Hanwell Square, W7

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

Hanwell is an excellent area with a real sense of community, great transport links, amazing local businesses and lots of green spaces. There is crime and there have been incidents, including anti social behaviour, but overall I feel safe here. The third party who manage parking at Hanwell Square are very strict with fines etc, which I don't agree with. There is free parking available within the nearby streets, which is convenient. It would be good to have more restaurants where you can have a sit down meal (Chinese, curry house, tapas, pizza etc). However, there are some excellent takeaways and fantastic coffee houses and lovely pubs.

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

I can't think of anything I wish I had known before I moved in. I employed a third party snagging company to inspect my apartment and understood the risks of buying off plan. I feel that I was adequately briefed by the sales team and my solicitor and I did the relevant research and due diligence. I didn't foresee any of the issues with my apartment that would need to be dealt with by the after sales team, but I dealt with issues as and when they arose.

What is the best feature of your home:

Design, aesthetic, configuration, amount of natural daylight and space.

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

The area is overall quite fair, with lots of green spaces around (nature reserve, Elthorne Park, even Hanwell Cemetery itself). The centre of Hanwell, which is a couple of minutes on foot from the development, has a couple of nice coffee shops, and there are several pubs nearby including for good food (such as the W7 Green and the Fox). For transportation, Hanwell station is 8 minutes on foot and on the Elizabeth line, and closer on Hanwell boulevard, you can get several buses, including the SL8 (fast bus) that goes to Ealing Broadway and White City. There are also local supermarkets (Tesco's in Hanwell Square itself, Londis, Sainsbury's and Lidl) and a good bakery and chippy (the Little Wonder and the Golden Chip). The community in general tends to be on the friendly side, with the Hanwell residents in general being able to rally (see below). On the other hand, Hanwell station unfortunately is always bypassed as soon as there is an issue on the Elizabeth line, so you always need to keep an eye on that and be ready to run back and get a bus to Ealing Broadway instead when you discover your 6am train is actually not running. The area also tends to be noisy at times due to the pubs, with a bit of antisocial behaviour at times, and has also recently been targetted for the opening of a slot machine casino (which the residents fortunately managed to stop the Ealing Council from accepting -- see my comment above on the matter of community).

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

This has more to do with my being a first time buyer, rather than with Hanwell Square itself. I wish I had known more at the time about what to look for during my visit a couple of weeks before completing: I did my own snagging myself, and even though I had made a list, and there were no actual dects in hindsight, there were a few cosmetic things I should have added, because once I got the keys, 'cosmetic issues' weren't taken in charge anymore. That said, I'm not sure if it's specific to this development or a widespread practice, because this is my one and only experience of buying my own property.

What is the best feature of your home:

My home is a studio flat, and for such a type of flat, I find it well designed and functional in terms of the kitchen's placement, how the space is divided (partition between the main area and the bedroom area), and how accessible its 'technical' areas are (heating, boiler, router and meters). It's small, but I find it comfortable to live in.

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

Overall, the experience has been quite positive with great access to nature/parks, bus stops, and tube stations. It has plenty of grocery shops like Londis, Sainsbury's, and Lidl. I personally like going to cafes and there are ones that serve quality coffee and have nice, friendly staff. I have not seen any issues around the are.

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

Yes, they have. When I raise an issue, the response is quite quick and clear on what you will do next.

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

Nothing. Everything was made clear to me before moving in.

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

Convenient transport hub: 11 min to Elizabeth line, 20 min by foot / 5 min by bus to Picadilly. Nice area with a few parks, 5 pubs and a number of nice cafes — all within a 10-minute walk. Not very wide selection of groceries: Liddle, small Londis and Sainsbury, though they promise to open a Tesco in the complex. 30-minute walk to Ealing where you have many retail, cafes, and restaurants. And we can order from there :) We are very happy with the location. The only thing is the lack of swimming pools.

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

They responded and fixed something, but not all the snags, at least yet.

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

Our flat is 3% smaller than we expected, which is covered by a 5% allowance in the agreement. That's legit but disappointing considering how much we paid for the property. And we had to check that ourselves, because the developer didn't provide us with measurements

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

Lots of shops and restaurants nearby. The nearest tube station is 25 min walk. Liz line from Hanwell is irregular

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

Yes, but often quite slow. Mostly it’s difficult to know who I’m supposed to talk to

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

The combined heating- how that would work. Management agent and what services would be available