Curbridge Meadows, SO30

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

Whiteley centre is brilliant. We love the area just not the builder crest Nicholson. They don’t care and are not returning our calls or emails. We have faults they are not Being resolved

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

Wish I didn’t buy a crest home. My en-suite still broken been easy 2-3 months

What is the best feature of your home:

The space is great and the house does flow well. The lack of drainage in the garden helps with the swimming pool feature crest forgot to mention to us before purchase.

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

No facilities built yet; awaiting parks, shops, bins, some visitor parking spaces incomplete/missed/fenced off. After 6months have just got a road sign. Took many weeks before had door number. Made deliveries very hard to organise/recieve. Still awaiting street lights, temporary solar ones were put in place after a month or so. New plot plan not given to council or utilities, so they did not have our door number registered. Has been long winded manual process to register for garden bin, council tax, and other utilities. After 6months still don't have gas/electric bill, because incorrect meter no. and door no. registered by Crest. Energy Ombudsman says not handling error, point of reg issue. So no compensation. So we suffer, for their mistake. Will get 6+ month bill in one go at some point, in current cost of living, very hard to allow for that.

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

Check house a week before move in. All should be finished and checked. Ask to see check / sign off list from site manager. Check they done their own any check. Check floor stuck down, left 24hrs to dry, then selaant added. Check paint, and sealant dry 24hra before you move in. Check Driveway etc built with drainage in design. Check plot number & design correct on plan in legal paperwork. If it's changed, then ensure developer then re-notifies all those authorities it sent original plan/plot numbers to. Ensure developer registers you're correct elec/gas/solar meter numbers to your address.

What is the best feature of your home:

I really don't know. The experience with Crest has left me sour/numb about whole thing, so I have no positive feelings about house yet still. It's still un-finished, 6months later. The point of buying new build was to avoid disruption of fixing/building works in an existing house, to avoid disruption and upset to our children who have additional needs. And we have had 6months of on and off trades in and out. Caused a lot of unrest in first few months when moved in, we wanted to avoid, and moving house was change enough for kids.

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

So far loving it. The location is absolutely brilliant, it's far enough from the city to have a suburb feel to it but also driving to the city is a breeze. Both Southampton and Portsmouth are only half an hour away in the traffic. The neighborhood itself is within walking distance of Whiteley Shopping mall with all the amenities you will ever need. There are parks around (a few new to be built as part of the development) and a school (one more to come). With the development expanding I can envision some traffic problems later on (on the small roads within the development) but so far never had an issue.

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

Nothing comes to mind. Did thorough research so no surprises on my end.

What is the best feature of your home:

Open space living room thats almost impossible to find in new builds unless custom made.

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

The area of the house is ideal for us. We have the shops close by for food and restaurants which we happen to eat at quite a lot since moving here. There are also lots of good walking places near by which is ideal for our puppy, would ideally like a space for walks on the development however

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

I would have liked to know more about the surrounding area such as good places to walk

What is the best feature of your home:

The windows from the front “study” room are a good feature

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

The location is really convenient for local amenities, with Whiteley and Botley villages within 5 mins drive. Only issue is lack of footpaths to anywhere other than Whiteley.

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

Those in EE phone network will struggle for reception!

What is the best feature of your home:

Fully open plan downstairs living space and solar panels.