Countryside at City Fields, WF3

The development is lovely. Situated at the bottom of Nellie Spindler Drive off Neil Fox way, its a little tucked away from the bulk of homes at City Fields, which is to the development’s benefit.
The frontage of the estate is across the road from a protected washlands area/nature reserve so is the only estate in City Fields which will never have other housing developments built opposite/overlooking the front so it does feel quite Countryside-y (excuse the pun).
Due to above nature reserve there are some great quiet walks for walking with family and dogs, and lots of great pubs within walking distance if that’s your thing.
One of the standout features is the design of the houses. They are aesthetically fantastic and the interiors benefit from loads of light thanks to huge Velux roof lights in the kitchen areas and some living rooms.
Some of the less brilliant things are that its still being built around us and some of the outstanding items like block paving the roads have not been completed more than 6 months after people moved in. This is a little frustrating as it brings the overall feel of the estate down somewhat. Countryside need to get on and finish building the roads but their focus is on getting the next phase of the development built it would seem.
That said its still a wonderful, quiet and enjoyable place to live and I’d recommend it to anyone just purely from the design and location.

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

Good:
– Location, location, location. The development is on the doorstep of the Canal and there are loads of beautiful nature walks near by.
– Close to the City Centre. Its a really short drive into the city centre and a reasonable walk if you prefer.
– Quiet. Its nice and quiet on the development and near by.

Not so Good:
– Parking. Every house has a double driveway (I think), but there isn’t really much on street parking.
– Finish. As per all new builds the finish is at times questionable. Countryside have been relatively quick to fix everything but there are parts when we moved in that felt rushed.

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

You need to prepare yourself to spend lots of time chasing up outstanding work and snags as the houses seem to be handed over in pretty poor condition when new. The snags are numerous but generally not serious (I’ve not heard of any massive leaks or movement like with some other developers) but an eye for detail will help you identify where corners have been cut on the finish. For example its worth checking that your walls have had a proper even coat of paint and that woodwork has been sanded and finished properly before being painted.

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

Generally they have been responsive, especially when we first moved in. It has become harder and harder to get snags resolved as more houses are handed over and as mentioned above there are large items outstanding on the estate which keep getting promised but never finished.

3

Facilities

5

Design

5

Location

3

Value

3

Management

Awful. The house wasn’t finished. Too many snags (not typical new build ones either). Every window was scratched severely and needed to be replaced. Bricks missing from sides of house. Front doorframe too big, so door doesn’t fit. Several plumbing issues. Both showers not fitted straight, en-suite shower bar fitted diagonally for some reason. Numerous leaks, including shower, boiler and radiator. Skylights damaged. Different coloured mortar used for the top floor of the house. Groundwork not finished surrounding property. Road is still unfinished, feels like your going off-roading when you’re driving out of the estate. Site manager said he’d quickly get things sorted, but we never heard from him again. Customer care team eventually fixed most problems after only sending one man once a week who disappeared for hours at a time. It was only when we spoke to the regional manager that a team was sent out to fix the issues. Still finding more however, but prepared to go to the CEO and even the NHBC if needed.

Over the moon with my property! I can’t thank Countryside Properties at CityFields enough. The whole experience from start to finish has been amazing. The sales team kept in touch with regular updates through the build process, and are still happy to help with anything now I’ve moved in. The site team introduced themselves when I moved in and said if I need anything at all just ask, the builders/workmen are friendly and respectful, the aftercare team have been absolutely on the ball. You have to expect snagging with any new build but I honestly had very little, and what I did have they resolved immediately, and when I say immediately, I sent an email in the evening and first thing the next morning they turned up with my email in hand ready to go through the list and rectified it all straight away. Then rang me to check everybody turned up and that I’m happy with everything. I really can’t fault this company at all, it’s a breath of fresh air (this is not my first new build, persimmon homes was a complete nightmare!!) my new home is beautiful, finished to a high standard and I just know I’m going to be happy here for many years to come. Thank you to the whole team….finally we have a building company that thinks about its customers and not just it’s bank balance!!!! Everybody else should take a leaf out of countryside properties books!!! Oh!…and what you pay extra for with other builders all comes as standard with this builder! I could just keep writing, I’m so happy, thank you once again ?xxx

The development itself I feel is a good design, with plenty of space which I don’t feel is standard across the board. The builder seems to be prioritising the building of the rest of the estate over laying the road which makes business sense I suppose but not ideal for residents. The guys who manage the customer service and sales side of things are great. Any problems seem to come from unprofessional contractors who don’t have any pride in what they do. I’d still recommend countryside to others, we are very happy with our house and it’s location on the estate.

The house is nicely designed; just the finish on the building was awful. We had a professional snagging report completed that picked up over 150 different issues, from wonky walls internal and external, to handles not put on the right way, all windows need replacing as scratched, walls not plastered and last week countryside even came round to say the fence post are in the wrong place and we will lose 1.5 metre of garden. You can tell the house was rushed with no inspection or site management from the countryside. Communication on site is terrible; nothing gets done without sending chaser emails after chaser email.
Would not recommend buying at all.

Really like the kitchen allowing lots of light. The modern design is an advantage. Energy efficient appliances and spacious room.
Reasonable sized front and back gardens.
Moderate size rooms although good quality materials.
Garage is spacious, the only disadvantage is a narrow garage door.