About Vistry Partnerships

We are pleased with our house but, obviously being new, there were a few little issues wrong with it and, since the original site manager, Steve, suddenly left, it has been very difficult to get anything sorted. An issue we reported in October 2019 (well before the pandemic) is only going to be sorted this month. There seems to be a very high turnover of customer service staff and it is hard to know who to contact, although things seem to have improved a little since Craig arrived.

One of the main issues with the properties seem to be the gardens – hardly any top soil was put down before the grass (which was infested with leather jackets) was laid and people are having to spend a fortune to try to get their lawns into a good condition. Some people have considerable problems with flooding as no drainage was put in their gardens. Th faulty of the fencing supplied for our gardens was very poor, in our case we have had to have some of it repaired three times.

Also trees were planted on the central green and no-one ever came to water them – consequently many have died. There also seems to have been a problem with commissioning the street lighting – no-one knew where the cables had been laid and the land had to be dug up to find them. The central green has also been dug up to put cables in and just left looking dreadful – no-one seems to know when or if it will be returfed.

Jobs on the estate seem to be started and then just left – for example the final section of path leading to the village has been more or less completed and then just left with fencing around it so it cannot be used. There seems to be no desire to complete one job before going off somewhere else and starting something else.

As for property management – we are all paying Gateway for a non-existent play area; electricity for lighting that is not on; roads that are not swept and are very muddy amongst other things. All we ever see done by the management company is occasional grass cutting of communal areas, we are not sure what they are using our money for.

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

We love the local area. Since the path at the side of the development has opened up we can walk to the village in about ten minutes – there isn’t a great number of shops but enough for day to day needs; the Health Centre, community centre/library and Dentists are very convenient and it is lovely to have the Meadows in which to dog walk. It is also nice to be so close to the coast. So far it has been very quiet living where we do (opposite the green) although once the road is opened up there may be a little more traffic. At night it is exceptionally quiet, can hear a little traffic noise from (I presume) the A23 but mainly the only noise we hear is owls! However, there is a bit of a parking issue on the estate – I do not feel enough visitors’ car parking spaces were allowed for in the original plans. At the moment the building contractors are also parking all over the place, particularly on the main Iden Hurst – on bends etc. – which is very dangerous and often causes people to have to reverse when meeting other vehicles on corners. I feel the development needs some road signs warning people to drive slowly coming around the main entrance road as children are often playing there and I would hate there to be an accident. It is particularly dangerous at the entrance to the green, between number 47 and 60 Iden Hurst. Maybe there should be a 20 mile an hour limit?

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

The quality of the garden.

What is the best feature of your home:

Although only a three bedroom house it is spacious and airy and we love the clips on the windows which allow them to be safely left open even when we are out. The heating and hot water system are very efficient.

The design of the development is good, with a variety of house types, brick and roof tiles used to provide variety to the overall look of the development. My criticism of the design would be the width of the roads. They are rather thin and onsite parking can cause congestion, as well as difficulties on accessing/exiting driveways. Also, the external gardens design is exceptionally poor. There seems to be a total lack of external design in terms of drainage and landscaping; only made worse by the building contractor’s inability to clear their rubble/rubbish away before laying turf and a measly amount of top soil. It seems the externals of the development have been total overlooked during the design phase. Made the developer forgets that their customers are also paying for their gardens, and leaving them with swamps will not be accepted by house buyers.

Finally, the Property Management are a waste of time. The amount each house has to pay is ludicrous for the job they do. There is one patch of communal grass at the front, which they have mown 3/4 times in the 9 months we have lived on the development. The fence around the perimeter of this area was removed months ago after residents complained about the dilapidated state of it. After removing it, dangerous metal wire and rods were left protruding from the ground, which could have caused injury to people or animals walking on the adjacent footpath. Residents had to remove/bend these to make it safe. The fence still hasn’t been replaced, and I would estimate this was moved between 4-6 months ago.

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

The local area is brilliant. It’s a 10 minute walk to the local high street and market square. Transport is good with a train station within 15-20 minutes walk, and there are numerous regular bus services. Doctor amenities seem to be widely available, but dentists are few and far between. There is a high school in the town, and another one nearby, as well as a couple of primary schools.
The street is a lovely street to live on. It’s quite, with very little noise from the adjacent industrial estate. The only downside would be the streets are rather narrow, and at the entrance to the street there is a lot of on-street parking that can make it tricky to navigate.

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

Get every single thing discussed put into writing. The sales people will agree to things to get you to sign on the dotted line, without full knowledge or care as to whether it is feasible.

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

The external works. Turf was laid in our garden with a minimal amount of top soil, extensive builders rubble and even spare service installation pipes. When removed, there was a large hole in the ground, which turf had simply been roles over. This filled with water in the winter and created a trampoline-like situation in the middle of our lawn. Similarly, there was no drainage was the ground was solid clay that hadn’t been rotavated. The turf didn’t take to the ground, and we could see the cracked hard ground between the patches of dead grass. The garden flooded repeatedly when it rained, so much so that we had a stream of water flowing from the top of our garden to the bottom and the patio outside our french doors was so flooded that you couldn’t see it.

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

WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE OF HAILSHAM TOWN CENTRE INCLUDING TESCOS, WAITROSE , ASDA AND MANY MORE AND A BUS RIDE OF EASTBOURNE / BRIGHTON.
DEVELOPMENT IS QUIET , BUT WITHOUT STREET LIGHTING AND BINS ARE COLLECTED FORTNIGHTLY. TRAFFIC BUSIER MORNINGS AND AFTERNOONS , SHORT WALK TO BUS STOPS WITH LOCAL SCHOOLS WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE AS ARE DOCTORS SURGERIES AND LOCAL C0-0P.

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

LACK OF CUSTOMER CARE / SERVICE

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

DENIED RESPONSIBILITY / BLAMED CIRCUMSTANCES SUCH AS PROBLEMS WITH FENCING BLAMED ON WEATHER RATHER THAN ENSURE PRODUCT WAS FIT FOR PURPOSE / CONTRACTORS RESTRICTED BY BOVIS NOT WISHING TO INCUR COSTS OF PUTTING THINGS RIGHT! / BOILER LEAK – NOBODY ELSE HAS HAD THIS PROBLEM !

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

Location OK for facilities. Rail and bus links good.Road system completely out of date. Axminster needed a north – south bypass 60 years ago. Missold on the Management Company TP1. On this estate parking is very difficult – I can hardly access my drive because of cars parked opposite. Roads and junctions are narrow and congested. Fast speed of vehicles inappropriate. Rented house next door is a communal situation, lots of noise – it’s like a zoo. Often 6+ cars there at the weekend. People move into their rented houses with 3 cars and one parking space. The ‘anti’ social housing nearby has brought drug running to the estate. The Police presence to combat anything is next to useless. Bovis build quality is barely average, beacuase there seems to be no quality inspection of inept contractors. The customer ‘don’t’ care department exarcerbates the situation, most new owners have unsolved gripes.
Many residents have 2,3, or 4 dogs. I have problems with dogs peeing against my hedge, and I’ve also had their faeces on the gravel.

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

I wish I knew how the area would quickly become an area of unsocialbility. I’m obviously out of step with the modern world, and I know this review will quicly find it’s way to the delete button.

What is the best feature of your home:

I keep my frontage and rear driveways neat and tidy. I sweep outside my house. My house is a credit to the estate, but not because of any input from the developer or indeed the management company – which was enforced upon us.