The Astley, M1

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

Lots of good shops and restaurants nearby. right next to aldi. drawback is a lot of building works nearby

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

very quickly via email and app. also available at front desk and are very friendly

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

sound travels slightly from kitchen wall to bedroom. not awful but worth knowing

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

Good: Great reception team. Brilliant Location Secure Bad: No Gym Noise of the bin men and the construction.

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

We’ve had very few issues with maintenance but when we did they were sorted straight away.

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

I wish I would have known how noisy the bin men could be.

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

It's a fantastic place for bars, restaurants or even just working in the city centre! The bin stores etc. Are all easy to use and well managed by the on-site team

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

Everything has been dealt with as quickly as possible and in a very professional manner!

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

I do not have anything to say in this section really, but it's worth knowing that the on-site team are absolutely fantastic!

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

Amazing location and the flats have tons of character but since changing ownership they have really dropped in my eyes. There has been a new hot water supplier meaning our bill has increased over 280% costing £160 a month just in water alone. This frustration has been felt across the building and multiple concerns have been raised yet we have been all plagued by the same generic email from the staff that our bills have gone up due to the price of utilities going up. If this is the case they really need to update the energy performance certificates that are shared with new tenants stating hot water should cost no more then £231 over 3 years. The moth infestation is also horrendous at the moment and the default answer seems to be that it’s a city centre problem. I lived over the road previously with no issues like this.

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

Yes but unfortunately taking weeks. The hot water and moth issue is still ongoing 6 months later

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

Do not move here if you can afford not to. It like cheap but we will be paying over 1.4k in water bills a year now

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

Good: convenient location as it's close to the centre and public transportations. Bad: noisy with constant traffic/sirens, constructions, and shoutings. Slightly unsafe (more so than before) these days, many robberies and break-ins around the area.

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

Raised several issues relating to the building and none were fixed for at least a month, and still aren't. The response was always "they're on it and it'll be fixed the upcoming week", yet nothing was fixed. There was an issue with the community boiler component, and there would be no hot water for the entire building. This was finally fixed and hopefully all good now. The new security team seems okay but not as "caring" as the previous team. The previous team was let go when the landlord changed. They really cared about the residents and went above and beyond. The new security team is average so far, nothing special. They still haven't recruited the new building manager so the future service quality is unclear.

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

Clothes moth infestation in many flats and they have been spotted in the corridors and lifts, so even if it wasn't an issue at first, it could eventually become an issue in your flat. Management was not transparent with how the hot water is billed. We heard that the bill was a set monthly fee, then found out it was based on usage. Because the hot water is via a community boiler, it is a grey area in terms of price caps. The landlord gets to set the rate and daily charge, and the tenants are not protected. If you live in this building, you have to accept these rates yet they don't inform you what they are until your first hot water bill.