A guide to living in Northumberland

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

Good plenty of shops nearby asda lidl and aldi pubs only a short distance away and gyms and clubs nearby

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

Don't be pressured into buying and read the small print as this is what gleesons rely on to deny any of your issues

What is the best feature of your home:

It has a roof on but that needs repaired also the quality and workmanship is very poor

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

There aren’t any nearby local shops, parks or even bins around the estate. However we are fairly close to the beach and in a good area for links to various towns so easy to get to places by car

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

They haven’t fixed anything that has been raised by residents

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

We wish we had thought about more location in terms of parks etc as have 2 dogs and don’t have many places to take them

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

Not many places can be reached by walking but are very close to get to via car. Location is ideal as you manage to avoid most traffic. There is also a bus stop close by for those who don't drive. We have a double drive so parking is not an issue. We live at the back of the estate and have no issues with traffic noise. The only issue with noise we have had was that the estate behind ours set off a lot of fireworks around bonfire night. Overall we are very happy in our home.

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

Site Manager, John Turnbull, was excellent. Very thorough and always made himself available to help. Management above him were pretty useless and didn't care about our issues.

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

I wish I knew that our house would not be prioritised and that it would take over a year to build as they placed the equipment on our patch. I also wish I knew that the land would not be flattened so we could prepare for how much work needed to be done on the garden.

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

Blyth is a long dead town, with issues that were conveniently hidden from new buyers during the pandemic. Antisocial behaviour is rife, much of it related to problems with drugs and alcohol. The main road that feeds into the estate (Cowpen Road) is listed as one of the most deprived areas in the North East, with the surrounding estates full of council houses that look as though they should have been condemned long ago! There are shops on the doorstep, however the staff all appear to be typical Blyth residents (i.e. not very intelligent, and incredibly ignorant to boot). The transport links are fine, if you want to take an hour or more to reach the City centre and the like, with a tour of the worst parts of the area thrown in! The spine road in this area is lethal, with accidents and fatalities reported on an almost weekly basis! There are some bars and places to eat, but a visit to the Waterloo is like taking your life in your hands, and that's during the week! I despise this place and everyone in it, and cannot wait to be able to sell my home and move somewhere, anywhere (!) with even a shred more civility than this place. You may get more house for your money in Blyth, but there's a reason for that . . .

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

As stated in other responses (and comments by others) if you have an issue here, you're pretty much on your own. Gleeson will either deny it exists, bodge job to fix it, or just tell you it's your responsibility. They had around 7 different site managers in 18 months, if that tells you anything!

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

Do your research on Blyth. Luckily this estate is on the outskirts, but this area is so deprived it definitely shows. There is constant talk of new jobs, new transport links, regeneration of the town centre, but it will take YEARS for the town to catch up

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

Very convenient for the A189 and commuting to work. Close enough to the town centre and very close to hospital. Traffic noise can be an issue from local youths on bikes. And grass not maintained at front of houses on main road by a different developer.

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

Yes they did however it took some time for some responses.

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

That the strip of land in front of my house was owned by persimmon and that houses would be built on the field adjacent to my drive.