sauna, workspace, etc), area is underdeveloped, rent was excessively increased by £300 in 1 year, can’t select your own heating / electricity / internet provider, the windows are not cleaned often enough from the outside, not enough shops nearby (a proper big Sainsbury or Tesco), the DLR does not go early enough (earliest is at 5:30am)

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

– That you can’t change providers (heating, electricity, internet)
– Wish someone had done a proper introduction to the flat and shown me where everything was (I was just given the keys and left to figure out everything myself, which was incredibly frustrating and time consuming)
– That they would increase rent excessively by £300, despite the fact that I signed on moving in 1,5 months earlier and paying double rent during this period and agreeing to a contract with no break clause. I made a lot of exceptions and up fronted financially a lot of money, yet after only 12 months suddenly the rent is increased despite the fact that nothing new is being provided. Had I known they would increase rent in 12 months I wouldn’t have moved in as it is a waste of my time and money
– That there is a great reluctance to a monthly rolling contract after completing your 1st year

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

It took a lot of back and forth to get something done, but it always got done in the end.

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

Like- location
Dislike- property management could do better

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

Availability of parking

If there is one thing you would change about your flat or property what would it be:

Parking is not ample and should have been informed before

Aesthetically it is quite average, but practically the building is well insulated.

Building management:

Concierage staff on the reception are lovely and pleasant. Security could be improved though, as often the door left open.

Property management:

They consistently fail to deal withanti social behaviour and drug use within the building. Whilst always asking for our feedback, they do little to implement it or to pressure local council to recycle our waste properly!

Facilities:

Unfortunately, my property doesn’t have any facilities.

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

The local area is pretty good. There is a good range of shops withink walking distance, however there needs to be more green spaces and better prevention of anti social behaviour.

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

I wish I had known the level of traffic noise that can be heard during rush hour.

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

They do respond but often the answer isn’t satisfactory or making a difference.