Soho Yard, S3

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

Absolutely love living in kelham island. There’s lots of local pubs and restaurants, as well as a variety of coffee shops that suit all tastes. Walking distance from the bus station and train station, though the parking can be a bit of a nightmare.

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

Our maintenance man Terry is absolutely fantastic. He comes over if we ever have any issue, and when I broke my stove top, he not only helped me to get ahold of the right company to have it replaced, but made sure we still had a way to cook until the repairs could be made.

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

The parking situation is a bit abysmal, it’s 100£ a month to fight for space in a dirt lot that gets a bit sheisty during the winter time. The front of office are all very kind and helpful, while still being professional. And it’s very pet friendly, so if you’re not an animal person this may not be the best place for you.

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

Really convenient to the city centre shopping, train station and more. Right next to Kelham island means lots of nearby social spaces. Plenty car parks for visitors. A local Tesco a 2min walk away.

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

Really quick to complete any maintenance for us in the apartment

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

Really good water pressure! The staff can help with anything you need.

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

The apartment buildings are in a great central location within Sheffield, with both the city centre and Kelham Island only short walking distances away. The free city centre bus route is next to the building which is ideal for people wanting to quickly get into the centre and the tram stops are also a short walk away, so nearby transport links are great. Due to its location there are many shops, bars and restaurants residents can walk to. The area felt safe to live in and the building complex area is kept clean and tidy. With it being situated next to a main road you can hear the traffic but it's not too bad, at least from my apartment it wasn't.

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

The building management team were for the most part pretty great and quick with their responses/support. I think there were certainly teething problems to begin with as this was a new build, a new team etc so some things certainly were not communicated the best both prior to moving in and moving out (for transparency I moved out to move in with my partner, not because I didn't enjoy living at Soho Yard which I did). However, the team did their best and were reasonable and open to discussions / feedback so they could better handle things in future. Any issues or problems I raised were mostly sorted out, especially when it came to maintenance with Terry being incredible as always.

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

The main thing for me that ended up being the biggest issue was regarding the hot water. The apartment was already expensive enough as it was, but I was not told prior to moving in we would become liable for the hot water billing. There were constant issues with the water for months, some days we had no running water. For what we were paying, it really wasn't good enough in my opinion. Granted these issues were resolved as quickly as possible, but when you were paying as much as you were for hot water per month and the supplier company where absymal, I would have expected better. I don't think this was handled the best but it would be the only thing I would say was a continuous and frustrating problem. Besides that, the apartment building was the best place I had ever lived in, in all my years of renting.

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

Living right next to Kelham is a great thing, because there's tons of stuff to go and do right on the doorstep, as well as not being so far away from central Sheffield to make walking impossible. So pretty well-situated. Transport links could be a little better, but that's not Soho Yard's fault, the nearest Supertram stops are either at the top of a relatively steep hill about a 10 minute walk away (Castle Square/Fitzalan Square) or the Kelham Island stop which is a much longer trek. The streets are nicely clean, and pretty quiet, but there is a fair amount of noise from the traffic at the junction just past where the buildings are. Not so much to be distracting, but definitely noticeable. We've not noticed any antisocial behaviour so far, which is great considering we used to live close to a popular Spoons in town, which was always alive with people yelling outside. Bins are in a separate room on the ground floor, which is well-ventilated and never smells particularly bad. I was surprised by that when we were shown where the bins were.

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

So far, we've had a couple issues that have been very quickly looked into for us, including, notably, on weekends, when we'd have assumed they'd be slower to respond than usual! They have a very easy WhatsApp chat so you don't have to worry about calling anyone or anything like that.

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

Some of the things _around_ getting in here were a little disappointing to me. Namely, the building management (apologies if I'm blaming the wrong people here!) were really slow to provide information and the tenancy agreement, which led to a mad scramble about 6 days before I was due to move in to sign agreements, set up utilities and find the amount of money they needed in advance, which hadn't been mentioned in the run-up to signing for the apartment. They also only have one company providing the bills for hot water, which is billed separately. That company is slow to respond, and forces you to talk to an AI agent that can decide whether or not you can get a callback from them. Finally, there's only one broadband provider in the building, which isn't _too_ bad considering they'll provide a gigabit line for £20/mo., but it would be nice to have choice when it comes to that, especially for those of us who work from home and would want a business line ideally for redundancy and stability. They're not slow though, and their speeds are largely as advertised at all times of day.

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

Very convenient location, 10 minutes walk to the city centre shops, right next to Kelham Island. Lots of bus routes nearby.

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

Yes, other than a problem with the bedroom window which would't open. This wasn't fixed for several months, but was not a big issue.

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

Go for an apartment that is north or west-facing, as they have great views.