Deptford Foundry, SE14

We must have seen 10 different developments, different areas and price points. Most off-plan so you are essentially judging a new home from a show home, a model and a well trained salesperson. We knew what we were looking for and it wasn’t till we discovered Anthology that we saw something that felt right. The concept of residential, mixed with artist studios (we have a friend here already who is renting studio space with Second Floor Studios), the quality of the build and the whole approach Anthology take is really exceptional. Small things like the way they’ve’ selected furniture for the show flat was in a different league to many other big developers. You could see they cared about the quality of the build and the thought around how this old Metal works site was being reused was obvious.

Communication was flawless during the years between our initial contact, deposit and then the completion process. I must have seen or spoken to 4 or 5 members of the team and all were extremely helpful. There was a slight delay in our building being completed, but this was clearly communicated and I felt if we had any questions, the team at Anthology were quick to answer.

We completed in April 2019 and our move in was effortless. We’re so happy with our new home, the quality and finish is outstanding. Even though the site is still in a construction phase with other buildings being completed, there is already a nice vibe here. The artist studios mean its not the ghost town you get in other new builds. There are frequent private views and I love seeing the work in different studios appear in the windows on my way home. All the staff we’ve met have been great, especially the concierge at Casting House who go out of their way to help.

There is an intuitive online system for reporting any faults or issues in your home and this has proved extremely helpful with swift responses and excellent work on any snagging, which has been minimal.

We love living here already, especially our daily sunsets over the city. The trains are frequent, but the soundproofing of the windows is really good and we’re used to the flow of them already. I know this area is changing, Deptford Market Yard is a good example of that, It feels good to be a part of all that is happening in in this area and we’re looking forward to seeing how Deptford Foundry develops over the coming months and years.

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

We have a Waitrose! Although its a quite a trek from the development its right on the river and with a safe place to lock a bike, its easy to get to with mostly traffic free riding along the Thames path. There are some great places to eat and drink on Deptford High Street and among the arches. Transport links area great, I can get into Shoreditch in under 25mins from here.

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

There is no food waste recycling here yet, it would be good to look into sorting that.

As for Anthology, I would never buy from Anthology again- my main issue being that the tower in the development where my flat is located has creaking walls. The creaking is loud enough to keep you awake at night even at lower wind, this is due lack of screws (a fellow resident had his wall opened and was informed that the noise was due to the lack of screws and metal on metal friction). This is ongoing for the last 8 months, I am unable to sleep and Anthology have done nothing to fix or even provide with a time line of when they will be coming to correct this issue. I have appealed to them as this is impacting my ability to work efficiently as I am a remote worker but most importantly it is impacting my mental health as the stress this issue and many other problems I have had with my flat have fallen on deaf ears (ironically). Considering I live in Cobalt Tower and winter is coming (wind is picking up) you would expect that they would try and take action in correcting this problem, but there is no care for their residents – I have even been told that if the decibels are not over a certain level they will not be looking into fixing the creaking sound.

For the communication I have had so far from Anthology it seems like they are reluctant to fix this as other residents of Cobalt Tower may also want to get the this issue looked at (so far 70% of the residents in Cobalt Tower have complained they have the same loud creaking sound)  and this will come at a cost to them. I have gone as far as speaking to the director who was incredibly rude and did not want to provide a date to when this would be fixed, he did however, tell me that if I was to go public with the issue it would impact the price of our property and it would be our loss and if I am not happy I should go to Premier Guarantee, leaving me feeling trapped and really showing that they will not be looking into fixing this.

I will be posting the creaking recordings I have made on youtube and will add the link to a Google review so that you can understand what we are dealing with!

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

The area is lovely with several places near being developed, therr is a real feel of a community to it. Great links to central London making everything very accessible

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

– Quality of the finishing are poor
– Creaking walls but they will not tell you that at viewing or are willing to provide you with a solution

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

They haven’t, it has been ignored and when not ignored they made sure I felt at fault by blaming me saying I caused the damage. Please avoid Anthology, any of their sites this has been an ongoing issue for the last 8 months so just be warned that this is how Anthology operates!

Anthology have not only delivered an amazing building but almost more importantly have made the experience as stress-free as it could be. Unlike the many other suppliers involved in the process – brokers, solicitors – they seemed to want me to understand what was going on, and help me feel less at risk.

The staff and managers at Anthology have held my hand throughout. When i reserved my flat, i received a letter and a personal phone call from the MD, which was so encouraging. They helped me understand the financial arrangements, even though it isn’t their job to do so. Georgia has been my main point of contact and has been friendly, responsive and efficient with all the many random questions and requests i have sent her way!

They have a series of digitally-delivered services for managing everything about the flat, which is great and just what you’d expect from a modern service. These services don’t always work! But as they manage everything with real, accessible people too, this has never become much of a problem.

There were a series of issues with my heating on moving in – pretty fundamental in December! This was really disappointing, and it was fortunate I had elsewhere to stay. However – Anthology sprang into action immediately to resolve it, and Georgia communicated with me throughout. They did go the extra mile to try to sort it out, and whilst it was a bad start to the move in they did personally apologised to me. I was satisfied with how it was resolved.

The build quality of the flat was above and beyond what i’d seen in dozens of viewings across London. Fitted appliances of a very high grade. No corners have been cut, which you’d be amazed how often you see that in flats priced upward of £430k. There have been snags on moving in, but these have been quickly resolved.

PS the concierges are an absolute godsend. and they are lovely, polite, helpful people.

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

Deptford is great – an up and coming area, with its own little ‘scene’. its a bit on the student-y side, but that’s no bad thing. plenty of nice bars and cafes. the saturday market is outstanding. where the flat itself is located is an 8 minute walk to the nearest tube (new cross). it’s close enough to things to do, but still very quiet. can’t barely hear the nearby railway line. transport takes a bit of getting used to, as there’s no direct tube line so its overground, some limited domestic services and buses. Green spaces nearby – hope to enjoy those when the weather is finally nice!

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

This is more of a general tip about moving into an unfurnished home: I wish I knew how much furniture you have to buy to get set up! It’s really hard to feel at home when you have nothing to sit on…and sofas take literal months to arrive! There are a lot of set up costs in buying storage furniture, chairs, tables, stocking the kitchen etc.
Also I really wish that i had been able to double check all the appliances. I just didn’t have time when we did the ‘home demonstration’. As i mentioned the heating and hot water situation sucked. And it took me a while to figure out some of the appliances. But that’s a smaller thing.

The reality has completely surpassed expectations, and I’ve found the entirety of the process from contracting to buy (almost 2 years ago) through the after-sales cycle, completion and moving in nothing short of flawless from Anthology’s side. Communication and updates throughout the process were genuinely helpful (pay attention to the timelines telling you what you need to think about and when!); moving in was seamless; and, of course, the flat itself is stunning. The finish/workmanship is perfect – no weird wonky bits or cut corners to be found!

What’s been particularly exceptional for me was the level of support, help and care Anthology have provided throughout. Georgia in particular provided relevant and useful updates/timelines right up to completion and was always on hand to quickly, coherently and comprehensively answer any questions/assist with any issues or concerns. And even after moving in the team continue to be helpful – from Georgia answering whatever questions pop into mind to the welcoming and personable concierges and the cleaner who welcomed me as I moved in (even as I traipsed over his newly mopped floors!).

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

Great transport links, being well served by multiple train stations. Trains from New Cross to London Bridge are frequent and not particularly busy (by London standards), even at rush hour. It takes me only 40mins door to door to get to work, which I never thought would be possible for a first time buyer in London.

The area is fine, though local amenities aren’t great (In terms of shops it’s mostly small off-licences in the immediate vicinity. There is a big Sainsbury’s at New Cross Gate, but it’s not that short a walk and closes at 10pm Mon-Sat, with short Sunday hours). Deptford High Street can also feel a bit dead at times. It’s a bit livelier between New Cross and New Cross Gate.

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

– Pay attention to the timelines and considerations Anthology send out so you’ve got your ducks in a row when it comes to completion (my mortgage took way longer than I’d planned for)
– Take advantage of the site visits to start planning furniture shopping (if you don’t own anything) so you can be truly settled in your shiny new flat ASAP
– I regret having not gone to the social events Anthology organised to meet neighbours etc. prior to completion

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

Deptford is the perfect balance of community – with parks, a brilliant market and a friendly locals – as well as pubs bars, restaurants and a burgeoning creative scene of makers, music and more. Commuting to Central and East London is super easy too.

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

Everything was really well communicated, and happened as planned, so genuinely can’t think of anything.

In the run up to completion, I had various queries regarding specific features of the flat and other ad-hod questions. I dealt with various people during this time (particularly Georgia) and I can conclusively say that all of the employees are passionate, diligent and attentive. The person who takes the initial query will make sure they are the person to provide a response, no matter how trivial. This really eased my concerns on the run up to moving in.

The flat itself is great and has all of the high-end appliances you would want when moving into a new property. There’s also pre-installed wifi which can be activated within minutes which also helped smooth the moving in process. Although I haven’t really had any major issues with the condition of the property, there is a user-friendly portal which allows you to efficiently log any defects upon moving in. The couple of minor snagging list items I did have were resolved within 24 hours.

The concierge is really helpful and will accommodate any requests you may have.

Overall, there aren’t any aspects which I can think of which would have improved the buying experience. Thank you Anthology, for making my first property purchase a special one!

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

Situated equal distance between New Cross and Deptford station. As I work in London Bridge, my door to door commute is 20 minutes. Plenty of cool bars and places to eat.

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

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The support provided by Georgia and the team was always very timely, friendly and efficient. Being the sole occupier, and never having bought anywhere before, often meant that I didn’t have another person to bounce-off or ask questions to. Therefore feeling less alone throughout the process was a huge weight off my mind, particularly given some difficulties I was having on the Mortgage side of things which Anthology were very understanding about.

Living in the building itself has met all hopes and expectations. You can report issues, if there are any, via an online portal and they are very quick to follow up. For example, some window glass had been scratched in the build, and the top of a radiator dented slightly. This was fixed very soon after moving in.

In the lead up to moving in, everything was communicated very well, both in terms of the wider development as a whole, but also the spec on the flats and time-lines for getting everyone into their apartments.

Lo and behold, Anthology were running a bit ahead of schedule, and I was in the flat before Christmas.

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

Deptford is great for so many reasons. There’s a quiet cycle route that takes you straight to the heart of London in less than 45mins. There are three key stations (New Cross, New Cross Gate, Deptford). The range of food shops on Deptford High Street continues to delight and surprise. As does the market at the weekends. There’s a theatre, many art spaces, two independent cinemas nearby, restaurants and places for a boogie. You’re also walking distance from Greenwich for spending time outdoors in the park there.

Location: I heard about the Deptford area being ‘rough’ before moving in, and we did recently experience a bike store break-in (thankfully the management quickly responded by applying an extra lock). But other than that it feels perfectly safe and convenient (4-min walk to shops and bus stops). The only downside being it’s slightly far away from any tube (nearest overground is New Cross, 10min walk. Convenient if you’re heading to London Bridge/Cannon Street though).

Service-wise, the sales staff has been very helpful and patient during the quite painful legal process of my flat purchase (more than my solicitor!). After moving in, the customer care team were helpful and responsive, which I appreciate very much. It’s worth noting that the concierge (Terry) is absolutely brilliant and he and the team really helps you to resolve various daily issues.

The repairs of the flats, however, are managed through an online system, and it can be quite slow because you’re not sure when the tickets will get picked up – but eventually things get resolved (just need a bit of patience and chasing). *My flat was a show room, so that might have been the reasons to the various repairs so far (esp window and lights).

Overall I enjoy living here, and I’m sure with the completion of the development early next year, things will get more convenient (hearing about a new cafe and a bar?).

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

The view on the southeast (Deptford) and north (Isle of Dog and O2) of this development was the prime reason for my purchase.

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

Do a thorough check if you are buying an ex-showroom, esp lighting and utilities.

I first contacted the generic sales email on 15th June 2018, with absolutely no idea how I would go about buying a property. I had a rough figure in mind but no contacts to confirm this was even possible. A lovely lady Grace responded to all of my frantic questions, sent me a mortgage advisors contact details and scheduled a time for me to visit the show room. She kindly stayed an hour late on a Sunday to initially show me round, then also arranged a suitable time (late one evening) to walk my parents through the development design & marketing suite. With Grace’s help I had reserved a property by the 28th June 2018.

Following a discussion around affordability, I ended up switching plots. The communication between Torc24 & Anthology made this so much easier. At this point, the fantastic Grace stepped in and guided me through everything, this should have been stressful and exhausting, but instead, it was far from that.

Once everything was all confirmed, I received constant email updates regarding the stage the development was at. I was able to visit the site three times. One of these visits was at a BBQ where I was able to meet other buyers and discuss more details around my soon-to-be home and its current position.

I completed on the 13th December 2018. To my excitement, the completion date was early but there was an option to delay if needed. Everything to do with moving in was booked through the app – move in parking, handover demonstrations and key collection. I ended up collecting my keys after a work event, and concierge waited late to hand them over!!

Grace is still answering my random questions via email, responding within minutes and generally being such a friendly and accommodating person to work with. All in all – a 10/10 service. A service which I doubt can ever be beaten. Thank you so much Anthology!

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

N/A

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

All I can think would be a list of exact measurements for curtain fittings and to help know whether other furnishings will fit before moving in. Grace sent me these very quickly, but it would have been very useful to get a detailed measurement PDF similar to the floor plan to help work out whether furniture would fit etc.

We were regularly kept up to date on the construction and the whole process, from buying to moving into the flat, went very smooth. The concierge, Bintu and Terry, are very friendly and made efforts to learn the resident’s names. Any snagging issues have been dealt with swiftly and professionally.

A tiny complaint would be solicitors which were recommended by Anthology- communication was difficult with them but we understand this is not within Anthology’s control.

All in all we’re very happy with our flat and would highly recommend any new developments by Anthology!

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

There’s a Lidl, Sainsbury, Asda, Iceland, and Tesco within walking distance to the flats and several very good Vietnamese restaurants around. Deptford Yard has some coffee shops, a yoga studio, wine bar and market on Saturdays. Brockley Farmer’s market is a bus ride away and Greenwich park is not too far either.

While there are a lot of transport options, none are less than 5 minutes walk to the flats but it’s not as inconvenient as imagined. With the Bakerloo line planned to arrive by 2030, the area will be better linked and it would be quicker to get to the City. The trains are the quickest way to get to London Bridge but you will be battling for space with the morning/evening work rush hour crowd. Otherwise there are several buses going into the city but would just not be a quick as tube/train.

One point to bear in mind is the proximity of the flats to the rail line. The Overground and trains run along both sides of the development and while you will hear very little with the windows closed, the noise can be quite disrupting with the windows opened. You can get used to it over time but it’s definitely something to consider if you are sensitive to sound.