Bovis Homes at Boorley Park, SO32

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

We have a young family so were very excited to move to Boorley Park. We have lived here for 3 years now and although the community is lovely and overall we do love living here, there are still barely any facilities that were promised when we moved here. There is a primary school and a tiny playground and a dog park. But the community centre still isn’t open (although apparently it’s close now) the allotments aren’t open and the shop is not even built yet. It will be years until everything that was advertised is here and to be honest even that won’t be true because they had changed plans after the fact (instead of old people’s homes now we will have several apartment buildings by the front of the estate). Not to mention adopting the road. The roads near the primary school are horrendously dangerous and the builders won’t put any traffic calming in. And the council cannot as the roads are not adopted yet. There have been several accidents recently.

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

Snags are still not fully sorted 3 years down the line. It took months to try and sort simple issues and I spent the last couple of months of my maternity leave constantly on the phone or emailing them. It was too stressful so I’ve temporarily given up on them as I just don’t have the time or the energy to fight them anymore. But I will never buy another Bovis (now Vistry) house again.

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

Don’t believe everything the sales people tell you. Any timelines for facilities and any management fees…multiply by 3. And it will be very stressful trying to sort out snags.

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

There are lack of shops in the area, The shops are small and far from home. There is no gym near the area.

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

There were issues but they were managed and fixed really quickely

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

my neighbour's are nice and friendly peaceful.....

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

The area is beautiful and people in the community are friendly and very nice. There is no shops, bar or restaurants in and around the state. If you don't own a car you will feel quite isolated as it is very difficult to go to other areas. Although there is a bus stop at the entrance of the state, journeys are long and there is a long wait between one bus and the next. There is a shopping area 6 minutes by car, but it would be impossible to go walking as there is no pavement. Most of the streets in the state has no proper pavements, if you go for a walk with your children, there will be lots of areas where the pavement ends and you will have to be careful of the cars and it is very dangerous for kids.

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

I wish to know about reliability of the developer.

Please share one thing (or more) which you would change about your development:

Rear and front garden design is very poor, I would change it completely.

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

These are nothing in the area in walking distance. A small community of local shops, GP and dentists would be ideal since this development site is rather large. Also the additional GP and dentist will ease the additional load to the local area. There are also no leisure area for children, no proper cycling lane which is very disappointing since the idea of 3 plus bedroom houses are aiming at families with children.

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

Agree everything on paper, the sales reps were great but the snagging was very poor like most developers/builders. Find out who is responsible and have everything agreed and written so you have evidence if you ever have to go to court for any incomplete work. For example, we were promised the ground will be level before the laws were lay, but that wasn't done and another of excuse were made, so they were waiting for us to get tired and stop asking. I even emailed senior management because they contacted me first but nothing was done.

What is the best feature of your home:

Extra bay windows on the side of the house garage is a good size

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

Local area is lovely with Hedge end and Botley, nice walks and countryside but close enough to the towns for access to shops and travel. Street is great. Its the main road through the estate but its fairly quiet other than a couple of people living in the council flats with messed with cars who like revving their engines at 11pm. Been reported by many residents but nothing has been done. Public transport isn't great yet but I believe it is being improved as we are a little outside the town. But as we both drive its not been a problem as of yet.

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

How difficult snagging would be, I would be onto them from the moment I moved in next time and not do as they advised and wait until the end of the snagging period. By waiting, it just grouped everything together so they could say "oh theres a lot of work to get through it'll take us some time" and just spend the next year putting us off. I understand Covid has put delays on certain indoor tasks, but the tiles on the garage roof leak and they havent even been to look at them!

What is the best feature of your home:

The private drive and garage. Made such a difference to me being able to work from home and store garden items.