Hunter's Meadow, PH3

I love the layout of our development, many different styles of houses clustered about, gives it great character. Not keen on the factor fee being mandatory, feel it’s vey expensive for what it provides. Stewart Milne are very clever about when informing you of this factor fee as well, right when your signing the contract. We weren’t alone with this experience, spoke to other home owners in the area who had the same experience. I do love our home but it’s not been plane sailing. The design of the property is great but the finish of the workmanship isn’t the best, like pointing on the brickwork for example, very sloppy. The house had many snags which is expected with a new property however the timeline for getting these issues resolved is ridiculous. They did eventually rectify nearly all the issues but although sorting some without issue I had to fight tooth & nail to get other things resolved. There is still a few minor things that never got sorted but I gave up in the end. I found the aftercare horrific, no interest in actually getting things dealt with, bend over backwards for you until the ink on the contracts dry then you a very much not a priority anymore. Again I’m not alone I. This experience, spoke to many neighbours who have had identical experiences. Being from the construction industry I’m aware that quality of workmanship in the new builds isn’t the best at times. Would I buy this house again knowing what I know now, it’s hard to say. I’m happy now but was the road here worth it ? I honestly don’t know if it was.

We think design of all the houses are great, we love that the houses are all slightly different and the way they have used all the space. We like the existing and planned green spaces along with the trees that have been planted across the development.

The design is thoughtfully considered overall. Although there is an unmarked junction on Eagle Avenue which appears poorly thought through, no one knows when to go and who should be waiting for who. There's also a lack of traffic calming sleeping policemen on Eagle Avenue which means some drivers treat it like a speed circuit. Some ramps would mitigate this. The factors that have been appointed do a very basic job and do not offer value for money. Facilities do not exist yet, other than those available in the town itself. I am aware that the developer intends to put in sport/recreation facilities. This would be a welcomed move and should happen as quickly as possible.

We chose our house for the design and the large family space at the rear. We have a south facing garden and are fortunate to have the sun most of the day - if I could lift and lay our house away from the main road, it would have a perfect location! Unfortunately we’ve not been blessed with a problem free build - sub standard contractors have left us with a list of defects that we are still trying to resolve over 2 years later. The Covid excuse is wearing a bit thin. It appears that you are treated as a customer up until the time you hand over the funds, and then after that, you are just a nuisance. Post sales customer service doesn’t really exist - no-one answers the phone, you can only phone on certain days - and emails just disappear into a black hole. We have to do all the chasing and it gets so frustrating having to repeat yourself time and time again as records and photographs have gone missing. I get the impression that they hope you will eventually give up, but when you’ve paid almost £300k for a new house, it’s only reasonable to expect a certain degree of workmanship that was promised in the glossy brochures and sales talk. Unfortunately when you start discovering the wiring, piping and timber work is wrong, it makes it difficult to find a solution as the house has been built around it! That’s what makes it even more annoying when you are phoning to chase for the umpteenth time about the non-structural defects - cupboards, worktops, loose bannister. I’m concerned how a lot of these defects and problems passed quality checks.

Hunters Meadow development is really well-thought out and there is great community spirit. I am extremely happy with the design of my house and the overall build quality. I think the pricing was fair and I was very pleased that it included a fully fenced and turfed garden. In the early stages, snagging in the house was picked up on immediately by the site team and you couldn't fault their friendliness, either. Be warned, however, that once 30 days are past, you are transferred from the site team to customer services. I use 'customer services' in the loosest sense of the term, as it is non-existent. After a formal complaint to a board director, I finally received contact from customer services. I hope that future dealings - i.e. once I've been here for 18 months and will be booking fixes for cracks and wall-pops due to natural settlement - will go more smoothly. We each have two allocated parking spaces, which are nearly always respected, but they are not marked, which is slightly inconvenient.