Canada Gardens, Wembley Park, HA9

We love the design of the building which looks very elegant and peaceful, as lots of plants around and there’s a pool in front the of the building, which is a nice open space for resting, have a set and walking with pet! Also there are lots of facilities in the building too, like meeting room for work, party room for special events and playroom for the kids.

I had a truly frustrating experience from day one. But to top it all off, when we moved out, we were shocked to see deductions from our deposit for cleaning, despite leaving the flat in a professionally clean and far better condition than we found it

Absolutely fuming with the way we were treated throughout our tenancy. After moving into a flat that was an absolute state - filthy, hazardous, and not fit for living , we’re now being charged for “professional cleaning” and “redecoration”. Are you having a laugh? We were paying good money for comfort, but instead, we were stuck in a dump that hadn’t seen a decent clean in ages. There were serious issues from day one, including leftover “hazardous materials” from the previous tenant. The place was a “health risk”, and none of it was sorted before we moved in. To make matters worse, we lived without curtains for the entire time! Imagine that, no privacy, no shade from the sun, just being left to deal with it. We raised the issue and were promised they’d get replaced after they removed the dirty, stained ones, but did we ever get them? No, we didn’t. Absolute shambles. And now they’ve got the cheek to bill us for cleaning when we left the flat spotless, far better than the state it was handed to us. Unbelievable. We’ve been more than patient, but this is a joke. If you’re thinking about renting from them, avoid at all costs. Worst experience we’ve ever had.

To sum up my experience, if you are looking for a place where you can open your windows on the weekends and peacefully spend some time, Canada Gardens is not the place. And if you are hoping that when you call to say you are bothered by noise, if it is anytime before 11 pm, your request will not be taken seriously. Canada Gardens is a big development with many facilities, many of which are social spaces. Although this mostly means good community spaces, on some occasions the management and control of such social activities go out of hand. Today (3rd of August, 2024), I had a truly disappointing communication with two ladies in the concierge of Canada Gardens, and on top of my previous experiences, I felt the need to write this review so that upper management can hopefully see and address this issue. The event that was taking place in the social space had easily over 50 people, and the residents were notified that there would be a 'wedding party' happening on the premises. There was nonstop music for over 6 hours, and I had no choice but to leave my house. I called the concierge to make a noise complaint around 7 pm (after 3 hours of listening techno music whilst trying to read my book), and they said they could tell people to lower the noise, but they told me they didn't think the music was loud enough, based on completely subjective criteria that they had no basis for, and told me that a 500 GBP payment was made by this party for the use of the space, so they could play music however they wanted. Not only did they completely disregard my complaint, but they also literally told me it was paid for and they would not do anything about it. Even after closing all my windows, I wasn't able to have a reasonably quiet living space due to this nonstop techno music playing during the daytime on a Saturday. It is important to state that there are often many people gathering in this space, and I have no issues the majority of the time. When I close my windows, I won't be bothered. This time I was severely bothered, and even though I told them this, the concierge's response was that based on their subjective opinion, this was okay, and they wouldn't be doing anything about it. They didn't even ask me about my experience and how can they be helpful at all about it. The communication I had with these ladies was unhelpful and showed very bad management capacity on their end when it comes to listening to a resident who is also paying money to have a reasonably quiet and livable home, if this is what it was about, as they stated. My previous experiences with other staff members of the management team were positive, but this is an unacceptable approach to a resident, and I perceived it as very disrespectful to my rights. As a resident, I do expect rules and common sense when it comes to the usage of social spaces, and hopefully, the management will do something about this.

This isn't the first negative review I've left about Quintain Living, and I've been a multi-year tenant since 2021. The first year was relatively peaceful, and minus the odd issues here and there (i.e. Direct Debits not being implemented; double-charges for things), it was a decent first year. DO NOT RENT HERE. The only "luxury" apartments are the penthouse apartments in Canada Gardens, and I'm pretty sure they've been vacant since I moved in, in 2021...as for marketing the overall development as "luxury living" is another blatant lie: it's modern living, not luxury. 1. Utility Rates: Quintain Living makes claims of being able to save you 56% on energy utilities; this is a blatant lie. Prices have been unreasonably high since April 2023 (my unit rate is 42.6p/kW); despite downward trends in the electricity wholesale market. For context, the average p/kWh in London was 33p. Despite the downward trend, Quintain residents were locked in rates going as high as 45.5p/kWh. 2. As a resident, I have no ability to switch utility suppliers, so have been locked into a monopoly run by Quintain Living and their appointed broker, Amber Energy Solutions, with no visibility of whether a competitive tender process was undertaken. I'm pretty sure my consumer rights are being impacted here...and it's taken me well over 2 years to find out who actually does the energy purchasing. Now when I try to call Amber Energy to find out what their Broker Commission is, all of a sudden nobody is available to take the call. Notwithstanding the extortionate rates, the monthly Standing Charge amounts to about £67 - HOW?!?!?! Furthermore, in this age of digitisation and smart meters; I'm still being billed on Estimated Reads. 3. Now let's outline the Quarterly Reconciliations: every 3-4 months you'll be contact by Quintain Accounts staff telling you of a further £300-£400 that they're going to collect for "over consumption" - HOW ARE THESE BUILDINGS EPC BAND B if I'm paying in excess of £3,520/year on electricity in a building that's marketing as "Efficient". And this is on top of the rent of £2,660/month - FOR A 2 BED IN WEMBLEY!!!! This isn't Chelsea/Kensington or even Canary Wharf...it's an old industrial estate near a stadium...hardly a "luxury" location. 4. Tenancy Renewals: according to the .GOV website, if you have a multi-year tenancy with a Landlord, they should inform you 6 months before the end of your lease as to what the renewal should be; with a decent Landlord possibly increasing rent in-line with CPI (currently hovering around 3.8%). My current multi-year lease expires in July, and I have yet to be contacted about my renewal. I've heard instances of Accounts Staff notifying tenants about a renewal 1 month away, with a 45% increase in rent. My current rent is £2,660/month (when it's not a reconciliation month and they add a further £300-£400 to your Direct Debit); so if that increase was to be applied to my renewal, I would be expected to agree to a rent hike to £3,857 - for a 2-bed apartment IN ZONE 4?!?!?!?!?!