Redrow Homes Castle View, Stafford

This should be interesting....

Personally I wouldn't live in Doxey, but saying that these houses are not 'right in the thick of it' so might be ok....

The problem I would have is a) its new build and the associated problems and b) do they still have to put social housing in these new estates? This might make me sound like a snob but at the end of the day a house is the biggest purchase you'll ever make and you don't want to end up stuck in a sh*thole.... We viewed Meadowcroft Park in the early days of our search for a house and the flats / smaller houses hidden away at the back near a huge great pylon were quite run down (even for a few year old houses) with old fridges and broken down cars dumped outside...

They have dropped their prices massively already, so make sure you do some research using tools such as Property Bee in Firefox to check price history. I looked around the show homes and agree some of the layouts are decent ish and with the revised prices, not overly expensive. Personally I don't think the location is any good at all. Doxey isn't great (apologies to those that live there) and you overlook that factory. We ruled it out. Although we actually ruled Stafford itself out full stop. Also, and of course this is simply hearsay, I have now heard from 3 totally unrelated sources that Redrow do not employ the best contractors, nor follow best practice, so again, puts me off Caste View.

If it's new builds you like, then the plans for the site where the old asylum was look half decent, although close to the prison (and sex offenders wing allegedly). There's a decent development up in Weston that has some good deals now and houses on the Crossing are always bargains. But you overlook the biggest factory in the world!

I have to say I largely concur with those comments raised above. Had a look around the show home there awhile ago and it struck me as expensive and poky (like most new builds) for a detached three bedroom family home. I also didn't like the aspect right by the rather unattractive factory. I have to say I don't know much about Doxey but I have heard it hasn't got the best of reputations.

I think the St George's Development on the site of the old hospital will turn out a better bet if are absolutely set on a new build. Better location and the old hospital building will make an interesting feature once it is actually restored. Having that there will at least stop the development just looking like every other standard new build estate. Also nice and close to town

Some parts of Doxey are terrible - mostly the parts owned almost soley by the housing association (coincidence?). Castletown is really nice, and this estate is between the two so you may get lucky. Not all of Doxey is bad, mind, I'm sure plenty of lovely people live there - it just seems to have an unusually high (for the town) concentration of sports direct and faux burbery customers.

Can't say I've been impressed with any newbuilds I've seen recently, all of the ones going up at St Georges are terrible and the build quality seems sub-par, not inspected the ones by doxey though.

My possible prospective inlaws (!!) live opposite this development on Baxter Green - as previous posters have said it isnt in the thick of Doxey and I've always thought that that end of Doxey and Castletown are really nice. It's quite a quiet area and I dont know of any problems. Having said that I don't like new builds - not enough character, shoe boxy, a bit pokey and they all look pretty much the same but if it's your thing then there are other sites in Stafford as other posters have said.

I have to say Castletown is a lovely area to live in,you get the odd 1 or 2 weirdos like anywhere else,but it's close to town,Sainsburys is a couple of minutes walk away. The houses might be old terraces,but there int much wrong with them structually. The majority of gardens are of a decent size,you definately can't say that of any new build these days,the houses going up on Crooked Bridge road don't even have room for a washing line in their backs.
We used live up on Baxter Green in Doxey,that was a new build when we bought it way back in 1981,the house had so many faults then it were amazin. And unless you were going stick to havin 2 children max,there weren't enough room in it for a family live comfy.

I agree, I don't know what the facination is with new builds, maybe because they are made to look all shiny and modern. Dig a bit deeper and they are usually anything but. Don't get me wrong I wasn't suggesting St George's, just merely pointing out that for someone absolutely set on a new build estate it will at least look different to most other identi-kit developments once the old hospital building is renovated. I think that building will look pretty stunning. As for the new builds, the town houses that they are building on there look more like rabbit hutches. I don't know when as a Nation we became comfortable in existing in such small spaces.

My advice would be buy a slightly older property that will be better built and give you much more space & value for money. You can always use any savings of not buying a new build to put your own touches to it.

Franklin_Delano_Roosevelt said:

I don't know when as a Nation we became comfortable in existing in such small spaces.

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Indeed. Cheap date and I have just bought a house way larger than our 'needs' (we have no children/no plans for children as of yet) just so we don't feel cramped.

shoes said:

Franklin_Delano_Roosevelt said:

I don't know when as a Nation we became comfortable in existing in such small spaces.

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Indeed. Cheap date and I have just bought a house way larger than our 'needs' (we have no children/no plans for children as of yet) just so we don't feel cramped.

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Nothing wrong with forward planning though and its nice to have the space - my partner and I live in a massive 3 bed on our own and love it - don't need the space but its always useful to have a corner to stick him in if he misbehaves

New builds do have a bad rep which is not entirely fair. I bought a 3 bed mid 60's town house that hadn't had much done to it in 10 years. It had loads of problems, drafts, broken boilers, dodgy double glazing, leaking baths etc and I spent a fair bit on getting it all resolved. I'm not talking modernisation or decoration, just immediate remedial work. I bought a brand new 3 bed and have spent absolutely nothing on it and had no real problems, outside of a bit of snagging which the developer sorted. The reason you hear about problems with new builds is because there is whole forums and TV reports etc about developers. It's Mr Smith, Mrs Jones and A N Other versus Redrow/Persmion etc. You couldn't really have that if it's simply Mr Smith versus Mrs Jones so no one hears about it.

But.. partition walls suck. I never realised they don't build houses with load bearing walls in the middle anymore. Running water, washing machines, etc, can be heard everywhere like the house is hollow.

And... as I pointed out, I have heard all sorts of bad about Redrow - enough to prevent me investing in them. I have been told that the big developers rarely have consistent teams of builders. I'm told that some smaller developers, who use the same contractors for every job, will end up delivering a better build as they are experienced in the design and process etc.

Anyway, to summarise, new builds ain't that bad and old houses have just as many problems. And more real walls.

The house we have bought was built in 1991, and due to the length of time we plan to stay there I intend to have the interior walls filed with a decent acoustic insulation. We're fortunate enough to have a detached house, so hopefully neighbour noise shouldn't be a problem, but if it is then I'll look at soundproofing the exterior walls too.

ExiledInStaffers said:

New builds do have a bad rep which is not entirely fair. I bought a 3 bed mid 60's town house that hadn't had much done to it in 10 years. It had loads of problems, drafts, broken boilers, dodgy double glazing, leaking baths etc and I spent a fair bit on getting it all resolved. I'm not talking modernisation or decoration, just immediate remedial work. I bought a brand new 3 bed and have spent absolutely nothing on it and had no real problems, outside of a bit of snagging which the developer sorted. The reason you hear about problems with new builds is because there is whole forums and TV reports etc about developers. It's Mr Smith, Mrs Jones and A N Other versus Redrow/Persmion etc. You couldn't really have that if it's simply Mr Smith versus Mrs Jones so no one hears about it.

But.. partition walls suck. I never realised they don't build houses with load bearing walls in the middle anymore. Running water, washing machines, etc, can be heard everywhere like the house is hollow.

And... as I pointed out, I have heard all sorts of bad about Redrow - enough to prevent me investing in them. I have been told that the big developers rarely have consistent teams of builders. I'm told that some smaller developers, who use the same contractors for every job, will end up delivering a better build as they are experienced in the design and process etc.

Anyway, to summarise, new builds ain't that bad and old houses have just as many problems. And more real walls.

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I think the difference is that when you buy an older house you accept (or you should do) that there will be problems and fixing work required, just like if you buy an old car. If you buy a new build which you generally pay through the nose for that features paper thin walled rooms not big enough to swing a mouse let alone a cat in that subsequently has issues then I think you are entitled to feel aggrieved. This isn't just TV or media reporting hype either, I know many many people who have bought new build houses that have loads of structural problem amongst lots of other things. Once the developers have taken your (or should I say the bank's) money off you quite often they couldn't give a stuff about helping you either.

I know of at least 9 people who have bought new builds (Taylor Wimpey, Persimmon, and a few small developers) and only one has had any major problems with their house. Only anecdotal evidence, so I know many, many people who have NOT had any major problems.

Aside from the paper thin walls, I wouldn't change mine for anything - but then I bought from a small developer on very small private estate so perhaps not a fair comparison.

I used to live on the new(ish) estate at the bottom of the Doxey Road for about five years. Location wise it was spot on. Walking distance to town and the train station. Saved us a fortune on taxi's after a night out. It was also great for walking the dog. If you think about it then on paper it ticks all the boxes. Never had any problems from the undesirables that live up Doxey and the tenants in the housing association houses also didn't give anyone any trouble.
Personally I always used to think of it as living in Castletown and not Doxey as it was before the bridge. After the bridge I always thought of as Doxey... Who cares though?!
You will always get people that will snub certain area's. Personally I wouldn't pay extra to live up Wildwood or Baswich and spend half my live stuck in traffic, but I understand people that do as its nice once you get up there.

So I would say don't let the location put you off, but you need to be mindful of how long you are planning to stay and how much the house will be worth when you come to sell. I seem to recall my wife went and looked in the show home of that new estate some time ago now (a year ago maybe?). She waffled on about how you could get a 4 bed house for £200k. For me on that site in that location I would want the house to be cheap.
You can sometimes get a good deal if you buy off plan. When we bought our brand new house we got ours 15% cheaper than next door paid and the houses were completed at the same time.
Also look at the site map and have a really good think about the plot layout. If the house you buy is opposite social housing or next to a play area where kids will hang out potentially it could be a disaster. You will quite often find on these modern estates there will be a few little gems location wise that may be tucked away in a corner or not overlooked.