A Guide to Living in Bedfordshire

Closest town is Shefford and is best for food shopping, pharmacies and pubs / restaurants.

Quite a lot of anti social behaviour in the village and in this development. New, empty houses have been vandalised, some small fires set around the village, stolen property including cars and more.

Main road sees a lot of speeding and has caused a few issues such as damages to cars.

Immediate neighbours in the development are lovely and a real sense of community. No issues with parking. The odd noisy car / motorbike but otherwise traffic noise is low.

Please review your development:

The development has some beautiful houses and look far nicer than other new builds I’ve seen. Plenty of parking and some green space / a playground available.

Any issues we raised with our property were resolved fairly promptly.

Garden areas are probably the biggest downside – either no or little top soil in the gardens before laying the grass causing issues with very bumpy/unlevel gardens, grass not growing and more. Speaking with neighbours, this is an issue with a lot of houses.

Overall I’d be positive about the development & we’re really pleased we more here, but definitely some areas of improvement visible.

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

probably what the communal areas would be like and what the maintenance costs go towards. Costs seem high for what’s ‘maintained’

What is the best feature of your home:

The house is well insulated so keeps warmer during the winter, feeling more energy efficient.

Please review your development:

We feel that the site is very well designed with all houses having different colour brickwork, rendering, porch and window style which makes it very attractive . Great idea to have a grassed area like a village green with trees. There are still a few bits that need finishing off such as tree planting and neatening of certain areas but most areas are generally complete now . Davidsons are brilliant builders who offer a much more personal service than their competitors and individual design of all the properties adds to the ambience of the surroundings.

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

Heating insufficient in en suite, no bat boxes or gap under garden fence for hedgehogs.

What is the best feature of your home:

decent sized plot with garage, carport and reasonable sized garden and surrounded by open areas

Please review your development:

The overall design of the development is well thought-out and appealing to the eye. Some aspects of the design, however could have been different. For example, our house is the first house around a bend with another road leading onto the bend. This means that traffic can approach from three sides.
The only facility here is a playground for younger children which is not yet open.
The building manager onsite was very helpful. Any issues we had were dealt with promptly by customer services and work was carried out within a reasonable timeframe.
There is a management company for the development that we have not yet seen but have been charged for.
We are impressed with Davidsons overall but not so much the management company as we feel we have been charged unnecessarily as no work has yet been carried out by them. Residents are litter-picking themselves and some ground is yet to be landscaped.

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

We knew that there would be snagging issues. We did not know that the road opposite would have an exit onto our road as on the plan it looked as though it would be blocked off. We didn’t know that the garden would be as large as it is, even looking closely at the plans. It was a lovely surprise.

What is the best feature of your home:

We love the Quartz worktops that we paid extra to have. Bathroom fittings are good quality and the en-suite is a good size. We also love our fitted wardrobes.

Bad:
Some recent anti social behaviour including fires being started, doors being knocked on late at night

Please review your development:

Good:
Great location with very friendly neighbours
Helpful sales staff when they were on site, particularly Victoria
Responsive to snagging emails initially
Wide roads and a spacious development means it doesn’t feel like a cramped new development
All the houses are slightly different which adds character

Bad:
The “wild flower gardens” are just gardens filled with weeds, despite them being dug out, rotavated and re-seeded they are once again just full of weeds.
The maintenance fee is expensive considering there is minimal maintenance that occurs
The park remains closed with mud paths leading to it.
There is access to a public footpath but the access is a mud path which is now being replaced with a sand stone path. The other sand stone paths already in situ just become water logged in the winter months and therefore not friendly for pets or pushchairs/wheelchair accessible.
There are no dog bins or other public bins on site nor anywhere nearby in the village. The closest is up by the village hall.

It seems that since the houses have been finished everything else has been forgotten about

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

More detailed timeframe and plan for the outdoor areas

What is the best feature of your home:

Light and spacious home with character
Excellent garden space
Not overlooked