Meadow Park Housing Development - Survey Results

[Meadowparkresidents]

This is just a summary of the survey results. The report is much more detailed and contains many comments from the residents which provide more insight into the results.

If you would like a copy of the full report please send an email to Meadowparkresidents@outlook.com

RESULTS OF A RECENT RESIDENTS-ONLY SURVEY, CONDUCTED BY THE RESIDENTS OF THE NEW HOUSING DEVELOPMENT AT:
MEADOW PARK,
HOLMER,
HEREFORD,
HEREFORDSHIRE,
HR1 1RD

Circulation
This report has been sent to the following people/organisations:
Andrew Doyle – Deputy Editor, Hereford Times

Colin James - Admin at Hereford Voice
Jesse Norman MP –Hereford and South Herefordshire
Bill Wiggin MP – North Herefordshire
Andrew Round – Ward Councillor – Holmer
Mark Millmore – Chairman – Holmer and Shelwick Parish Council
Councillor A W Johnson - Leader - Herefordshire Council
Marc Willimont –Head of Development Management & Environmental Health - Herefordshire Council
Colin Cole - Chief Executive - Lioncourt Homes
Denis Thompson –Chairman - Fortis Living
Guy Weston – Group Chief Executive –Fortis Living
Housing Ombudsman Service

Background
Meadow Park is a new housing development in Holmer, Hereford built by Lioncourt Homes.
It comprises 34 properties.
32 are occupied, 1 is still to be sold and 1 is still being built.
The site was originally planned to have only 33 properties, the 34th property was added to the site plans later on, hence it is still being built.
On the site there are 12 Housing Association Properties (Fortis Living/Festival Housing).
6 of these are Shared Ownership and 6 are rented.

 

Survey
Now that the majority of the residents have been living on the site for between 6 months and 18months it was decided amongst us to conduct a survey of the residents.
This would allow us to provide group feedback to all of the parties responsible for or involved in the planning and development of Meadow Park; and future developments planned for Herefordshire.
Residents were asked 20 questions and the results can be found in this report.
They were also asked to elaborate on their answers and their comments can also be found in this report.
The hope was that if any problems/issue were identified the relevant organisations could help us to resolve them.
Also any good feedback could be passed onto those involved.
If nothing else, we thought that the results would be useful to those involved with the Strategy and development and Implementation of the Housing Strategy for Herefordshire.
If mistakes had been made, we didn’t want them repeated elsewhere on future developments.
 

Key Findings
32 surveys were distributed to the 32 occupied properties.
21 completed surveys were returned (66% survey response rate)

• 86% of respondents want streetlights installed on the estate
• 71% of respondents think there is insufficient car parking for residents
• 100% of respondents think there is insufficient car parking for visitors
• 76% of respondents think there is insufficient space to allow for vehicles to turn, access or exit parking spaces
• Roughly Half of respondents like the new junction as it is, the other half would like it changed
• 57% of respondents would like planning restrictions on the site to be relaxed for external changes
• 62% of respondents were satisfied with the completion on time of their home
• 81% of respondents were satisfied with the handover process on moving in day
• 67% of respondents were satisfied with the condition of their home on moving in day
• 100% of respondents reported snags/defects
• 81% of respondents reported 6 or more defects, 43% reported 11 or more defects
• Roughly half of respondents are satisfied with the service provided by the developer/housing association since moving in, the other are not
• 76% of respondents are satisfied with internal design and layout of their new home.
• 72% of respondents are satisfied with the external design and layout of their new home
• 62% were satisfied with the finish/quality of their new home
• 76% would still buy/rent this property now they have lived there
• 67% would recommend the developer/housing association to a friend
• 33% said they were given enough information about the house/estate before moving in
• Roughly half of respondents thought that the plans and marketing packs provided before moving in were representative of the estate, the other half said they were not.
• 90% of respondents had to wait over 3 months for phone line/broadband. 81% had to wait over 6 months. 38% had to wait over a year.

[Roger]

 71% of respondents think there is insufficient car parking for residents

100% of respondents think there is insufficient car parking for visitors

76% of respondents think there is insufficient space to allow for vehicles to turn, access or exit parking spaces

 

I don't think that area is on google street view yet but I think Green Wilding Rd is nearby and that looks very narrow for a residential area. In any event 100% of replies saying visitor parking is insufficient means that it must be!

 

[Victor Wright]

 

This is just a summary of the survey results. The report is much more detailed and contains many comments from the residents which provide more insight into the results.

 

If you would like a copy of the full report please send an email to Meadowparkresidents@outlook.com

 

RESULTS OF A RECENT RESIDENTS-ONLY SURVEY, CONDUCTED BY THE RESIDENTS OF THE NEW HOUSING DEVELOPMENT AT:

MEADOW PARK,

HOLMER,

HEREFORD,

HEREFORDSHIRE,

HR1 1RD

 

Circulation

This report has been sent to the following people/organisations:

Andrew Doyle – Deputy Editor, Hereford Times

Colin James - Admin at Hereford Voice

Jesse Norman MP –Hereford and South Herefordshire

Bill Wiggin MP – North Herefordshire

Andrew Round – Ward Councillor – Holmer

Mark Millmore – Chairman – Holmer and Shelwick Parish Council

Councillor A W Johnson - Leader - Herefordshire Council

Marc Willimont –Head of Development Management & Environmental Health - Herefordshire Council

Colin Cole - Chief Executive - Lioncourt Homes

Denis Thompson –Chairman - Fortis Living

Guy Weston – Group Chief Executive –Fortis Living

Housing Ombudsman Service

 

Background

Meadow Park is a new housing development in Holmer, Hereford built by Lioncourt Homes.

It comprises 34 properties.

32 are occupied, 1 is still to be sold and 1 is still being built.

The site was originally planned to have only 33 properties, the 34th property was added to the site plans later on, hence it is still being built.

On the site there are 12 Housing Association Properties (Fortis Living/Festival Housing).

6 of these are Shared Ownership and 6 are rented.

 

Survey

Now that the majority of the residents have been living on the site for between 6 months and 18months it was decided amongst us to conduct a survey of the residents.

This would allow us to provide group feedback to all of the parties responsible for or involved in the planning and development of Meadow Park; and future developments planned for Herefordshire.

Residents were asked 20 questions and the results can be found in this report.

They were also asked to elaborate on their answers and their comments can also be found in this report.

The hope was that if any problems/issue were identified the relevant organisations could help us to resolve them.

Also any good feedback could be passed onto those involved.

If nothing else, we thought that the results would be useful to those involved with the Strategy and development and Implementation of the Housing Strategy for Herefordshire.

If mistakes had been made, we didn’t want them repeated elsewhere on future developments.

 

Key Findings

32 surveys were distributed to the 32 occupied properties.

21 completed surveys were returned (66% survey response rate)

• 86% of respondents want streetlights installed on the estate
• 71% of respondents think there is insufficient car parking for residents
• 100% of respondents think there is insufficient car parking for visitors
• 76% of respondents think there is insufficient space to allow for vehicles to turn, access or exit parking spaces
• Roughly Half of respondents like the new junction as it is, the other half would like it changed
• 57% of respondents would like planning restrictions on the site to be relaxed for external changes
• 62% of respondents were satisfied with the completion on time of their home
• 81% of respondents were satisfied with the handover process on moving in day
• 67% of respondents were satisfied with the condition of their home on moving in day
• 100% of respondents reported snags/defects
• 81% of respondents reported 6 or more defects, 43% reported 11 or more defects
• Roughly half of respondents are satisfied with the service provided by the developer/housing association since moving in, the other are not
• 76% of respondents are satisfied with internal design and layout of their new home.
• 72% of respondents are satisfied with the external design and layout of their new home
• 62% were satisfied with the finish/quality of their new home
• 76% would still buy/rent this property now they have lived there
• 67% would recommend the developer/housing association to a friend
• 33% said they were given enough information about the house/estate before moving in
• Roughly half of respondents thought that the plans and marketing packs provided before moving in were representative of the estate, the other half said they were not.
• 90% of respondents had to wait over 3 months for phone line/broadband. 81% had to wait over 6 months. 38% had to wait over a year.

 

First of all I would like to welcome you to Hereford Voice, it is always nice to see and welcome new members.

 

This is an interesting survey and fair play to you all for taking the time to documents your findings.

 

1. Snags and defects are quite normal with any new build. 

2. Were potential buyers not given a layout of what parking would be provided before they purchased their properties? I notice that 33% have said that they were given enough information prior to moving in, so from my understanding the remaining 67% either purchased or have rented a property without seeing or fully understanding the full layout? (taking into account that for the purchasers this is probably biggest investment in their lives) Or are these people suggesting that the plans have changed?

3. Broadband is down to BT or your ISP, I have never known it be the responsibility of the developer in fairness.

[Denise Lloyd]

On every new housing development parking will be a problem in an attempt to encourage people to use different methods of transport.  I think it works out on average about 2.2 cars/household that is taken over an development with 1/2/3 and 4 bedroomed houses.  The visitors car park is very limited on new builds.  People have cars and trade vehicles so parking is going to be more and more squeezed.

[Mike76]

I don't think that area is on google street view yet but I think Green Wilding Rd is nearby and that looks very narrow for a residential area. In any event 100% of replies saying visitor parking is insufficient means that it must be!

 

Roger,

 

Yes the pictures of Green Wilding road is a good example of the streets at Meadow Park. There is no provision for visitors parking on the site, just parking for residents and not enough of that either. On street parking is the norm making access a nightmare, especially at night with no streetlights at all on the estate.

[Mike76]

On every new housing development parking will be a problem in an attempt to encourage people to use different methods of transport.  I think it works out on average about 2.2 cars/household that is taken over an development with 1/2/3 and 4 bedroomed houses.  The visitors car park is very limited on new builds.  People have cars and trade vehicles so parking is going to be more and more squeezed.

I support the policy to encourage different modes of transport,I walk to work, but there needs to be a robust transfer plan and infrastructure in place to support it. Meadow Park is basically a rural housing estate, it is not in the city centre, people who live there will have cars as will their visitors. The estate is not on a bus route. The nearest bus route is probably a mile away. If thetlre is a bus to catch with the timetable cuts? The site has very few pavements and no streetlighting at all. The same can be said for Attwood Lane, which is dangerous ro walk on at rush hour. Or in the dark. This does nothing to encourage pedestrians or cyclists, especially young families for whom the estate was built for ( 12 houses are housing association). The train station is several miles away. Where are the cycle paths? If the council genuinly wanted to discourage the car at this estate, they should have had a joined up transport plan to go with it. This site has been planned and built from scratch. These things should have been put in place to support it. It looks like the 2.2 space rule has been applied here, but something has gone wrong as we live in a 3 bed and have 2 spaces, fine with us( if we could get to them), but there are several 4 beds on the estate with 1 parking space and a garage( which is too snall to park in). All 4 beds will have 2 cars or more, where are there visitors to park? Where is the sense in planning like that? I can only assume greed has driven the decision to squeeze as many houses as possible on to a small site.

[Denise Lloyd]

I agree with you Mike my comments were merely a civilian's comments and from I have learnt from planning applications.  We in Kingstone are having a 35 house development stuck onto our cul de sac with the same small amount of parking spaces being made available to the new houses.  In fullness of time the cars from the new development will be parking all the way along the existing road - it will be chaos but that is planning nowadays!

 

Is anybody chasing up about the street lights and pavements?

[Mike76]

First of all I would like to welcome you to Hereford Voice, it is always nice to see and welcome new members.

 

This is an interesting survey and fair play to you all for taking the time to documents your findings.

 

1. Snags and defects are quite normal with any new build. 

2. Were potential buyers not given a layout of what parking would be provided before they purchased their properties? I notice that 33% have said that they were given enough information prior to moving in, so from my understanding the remaining 67% either purchased or have rented a property without seeing or fully understanding the full layout? (taking into account that for the purchasers this is probably biggest investment in their lives) Or are these people suggesting that the plans have changed?

3. Broadband is down to BT or your ISP, I have never known it be the responsibility of the developer in fairness.

1. Yes we all expected snags and defects, but not quite the number we have had 16 plus in some of our cases. Made much worse by how long it has taken to get them fixed or not in some cases. Some are still not fixed now. Yes some are minor, but to not have a working shower for two weeksand then no working bath for another fortnight when you have two children under 5 is unacceptable. The repairs service has been appalling for lots of people on the site.

 

2. No plans haven't been changed. Most of us bought off plan, but have had very little info given to us. Plans not to scale, computer generated drawings, plans of just your own plot. No full picture. A lot of us are in housing association properties, so information from them was even worse. Yes maybe we have been naive, but most of us had no idea where to get plans from. As for the housing association properties, should they not shoulder some rsponsibility too as these houses are their assets too and they have let the external layout remain as planned and unchallenged. Somebody was going to live in these houses, the housing association should have protected its tenants interests. .Surely the agencies involved with the planning and development should have used some common sense as they had the full picture. They could see that what they were building had issues and still didnt change it.

 

3. Openreach blamed developer for not installing correct infrastructure on the site and on time. Developer blamed openreach. We were all stuck in the middle not knowing who to believe and until Bill Wiggin MP got involved it didnt get sorted. To wait a year for phoneline line and broadband is unacceptable. The developer should have sorted the issues. They were quick enough to take peoples money for the houses that weren't finished.

[Mike76]

I agree with you Mike my comments were merely a civilian's comments and from I have learnt from planning applications.  We in Kingstone are having a 35 house development stuck onto our cul de sac with the same small amount of parking spaces being made available to the new houses.  In fullness of time the cars from the new development will be parking all the way along the existing road - it will be chaos but that is planning nowadays!

 

Is anybody chasing up about the street lights and pavements?

Thanks Denise.

Parish council chairman has been in touch. Has put streetlights on agenda for next meeting. Not hopeful though. Parish council opposed street lights when plans were approved. Also are their funds to install them and can we install them now all the plots are sold?

 

Planning does seem to be chas, where is the common sense!

[Denise Lloyd]

Mike do you attend the Parish Council meetings? 

[Mike76]

Mike do you attend the Parish Council meetings?

 

From next month I will do.

[Roger]

there are several 4 beds on the estate with 1 parking space and a garage( which is too snall to park in). All 4 beds will have 2 cars or more, where are there visitors to park? Where is the sense in planning like that? I can only assume greed has driven the decision to squeeze as many houses as possible on to a small site.

 

How big are the front gardens/pavements on these 3/4 bed properties? Have any got room to build an extension down the line? 

[megilleland]

How big are the front gardens/pavements on these 3/4 bed properties? Have any got room to build an extension down the line? 

 

Front gardens are usually the first thing to go in order to park cars literally on your door step. Dig it all up and cover it in tons of gravel - very imaginative. Think of the time saved each morning when you can step out of the front door into your mobile living room.  Oh, there are garages, but few people will use them for cars. They usually fill them up with stored items when their attics are full. 

 

[ragwert]

Parking provision for each house is 2 .
Roads are deliberately narrow to deter parking.

[Roger]

and a garage( which is too snall to park in

 

House Garages in HR1 that were built in the 50's were never big enough as parking areas. So one's built today are just pointless add on's to properties. They are not going to be bigger are they? [garages] I knocked my pointless garage thru and moved the space into the house ....

[Mike76]

How big are the front gardens/pavements on these 3/4 bed properties? Have any got room to build an extension down the line?

 

We are shared ownership. No money to pay to turn to make home improvements and require housing association permission and planning permission if we did. If we had funds, priority would be to increase share in property and reduce rent, rather than pay for improvements! :-(

[dippyhippy]

Hello Mike, welcome to the forum!

 

I went with a friend to have a look around these houses. Very spacious inside, and pretty pricey! I recall the sales lady at the show house mentioning that most had been sold off plan. I think there were only a couple available when we visited.
 

 

The narrow roads were the one thing that really put her off. She'd previously viewed houses on Venns Lane, in the development by Point 4. These have narrow roads also. Combined with the fact that there are three storey properties, she said the whole development felt claustrophobic. I was interested to read Ragwerts comment that this is done deliberately... not to save space, as such, but to deter parking.

 

It's a real shame that properties are squeezed in like this. At least in your area you seem to have got to know your new neighbours fairly well, which must make for quite a good community feel. It sounds as if should there be battles ahead, you can at least put on a united front!

 

I think the shared ownership schemes are brilliant. When my brother moved back to the area a few years ago, he was shocked at how much house prices had gone up. This scheme has allowed him to get onto the housing ladder now he's back here.

[Mike76]

Hello Mike, welcome to the forum!

 

I went with a friend to have a look around these houses. Very spacious inside, and pretty pricey! I recall the sales lady at the show house mentioning that most had been sold off plan. I think there were only a couple available when we visited.

 

 

The narrow roads were the one thing that really put her off. She'd previously viewed houses on Venns Lane, in the development by Point 4. These have narrow roads also. Combined with the fact that there are three storey properties, she said the whole development felt claustrophobic. I was interested to read Ragwerts comment that this is done deliberately... not to save space, as such, but to deter parking.

 

It's a real shame that properties are squeezed in like this. At least in your area you seem to have got to know your new neighbours fairly well, which must make for quite a good community feel. It sounds as if should there be battles ahead, you can at least put on a united front!

 

I think the shared ownership schemes are brilliant. When my brother moved back to the area a few years ago, he was shocked at how much house prices had gone up. This scheme has allowed him to get onto the housing ladder now he's back here.

Hi, thanks for the welcome.

 

Yes the houses are spacious inside, but yes pricey. We bought ours shared ownership so were lucky in that respect, but the extetnal layout of the estate is a nightmare for all. Neighbours are great. It is a small estate and we all seem to be getting on well, despite the issues, it has the feel of a nice community, but not sure how long that will continue with tge parking issues and damage being caused to property from parking and driving over verges. Shared ownership is a great scheme, but the planners/Housing Association has not been diligent enough to ensure those in housing need were protected from the issues on the site.

[Mike76]

House Garages in HR1 that were built in the 50's were never big enough as parking areas. So one's built today are just pointless add on's to properties. They are not going to be bigger are they? [garages] I knocked my pointless garage thru and moved the space into the house ....

Yeah the garages are pointless.

 

Most are being used for storage as too small to park in and are too far from houses to convert them, to extend the house. Most people would probably swap them for bigger gardens or parking spaces now they have moved in.

[Roger]

This issue is rumbling about on the HT website today .... Link

[Colin James]

This issue is rumbling about on the HT website today .... Link

 

Took a while to get to the HT considering it was posted here mid Feb

[Mike76]

Yes it did take Hereford Times a long time to publish an article. They also seem to have focused just on the developer and not the Council and the Housing Association. Please see response to article I have just sent to Hereford Times. I also sent a copy to the developer as well:

 

"Dear Hereford Times,

Bit disappointed that the article did not even mention Fortis Living and contained no response from Herefordshire council?? Lioncourt Homes welcomed the feedback and did actually meet with us. They have been helpful since. At the end of the day they only built what they were allowed to by the council. They are a business after all.

The actual houses are very good quality. The problems lie with the external areas. The individual plot plans that people received did not give people the full picture of how tight the space is on the estate.

In my opinion Lioncourt should not have been the only focus of the article. Herefordshire Council and Fortis Living should have been the main focus. They are publicly accountable bodies who have made serious mistakes with the Meadow Park development and the main purpose of the survey was to provide feedback and prevent these mistakes being repeated on future developments. This feedback was also intended for the Planners at the Council and Housing Association (Fortis Living) as well as the developer, amongst others.

It should have been pointed out that 12 of the houses on the estate are rented or shared ownership properties owned wholly or partly by Fortis Living and the tenants/owners of these properties had little or no information and little or no choice about moving to the estate. We all had to sign up months before a single brick had been laid. All of these people were assesed as being in "housing need". They cannot afford to buy/ rent on the open market, so should have been protected/supported by the Housing Association/ Council from the mistakes that have been made. For example External plans were not to scale, if given at all. Site visit were not given until we had exchanged contracts/signed tenancy agreements.

If only there had just been the foresight to build one or two fewer houses with enough parking for residents and visitors, along with streetlights and pavements, this otherwise great estate with fantastic residents would have been perfect. We know there is very little they can do to change the estate now it is finished, although hopefully we can get some streetlights - a petition with 50 residents signatures has been presented to Parish Council.

Yes at the end of the day it is buyer beware, but we just wanted to try and make sure future developments take note of our feedback. If we didn't say something it could/would just happen again on the next development in Herefordshire."