About Uncle – Realstar Living

UNCLE is a UK residential rental company, developing properties across London and Manchester. It is currently owned and managed by the Canadian real estate and property management company, Realstar Group. UNCLE’s values are cemented in the belief that ‘collaboration, kindness and fairness is core to a happier renting experience.’

UNCLE  Realstar Living developments

You can find out more about UNCLE – Realstar Living developments on HomeViews. UNCLE Stockwell, UNCLE New Cross and UNCLE Elephant & Castle are all popular South London properties. Each development has an on-site resident manager, a cafe and landscaped outoor spaces.

UNCLE – Realstar Living reviews

You can read HomeViews reviews of UNCLE – Realstar Living properties by clicking on the developments in the list below. If you can’t find a development you would like to review, click here to submit a new development and click here to share your experiences with the HomeViews community.

Number of Developments

9

Ratings

4.22 Rating

Rating (based on 181 reviews)

Excellent

48.62%

Very Good

37.02%

Average

9.39%

Disappointing

3.31%

Very Poor

1.66%

Developments

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Showing all 9 developments

Uncle – Realstar Living reviews

Reviews

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The building design could be better, it’s very creaky from the wind

The building design could be better, it’s very creaky from the wind (especially if you’re higher up), our blinds were often breaking from being so flimsy, we would often hear the lifts going up and down throughout the whole night and we could hear our neighbours footsteps from all angles, lots of heaving footing that would keep us up. The main cause of concern was the amount of partying and noise that we was surrounded by, mostly every week we would be woken up by students partying (uncle is VERY STUDENT HEAVY), and we would often complain but all we got was an apology & nothing was done by the management team as it was ‘our of their hands’. Not forgetting the constant smoke & cannabis that would always blow into our apartment which meant that we could not have any doors or windows open- in the hot weather this was an absolute nightmare as the apartments get very stuffy. This in the end caused us to move out. There is a gym which was small but accommodating for most needs. Would’ve been better if weights were provided, but that’s down to preference. We only had a few favourites Who went above and beyond from the concierge team but there was a few that appeared lazy & didn’t seem to want to help. For example – if you went down to collect a parcel they would ask you to come back. If you want to live here you will have an amazing view but you will get no sleep. I don’t recommend uncle in Elephant & Castle.

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

The area is just awful. Rough & full of trouble, many times you feel unsafe because of all the rowdiness down below. Lots of crime, people setting off fireworks that hit our balcony several times – and the police did nothing! It is such a shame because the apartments are beautiful and the views are fantastic but the area is a massive let down. Lots of shops and some restaurants surrounding the building and it’s opposite a park – but again, there is a lot of trouble that takes place down there, drug dealing, thefts etc. Overall it is not safe.

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

That there are so many students in this apartment block.

What is the best feature of your home:

Views, having the sky lounge which was upstairs with even better views.

2
Facilities
3
Design
1
Location
2
Value
2
Management
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24 hour concierge which works great with security and also receiving parcels.

24 hour concierge which works great with security and also receiving parcels.
The reception area is kept clean and the corridors are regularly hoovered up on the floors.
The guys behind concierge are great and friendly but if you have any issues which need to be escalated then the senior team are pretty useless, especially the property manager who’s people skills are beyond shocking.
The shaft for cleaning the windows has been broke for about a year now so sadly the widows are filthy and thus this makes the view from your windows poor.
Power in the showers isn’t great so don’t expect a big power shower as your be left disappointed.
The building creeks!! and creeks LOUDLY!! Apparently there is a fault. Although we have been reassured time and time again that structurally the building is safe but it it quiet disconcerting hearing the very loud creeks and groans. Also on windy nights this really impacts sleeping so you’ll be going into work groggy!

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

This is great area to live in. Everything is super accessible from here. Elephant and Castle station is two minute walk and Kennington station is five minute walk. From both of these stations you can be in the West End or the City in 15 minutes. Walworth road which is a two minute walk from the building has everything you need from a high street.
There is some great restaurants in London Bridge which is a bus ride away. Same for Waterloo which again is a very short bus journey.

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

The defect which makes the noise

What is the best feature of your home:

The location is amazing. So easy to get everywhere

4
Facilities
4
Design
5
Location
3
Value
2
Management
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Okay to start with, not so great now

>I’ve been living in Uncle Wembley for almost a year now. I’ll start with the good and move onto the bad.
The apartment is very well constructed, mostly good quality fittings (the kitchen fittings are a little on the cheap side compared to the rest of the finish of the apartment, for example). The appliances are all good quality and modern, and it’s well insulated for the most part. The bathroom is well fitted and functional. The integrated heating system the building has is a good idea (although the supplier themselves and the lock-in that provides is questionable – it has worked consistently). The internet is fast, infrastructure is sound and well engineered. The front desk staff are all friendly and excellent people. There’s plenty of small good intentions, the package delivery/management system they have going on works well, the lobby is a nice place to be/wait for people.
But there’s little things like the sink/cooker hob not being sealed in, under sink bin being fragile and breaking, exterior windows being not quite fitted correctly etc. – all minor maintenance issues which have for the most part been corrected. The building was brand new when we moved in and there were plenty of snagging/commissioning issues. However the ongoing trend seems to be toward a lack of maintenance which is concerning.
The location is okay – Wembley is a cosmopolitan place and has excellent transport connections (except on event days when it’s chaos – be aware!) Access to NHS services in this area is very poor (beware). The building also sits at a confluence of two roads which have a lot of emergency traffic – expect to hear sirens fairly consistently. With the windows closed the sound insulation is not bad, but see later points around solar mitigation and comfort in summer.
The layout of the apartment (this is a 1-bed, open plan style). Means there is no separation between the kitchen space, living space and hallway. Combining this with the way the ventilation system has been designed, and the spec of the fridge leads to a combo of compressor/fan noise which may not suit those sensitive to such noises. There is little in the way of solar mitigation built into the building design (e.g. external shuttering), which combined with a lack of air conditioning makes for very hot summer days. The blinds – while intended to be ‘blackout’ style – do not completely black out the windows and the building’s policies prohibit using your own window coverings in addition to them.
The main downside that has emerged through the pandemic (we moved in just before the second lockdown) is that building security is fairly lax. The foyer is monitored only during business hours (9am-5pm Mon-Sat). There is an out of hours emergency line, but this is fairly unresponsive to anything but actual emergencies. Aside from intervention from residents themselves, there isn’t much stopping anyone from following you inside and riding the lifts up to the common areas like the roof terrace (a seemingly increasingly common occurrence as we move out of lockdown). My partner and I have had a few incidents of encountering people who don’t live here – which has led to a feeling of insecurity in the building. The really bad thing is that these concerns haven’t been addressed by Uncle (who have been increasingly unresponsive to emails over our time living here).
There is a small gym in the basement – when this has been open it’s been a useful space. There hasn’t been a great response by Uncle to the pandemic in terms of providing access to this and other common spaces however – which speaks to a general lack of community engagement by management here.
We rent a parking space, this is a relative luxury in this part of London but I’m including this info because you may want to know. The parking is split between two areas, our space is on the ‘outside’ and relatively unsecured. There’s little management of the spaces/parking which leads to issues of being blocked in semi-frequently. This seems to be a general problem with the way the building has been designed since there isn’t really enough space for deliveries/pick-ups/waiting etc.
Overall this feels like a high-end product that has failed to find a market, and a combination of the pandemic and other economic factors have left Uncle to need to fill the apartments however they can. There’s been no effort put into building community (despite suggestions to do this via online circles during the pandemic, for example). This combined with the lack of commitment to security in the building, lack of engagement with residents, the ongoing building site next door (5-6 days a week of building noise, closed facilities due to Covid etc. makes this a very poor value proposition given its’ premium pricing and location.
3
Facilities
3
Design
3
Location
2
Value
2
Management
User submitted image of  Uncle Wembley, HA9
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Fantastic location

The concierge team are amazing and they will do anything they can for you. The facilities are also very nice, particularly the sky lounge and the facilities are always kept clean and tidy. The balconies are made from wooden beams which is unfortunate because when a neighbour in any of the floors above you waters their plants or washes their windows, the water does drip down to the balconies below. The management is okay but nothing special, many reports have been made about cigarettes landing on balcony furniture but it continues to happen although I appreciate it is difficult to manage when you don’t know where it is coming from. The management did handle the coronavirus very well, placing hand gel at various points in the building, putting screens up around the concierge desk and delivering parcels to peoples’ doors.

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

The area is up and coming; the old shopping centre is being replaced which will really modernise the area and there are a number of nice restaurants and cafes appearing all the time. There is the wonderful Mercato Metropolitano just a few minutes’ walk away and The Southwark Playhouse is moving to the basement of this building.

What is the best feature of your home:

The layout of the flat is great and it feels very spacious with plenty of light flooding through the windows which is the main reason I chose this flat.

4
Facilities
5
Design
5
Location
3
Value
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These reviews are the subjective opinion of a HomeViews member and not of HomeViews

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