Placefirst, The Oaks

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

The area is very quiet and feels safe, which makes it a pleasant place to live. There is a bus stop nearby with frequent services, and it only takes a short time to reach Durham city centre, making commuting very convenient. I have not experienced any anti-social behaviour, and traffic noise is generally low. The only downside is the public EV charging point within the development. At around 60p per kWh, it is much more expensive than many other public chargers in the area and does not offer good value for residents with electric vehicles. It would be great if the charging price could be reduced in the future.

How has the building management responded to any problems or issues you have raised:

Whenever I have reported an issue or had a question, the management team has been helpful and professional. They responded within a reasonable time and kept me informed throughout the process. The issues I raised were resolved satisfactorily, and communication has generally been clear and efficient.

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

I wish I had known that the on-site EV charging point costs around 60p per kWh, which is more expensive than many other public chargers in the area. If you own an electric vehicle, it is worth comparing charging options before relying on the charger within the development. Apart from that, I have found The Oaks to be a quiet, safe and enjoyable place to live.

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

It's a lovely place to live. There is everything you need in the village which is only 10 minutes walk. Really quiet area too!

How has the building management responded to any problems or issues you have raised:

No issues so far but I feel confident that they would be resolved without any difficulty

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

I wish I had known about your developments sooner! There's literally nothing I can fault so far.

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

I have absolutely no bad reviews to give about this area, the shops are all great, co-op, butchers, bakers, hairdressers, post office, dentist, doctors,chemist, and other shops close at hand, I haven't tried the pubs yet, but its on my list, parking is good, not sure about public transport as I use my car, overall its a very quiet peaceful area, just what I was looking for.

How has the building management responded to any problems or issues you have raised:

Only thing i can really respond to here is about my bins as I don't have any, this is because this bungalow was used as an office by the manager, and it has not yet been registered on the council site yet, so I cant get my council tax or my bins until this has been sorted, thanks

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

I have absolutely no bad things to add here as the company have been excellent right from the start, I am really happy and pleased to be in this bungalow, thanks.

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

In our latter years we were looking to downsize to a two bedroom bungalow (no stairs!). Most of the nearby affordable for sale bungalows were old style and required a lot of expensive work whereas other, more modern ones, had a price to match. We decided to look at new build, long term rental solution and visited the show bungalow at The Oaks a year gone November.

How has the building management responded to any problems or issues you have raised:

Reporting via web easy with provision to add photos. Had a couple of new build issues one was completely resolved but other was only a cheap work around solution. Feel that there is an element of interpretation in actioning of reported issues.

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

Inadequate parking* - especially for older residents with some associated mobility problems. * potential to worsen when all properties are occupied.

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

We lived in Esh Winning before moving into our Placefirst bungalow so were familiar with the area. It is a convenient place to live just 15 minutes from Durham City and surrounded by beautiful walks in countryside. Esh Winning is really a big village and has the services you would expect - a Coop, a couple of take aways, hairdressers etc. Big supermarkets are only like ten minutes away. The site is still in development so you are living on a building site, a bit messy and noisy but we know that is temporary and all the guys on site are great - helpful and polite. Parking is a challenge I'm not going to lie - I have no idea why we simply can't have one allocated bay per house. If you have more than one car that is your problem but it is usually a case of first come first served which can be difficult as we have a disabled badge on the car.

How has the building management responded to any problems or issues you have raised:

Urgent problems have been dealt with quickly, less urgent ones not so much.

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

I wish I'd known parking would be such a challenge.