Redrow Nightingale Gardens Leicester off-plan anyone purchased?

ArrogantAmbassador

GeekTrek / CherwellRiver -

Glad to hear that things have progressed for you.

Did you experience many snagging issues whilst moving in and in the first month - and were Redrow responsive?

CherwellRiver

To be honest, the snag list wasn't short.

I have to say they would eventually deal with that. But my advice is, make sure you are present when a contractor is coming in to fix it, such that you are able to point out all the defects and the defects are fixed to an acceptable standard.

(And related to my earlier post, I am still without a phone line and internet.)

ArrogantAmbassador

@CherwellRiver - great, thanks!

IrishGypsy

GeekTrek wrote: »

Just goes to show, they were like my best friend prior to exchange, once they got what they wanted they don't really seem that bothered. Bit of a shame. I guess they do have the new Hamilton Site open, so they might be busy with that. But would be good if they kept in touch with us.

Sadly RedRow's after-care service leave a lot to be desired. We've been waiting 6 months now for our mess of a back garden to get fixed so I'm now, sadly, writing a detailed letter (with evidence) to their chairman Steve Morgan to get this (and a host of other stupid issues) resolved once and for all. :mad:

Ultimately it seems that they can't get any of their contractors to stick to any work agreed and even then the quality of finish applied usually leaves a lot to be desired

And the less said about our region's head of 'customer service' the better... :silenced:

bclark

IrishGypsy wrote: »

Sadly RedRow's after-care service leave a lot to be desired. We've been waiting 6 months now for our mess of a back garden to get fixed so I'm now, sadly, writing a detailed letter (with evidence) to their chairman Steve Morgan to get this (and a host of other stupid issues) resolved once and for all. :mad:

Ultimately it seems that they can't get any of their contractors to stick to any work agreed and even then the quality of finish applied usually leaves a lot to be desired

And the less said about our region's head of 'customer service' the better... :silenced:

Don't bother with Steve Morgan as he really isn't involved, each region of Redrow has their own MD so you need to find out who it is and get in contact with them.

IrishGypsy

bclark wrote: »

Don't bother with Steve Morgan as he really isn't involved, each region of Redrow has their own MD so you need to find out who it is and get in contact with them.

Ah, didn't know that so cheers for the heads up.

em_9187

we loved this estate

GeekTrek

We completed in March and moved in right away. The site and neighbours are excellent but beware, the quality of the finish is not that good. Redrow's on site customer service is rubbish. The site managers and all the assistant managers left which caused a complete chaos around here. The managers here openly stated they found better jobs.

DO NOT SIGN THE BLUE BOOK. I made a mistake and signed the blue book as the manager who left promised me in the presence of the new manager that all the remaining snags will get finished within a week (Only a few snags where left). It's been nearly 5 weeks since that day and nothing has been done despite me calling the new manager direct constantly.

When we moved in we had a issues right away. Kitchen unit door falling off, handles falling off, radiators not working, doors not installed properly, vinyls cut incorrectly, cracked slabs, leaks from pipes etc... However we only had around 15 points on our list. Our neighbours nearby had around 200 genuine points on their snag list each.

My advice to all who plan to buy at this site is to check everything before you legally complete. Demand a demo at least 2 weeks before you complete so they have enough time to get everything done and no excuses later. Take a few friends or family members with you so they can help you with checking things. Few points below to check

• Run the taps in every wet room
• Turn the heating on - doesn't matter how warm the weather is, you don't want to be left with no heating in the winter and wait for them to sort out.
• Check all the radiators
• Check for leaks
• Bring a phone charger or a hair dryer and check all power sockets
• Check all internal doors close and open properly
• Check the handles for these doors - Our handles were stiff then eventually jammed and would not move
• Check unit door and handles. Check the hinges and are not damaged
• Check for chips or any other damages on the units inside and out.
• Examine all external doors
• Check the slab conditions - Ours were damaged and cracked so we had them changed

The above list is what I can think of at the moment. The site managers will state they check everything before the demo and that they go through a detailed routine checklist. This is absolutely rubbish as there is no detailed routine checklist. You just have to make sure you do what you have to. At the end of the day it is your property.

Before you complete Redrow will demand £180 for maintenance fee (this is not the £180 admin fee which was stated at the beginning, this is an additional cost). Imagine, on my completion day I had a moving van waiting to move my things and Redrow at this point bought up the charge for the first time and refused to give me keys until I paid the fee. I had to call my solicitors and pay them direct.

Sky TV cannot fit the dish from the loft, they can only drill holes from your property. If you want to use the sky plate from the lounge you will need to get it done privately or through Redrow at the beginning when you make your choices. We were told by the sales team initially all the rooms with TV points will also have sky points too - This was a lie as you only get TV points. Sky points are extra.

The Council tax for all properties is Band E and F, which is a fortune. I have appealed against the decision. Anyone living here should do the same.

If you have solar panels in your property, demand all the paper work so you can start with the FIT tariff right away. We have waiting over 4 months to receive the paperwork which basically means the feed since march has gone to waste.

BT lines have now been sorted. As soon as you have your completion date, arrange to sort out your phone line as it will take Openreach between 2-3 weeks to send out an engineer to activate your line - No fibre optic here though.

Sorry for all the details but I hope the above can help any of you. Wish someone had mentioned this to me before so I would have been prepared. Nevertheless we do enjoy living here and love our house. Obviously we would have preferred a much better experience.

Dolphin696

Does anyone know for the council tax band is for Hamilton gardens? It's not too far from nightingale gardens. We are nearing the completion date and we still don't know how much the council tax will be

silvercar

Dolphin696 wrote: »

Does anyone know for the council tax band is for Hamilton gardens? It's not too far from nightingale gardens. We are nearing the completion date and we still don't know how much the council tax will be

Search for it here:

http://www.voa.gov.uk/cti/InitS.asp?lcn=0

or phone your local council.