Vistry Partnerships

Please tell us about the good and bad aspects of living in your local area:

A really beautiful development with adequate green spaces and impressive rear gardens. Beautiful restaurant within walking distance and Tesco store, Frinton on sea about two mins by car with adequate shops, post office etc. Finches is so quiet, when you sit outside you can only hear a pin drop and neighbours all seem so friendly and respectful which is lovely.

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

By taking animals which are part of any family is brilliant and the gardens are a wonderful size with adequate walking areas close by

What is the best feature of your home:

Beautiful looking bungalow with the front porch like it is, beautiful large garden, easy to keep clean flooring and felt like a home the day we moved in! Nice that it’s fitted with good quality white goods too.

Please tell us about the good and bad aspects of living in your local area:

Newhall we thought was going to be our dream come true, we purchased a £500k detached home to see our life out in peace and tranquility. What we didn't account for is the known thug that Simple Life Homes rented to opposite us at 2 Treadle Path that has made our life a living nightmare. Anti social behaviour, aggressive answers when being challenged when he parks his work van in a visitors bay but rams my fence to get as close as possible. He has put up 2 cam eras facing our house and he and his wife stare into our windows while chain smoking every 20 minutes. He has 2 allocated spaces and has taken over 2 car ports and secured them into enclosed garages where he runs his roofing business from outside our new home. This is breaking na number of the covenants we signed for. He also has 5 French bulldogs yet Simple Life Homes have a policy for only 2 dogs.

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

Very poorly, very slowly and annoyingly some of the bigger messy things could have been fixed before we moved in. They need to do much better.

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

if we knew we were going to be intimidated by a neighbour and let down by Vistry, SHW the Estate Managers and Simple Life Homes we would have stayed where we were.

Please tell us about the good and bad aspects of living in your local area:

The local area is great; it ticked all the boxes. We're no more than 10-20 minutes walk away from everything we need, including shops, doctors, community hospital (no A&E), train station, pleasant walks, etc.

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

They were working through our snagging list slowly but steadily. After six months, we discovered that one drain that had been regularly overflowing was not actually connected to the sewer. Their response to this major issue was pathetic and the only way to get their attention was to go through official complaints procedures and threaten going to NHBC.

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

Tell them you're going to bring your own building expert over on a regular basis during the build, and won't complete until everything is done to a good standard to your satisfaction. If they won't accept these terms, then walk away.

Please tell us about the good and bad aspects of living in your local area:

Hurstpierpoint is a lovely village with a few nice pubs, and some great local shops. Our street is great, we’ve not had any issues at all really.

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

Gateway as a company don’t seem to be very involved or communicative. Bovis have been okay.

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

Some gardens have serious drainage issues!! The houses aren’t very soundproof.

Please tell us about the good and bad aspects of living in your local area:

This is a development that was initially started in 2014. I moved here in 2015. The local shops and facilities are in the market town centre, about a mile away. As with many rural small towns, it would be fair to describe it as struggling, but not as badly as others. The estate design lacks forethought, in that many households have two vehicles, and sometimes a company works van. The roads are narrow with few pavements for pedestrians. The number of vehicles parked in dangerous and selfish places is increasing. People do not consider where their vehicle will be parked when buying or renting a property. A number of people drive far too swiftly along the estate roads, and this adds to the noise, at various times during the day.

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

My house is not managed by anyone other than myself. The two year after-sales service was virtually non-existent, and I quickly learnt it was far easier for me to sort out problems myself.

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

If you buy a new property on a housing estate from a big developer, be aware that the 'sales pitch' about subsequent customer care is probably dubious. The reason for customer dissatisfaction is clear: poor workmanship by contractors/sub contractors, a lack of inspection of their work by the developer, an attitude of 'that will do', and a willingness for developers to accept that every new build will have an extensive 'snagging list'.