The Boulevards, CB24

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

Northstowe is still early in development so there are no shops, bars etc. Hopefully we will get a pub at some point, since I believe pubs act as a hub for the community. Transport is great due to the guided busway. Our street is good: no anti-social behaviour as of yet.

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

The houses have been built cheaply, although for a first house they are good starting off points.

Please share one thing (or more) which you would change about your development:

If the houses were built with a little more attention to detail.

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

I’ve been here 2 years and there is still no shops when we was told a year , the roads are absolutely terrible there are pot holes everywhere. The only good thing is Sharn at linden homes customer service she is fantastic and very efficient. The parking in my close is absolutely terrible and people from out side the close park their cars in our spaces .

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

The actual size of my home I was told it would be As big as the show home however it’s so much smaller

What is the best feature of your home:

Big garden , down stairs toilet , having a shed for storage

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

Nice rural surroundings, close to guided busway which allows to cycle to Cambridge and Huntingdon. No shops yet, but frequently food tracks with various international food, fresh bread every Wednesday and local cake store which is great opportunity for small private businesses.

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

We didn’t known that there will be water parks just a street away from us. Linden team didn’t have full visibility of overall development plan for Northstowe so we were just buying a house on the paper without knowledge on the surrounding like parks, cycle paths, connection to guided busway. When speaking to other developers eg Bovis they gave us more insights

Please share one thing (or more) which you would change about your development:

House have great layout except of ground floor, we wanted to have open kitchen dinning living space and asked Linden in early stage to simply not build the wall, they refused justifying that they have to build to the plan. After getting keys we had to knock down the wall ourselves. Few other people on our development did the same, shame that developer does not allow any flexibility to increase functionality of their houses

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

Northstowe is still very much in the early phases of development, therefore facilities are limited. There is a Primary School, Secondary and soon to be Sixth Form, with a new town centre and local centre being built in the future within Northstowe, however due to COVID this has lead to minor delays e.g. opening of the gym studios. Saying this, Longstanton and Willingham being neighbouring villages offers a range of pubs, shops, restaurants etc which are great, while being in very close proximity to one of the biggest Tesco superstores in the country. Transport and location is great. Very close to the A14 with further improvements to come for car drivers and the available of the guided busway is nice, especially if you want to cycle / run / walk etc from Northstowe to Cambridge (Cycling only taking about 30 - 40 mins). One thing I would call out is the pricing of the busway, its super expensive for what it is from Northstowe. Stagecoach really need to review their pricing model as it costs the same to get from Huntingdon to Cambridge than it does from Northstowe to Cambridge. However if you go from Oakington (which is 1 stop (4 mins) closer to Cambridge from Northstowe) the price drastically drops! As for generally living in Northstowe, there is already a sense of community which is nice and for the most part the open spaces, outdoor gym, play areas etc make the development feel 'welcoming'. There are isolated anti-social behaviour incidents, usually from certain tenants. It depends on where your house is situated to how visible / audible these incidents are.

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

Building management to begin with were very attentive and efficient, attending to my initial high priority snags very quickly. However I felt that post-NHBC survey completion the standards have dropped, likely to focus on people that are more recently moved in to ensure good NHBC survey responses. I have several snags, some of which are pretty awful, that have been outstanding for almost 12 months and counting. Admittedly COVID has not helped situations, however construction has taken a lesser hit compared to other industries. I believe the main issue is customer expectation management leading to frustration and negativity towards the developer.

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

I wish I used a professional snagging agency to effectively spot all defects so that these could have been raised and completed before handover / NHBC survey completion early on, so I could enjoy my property more as opposed to getting annoyed at the long standing snags still outstand. Also I wish I had tested the internal airborne noise insulation or the lack there of, as this has been a large bug bear of mine especially when living with a second person.

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

Great superstore 10 minute drive away, local amenities, GP, dentist, schools all easily accessible. Lovely walks or bike rides into school. Guided bus station a short 7-10 minute walk. Open spaces are fantastic - some still in development as to be expected on a new build site. Overall, beautiful surroundings - quiet, but easy access if you need to get to denser areas like the centre of Cambridge City.

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

There's nothing I wish I had known prior to moving in.

Please share one thing (or more) which you would change about your development:

I would not change anything about my property. It's lovely.