More and more people moving into homes in the Wokingham Borough’s major new developments are happy with their places to live.
For the past four years, the borough council has carried out an annual survey asking people about their experience moving into new-build houses in order to test the effectiveness of the council’s policies on people’s real lives.
And this year, 84% of people were happy with their new home, an increase from 80% last year. Other important issues have also shown improvement:
- ·98% of respondents agreed that rooms have enough space (up from 91% in 2016)
- ·94% found their homes well-insulated (up from 79% in 2016)
- ·66% agreed their outdoor space is the right size (up from 52% in 2016)
- ·67% felt there was enough storage space in their new homes (up from 57% in 2016)
- ·92% felt their buildings and streets were attractive (up from 86% in 2016)
- ·84% felt they had enough public open space (up from 72% in 2016)
- ·46% felt a sense of community was beginning to grow where they lived (up from 36% in 2016)
There were also positive findings relating to safety, attractiveness of neighbourhoods, space in their homes, knowing the availability of travel options and having enough public/open space, with the majority of these improving from previous years.
Wokingham Borough Council deputy leader, Cllr David Lee, said: “The results from this year’s survey are very positive and show that the council’s hard work to ensure we get high quality development is working. The government is imposing a lot of new housing on the borough – there’s no choice in that – but what we will do is make sure the homes that come continue to provide great places to live. The New Homes Residents’ Survey is an important part of this because it allows us to test our policies against real experience and highlights areas we need to focus on. I’d like to thank all those who took part.”
The major development areas surveyed this year were Montague Park and Mulberry Grove in Wokingham and South of Croft Road in Shinfield. Other smaller developments were also included.
To see the full findings please visit the council’s finished consultation page.
