Bale & Anchor | Flat 3104 Bale House, Lewisham, SE13

Decent place, great design

I really like living here. It’s a well designed place, you have just the right amount of furniture and facilities. Value for money. I’m not happy with wardrobe design though. The bottom space is useless unless you buy extra organizer equipment. People are nice too.

Modern Building, Disappointing Quirks and Suboptimal Management

I live in Anchor House. I was excited to move in as it as a modern flat for competitive (at the time) rent. It's been mostly good, but there have been a handful of issues. - Broken balcony doors; the building's balcony doors are defective. They email frequently to not leave doors open during wind. Mine broke from just opening it to check the weather on a non-windy day. After initially taping it over with a plastic bag, I was told it would be 6-8 months for a repair. A month in, during winter, when asking for an update, they ignored my email. It's windy, cold, loud, insecure, and I've had huge insects now. I've had to get the council involved. - Fobs/security; electric fobs are used instead of keys. My fob has randomly stopped working about 6 times in a couple years, including the day I moved in, trapping me outside. It's mostly rare but really inconvenient. I've locked myself out about 4 times too, and they are happy to let you back in, but I'm worried anyone could break into my flat by pretending to be me. - Opaque bills; they use Homebox and there's a whole group chat of complaints. Nobody understands where these numbers are coming from. We just got an email saying the water bill went up but they were unaware for half a year, so we'll have to pay more to make it up. - Very poor internet; they /only/ use Glide, which is known for cheap uni accommodation internet, which has made WFH very difficult. I can't stay in video calls, even using a wired (ethernet) connection, despite paying for an upgrade. - Lost rent payments; every few months I get a letter telling me I owe rent and threatening to send me to collections, despite paying them on-time every month, with a standing order. I reply to tell them they are wrong, and they usually don't get back, leaving me anxious about my housing situation. - Frequent contractor entries; there have been months where repeated repairs were scheduled across the building. Contractors often wouldn't show up, and there'd be poor communication about it. - Mail; parcels are in another building entirely, so if you get anything you have to lug it back about 150 metres. - Heaters; cheap wall-mounted electric heaters that can only be fully controlled by a phone app, which didn't work for me for about a year after moving in. - Electricity: My electricity has been knocked out twice by high winds (guessing from talking to other residents). A breaker outside of my unit is triggered, and I have to wait for them to flip it back on. One time I went around 16 hours without electricity and lost all my fridge contents because the day shift staff didn't know how to do that. Despite all that, the staff (FOH, maintenance) are very nice. The flats are modern. The common areas are nice despite being in another building. I just wish they'd sort out the grating issues.

Avoid Bale house if working remotely - Otherwise decent enough building

Good - Incredible views from the top of the building - If you have a flat with a view, it's amazing to be able to sit in your lounge and look out over the city. Especially so when fireworks are on - Concierge are generally very friendly and very helpful Bad - If you work remote at all or game, avoid this place. The internet becomes unusable every day during peak times to the point of being unable to load web pages. On the 1gb Down/up package the speeds regularly sit around the 10mb down / 1mb up range and ping is around 400 ms. I frequently have to use my phones 5g as a hotspot over the wifi in my flat. - 3rd party suppliers (Specifically Glide for internet, Homebox for utilities) are not helpful at all. No urgency to fix anything and the contracts are stipulated so nobody is liable when an issue occurs. - High churn rate of staff - Cheap furnishings for a luxury apartment - Instances of contractors walking into peoples flat unannounced to carry out work, could work on better communication We've had to break tenancy early as it's not worth risking my profession to stay. Resident services team were very unhelpful in this process and refuse any escalation by simply ignoring emails.

A nice place to live

The management team are helpful and responsive to any queries. Junior from the maintenance team is great, always ready to quickly assist with any fixes or repairs. The building has a lovely design and the flats are furnished nicely. The gym is very convenient even if it’s a bit small.

Everything is good

I've been living here for the past8 months, and I can confidently say it's one of the best renting experiences I've ever had. From the moment I moved in, the entire process was seamless, the leasing team was friendly, professional, and incredibly responsive. The building itself is thoughtfully designed with renters in mind. My apartment is modern, well-insulated, and equipped with high-quality appliances. It’s clear that attention was paid to both comfort and functionality. What really sets it apart, though, are the amenities and community feel. The on-site gym, co-working spaces, and rooftop terrace are all impeccably maintained and make a huge difference in daily life. Having access to these spaces adds a real sense of convenience and luxury.