Overall, while there have been some issues with the place, I’d say its a pretty good development.
It has an overall aesthetic design, corridors are regularly cleaned and upkept, there’s a bin chute point on each floor, an amazon locker onsite, a flat occupants only parcel locker onsite (so you rarely need to go down immediately to collect parcels unless anything you order is too big for them) and an indoor recycling area.
The flats themselves are not amazing in design. Speaking just in terms of the flat I’ve been in (which is a 1 bed student apartment that I’ve shared with my partner) the bathroom is hard to ventilate (has no windows) and the bedroom is hard to ventilate (only having one tiny openable window to the indoor balcony) especially in extremely hot or cold weather. While there is a ventilation system, it doesn’t work amazingly and the vents look as if they haven’t been cleaned in forever. There’s only one openable window and the one balcony door in the whole property, so unless you’re pretty quiet and the temperature is just right to have the door wide open (which it rarely is) it’s very difficult to get fresh air into the flat. In the summer too, due to having these big un-openable windows, it becomes a bit like a greenhouse! As for the kitchen, it’s design is sloppy for the price at best. If you’re a student or couple of students who do more than just microwave meals and love cooking, this isn’t the place for you. Very little counter space, the counters seem quite low, the fridge is right next to the oven (so gets a bit heated by it), there are not many cupboards for storage and there’s no small drawer for cutlery, knifes, etc. The sink is also circular (nightmare for cleaning square trays), there’s no drying rack, and, in our flat at least, the countertop seems to be angled so all water flows toward the back right corner behind the sink, which creates a nasty grimy build-up if not dried daily. The kitchen just feels a bit rushed and badly fitted overall.
Aside from the kitchen, the rest of the living spaces are mostly fine, just wish there was more light and a closer mirror in the bathroom, and that there were more sockets around the place to plug different things in! (none behind the sofa for laptops or phones). The little storage room for the washing machine and water tank has been really useful for storage and organising laundry. The indoor balcony I’d say is most useful in the summer when its warm enough to sit out there and dry clothes, in winter it does feel like you’re paying for that extra area of space which would be more useful if it was just part of the living room.
While I haven’t made much use of them, there are things like table tennis tables in the courtyards and a giant chessboard onsite for tenants to use. There’s also the Yepps café, a café within a University of Sheffield building onsite (which you don’t have to be a student to use) and other onsite amenities like a gym and underground parking, however membership and parking spaces are not included in the rental price. The maintenance team and property management team are super friendly and easy to contact, so when we have had things break that are fixable, they have been repaired and sorted quite quickly.
I’d say much of my issues lie within the price of the place, the rent is currently £700 per month if you’re one person in the apartment. Fortunately, they do allow couples to share one bed flats, and having done that, it’s been much more affordable being able to half all the bills and rent. Even still, the place does feel a little expensive for the amount of space you get between yourselves and for the issues we’ve experienced. The price also seems to be only going up, the rent having been £675 last year, and it is largely due to that that we’ve decided to move out after living here 2 years. If the rent was £600-£650, I’d be perfectly satisfied with the quality of the development.
In conclusion, if you’re a couple of students who have a reasonably high budget, don’t know Sheffield too well, mostly eat out and do minimal home cooking and want a really safe place to live in for year or so that’s in the heart of the city centre, I’d say this is the ideal place for you.
Please tell us what you like and dislike about this area:
The area is great if you’re a student, there’s a small Tesco’s and a co op nearby, the Yepps store onsite is great if you like bubble tea or want imported food goods. There’s also a great curry place just around the corner. There’s lots of security systems and cameras around the complex so it feels very safe and secure. If you’re young and able bodied, it’s about a 5-10 minute walk to the cathedral in the city centre and you can get onto any tram line from the stop that’s there – that’s been really useful! There are some University of Sheffield buildings on site, some about a 5-10 minute walk away and the main buildings around the SU are about 15-20 minutes away, but note the walk is nearly entirely up-hill. There are a number of vacant buildings nearby and there’s just recently been a lot of demolition going on across the roads surrounding the complex. Not necessarily negative, but there may be a lot of construction going on to look at and hear in the next few years IF you’re in an apartment facing out from the complex. Having lived in an apartment facing inward to a courtyard, we’ve not heard much of these activities nor been affected by them.
Please share one thing (or more) which you wish you had known before you moved in:
How much the kitchen would annoy us! And equally, how hard it would be to ventilate the place throughout the year.
How has the building management responded to any problems or issues you have raised:
They have responded well. There’s a dedicated online system which you pay rent through that you can also flag issues with the property on. Maintenance usually turns up in the next few working days from our experience and the issues we have had have always been resolved to a satisfactory level.
