As a homeowner in Chilmington Lakes
As a homeowner in Chilmington Lakes, I want to provide an honest review, as some others don’t seem to fully reflect the experience here. First, the positives: we absolutely love our home. It’s clear that a lot of care and craftsmanship went into building it, and we’ve had no issues inside. The community here is wonderful, with fantastic neighbors and the amazing Ashford School just around the corner. We feel very lucky to live in such a beautiful home. Coming from London this has been a dream However, the major downside is the developer, Hodsons. While the builders who created these homes did a brilliant job, even they reportedly faced issues with Hodsons over payments. More concerning is Hodsons’ retraction from their s106 commitments, which promised infrastructure like a park and shops. This has left residents like us needing two cars to get anywhere, as there’s no local infrastructure to rely on. It’s clear that Hodsons prioritizes profit over the people who live here, and their business strategy is short-sighted and disappointing. And clearly they over stretched and promised what they couldn’t provideTo Hodsons: you employ talented individuals, but your approach to community planning and your failure to deliver on promises damage your reputation and undermine trust.
Jamielisa
Snakes, liars, penny pinchers
Snakes, liars, penny pinchers. Don’t believe what they say coz they will go back on their word
Thomas Koshy
Oh you naughty boys
Oh you naughty boys, you can't just go back on your promise of a school and infrastructure without any consequences.
Douglas Petrie-Colquhoun
Do not buy one of there buildings they…
Do not buy one of there buildings they are terrible quality and leak, they won’t even comeback for minor snag list, their warranty is worthless! Also pulled out of promised funding to Ashford for local amenities.
Edward James
I had spent a few months looking for a…
I had spent a few months looking for a new home as a 1st-time buyer, searching high and low until I came across Chilmington (Ashford, Kent). Before officially becoming the owner of a new home, I can say the sales team were amazing as well as the site team and customer service.I would definitely recommend HD to family and friends.
Jessica
Just don’t do it - save yourselves!
I am writing this as a (thankfully) ex resident of Fitzroy in Bracknell. If you are considering buying a Hodson home, the sales team and show homes look lovely but please take my warning and look else where. Once you have bought, there is almost no escaping this horrific company. Upon purchase, we had no end of difficulty communicating and - when reviews were left had the owner’s son threaten us. Upon leaving things got 100 x worse. My mental health was so adversely affected in the sales process - I felt like I was trapped. They wouldn’t respond to requests for documents so I lost my dream house I was buying. Then even my buyer was threatening to pull out. Nearly 6 months it took to receive management pack. My solicitor said he has never ever dealt with such a poor excuse for a company. So if you think you’ve found your dream home in a Hodson home, keep looking. You haven’t. I wish someone had warned me.
A Tommy
WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE I'VE EVER HAD
WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE I'VE EVER HADIn the early stages there were constant delays, except no one ever informed us so we were busy arranging mortgages and selling properties, every time we called to check we were casually informed that completion had been delayed. Never once did we get a proactive call to inform us and we had to work hard to delay the chain by 7 months.When we arrived to move in, we were delayed on the day due to Hodsons not having their Premier certificate in place. We also found that we did not have access to our driveway and that our garage was not completed and didn't have doors.The garage doors took a further 2 months to arrive but simply finishing the inside of the garages was deferred by 3 months so that it caused the maximum disruption.We were assured that the road access to the driveway would be finished by the end of June. June came and went, no word. The site Project Manager assured me to my face that it would be completed by 21 Jul. That date came and went and still no word!! on 31 Aug i was informed there was an issue 'with sourcing such a small amount of tarmac' but it would 'done soon'.It is now early February and after 5 months of (almost weekly) emails to request an update i have yet to be responded to or afforded any basic common respect as a customer. I informed 'Customer Service' that i would taking delivery of an Electric Vehicle and having just received it i am now having to purchase extra cables to plug it in and cannot get my EV charger installed as regulations won't allow the cable to cross a pathway.When partner presented some of these issues to the site Project Manager, he responded with 'I don't see what your problem is, you've got your house haven't you'....... Amazing customer interaction!!!!The website states that 'Customer service is only a phone call away' except that customer service don't answer the phone and don't return calls when you leave a message. I'd estimate i've made approx 30 calls and always leave a voicemail. I got through once and was treated with arrogance, indifference and bare faced lies. Each of the management staff blame each other and at no point does anyone take ownership of an issue on behalf of the company.Promises are made, timelines are missed but never is there an explanation or an apology.The only positive experience has been with the guys on site, they are friendly, polite and super helpful but my observations are that the management of them is woeful. I'd employ the guys but would never deal with Hodsons again.
Andrew England
Very impressive houses and…
Very impressive houses and specification. Super helpful sales team, thank you for the information and the tour. We are looking forward to moving to Chilmington soon.
Richard Anthony
The sales team were brilliant from the…
The sales team were brilliant from the beginning to the end. We had numerous difficulties with the sale of our house and the legal process but the Sales team especially Christy Alaimo was on the ball and pushed through to ensure it went smoothly and as a result we obtained our dream house.
Olugbenga Abatan
Poor after-sale customer service
As the owner of a Hodson property it has been my experience that the after-sale customer service from Hodson is terrible and non-existent.They do not answer phone calls, emails or return messages from me as the owner of the property or my solicitors. Fees are paid for services that are not provided and ultimately legal action must be threatened in order to try and obtain standard information used in the house selling process. I feel that there is no ’Customer First’ with Hodson post-sale and my experience is that you are forgotten about once you’ve completed your purchase.
Fitz Roy
Dark reality not illusions
After having bought my dream home it quickly became apparent that the developer had no intention to keep the promises made. Few years in it's been an endless struggle. Building leaks, and as the developer kept control of management coy, they have left the premises unattended for years. No gardening, no cleaning, no rubbish taken out. They don't provide any evidence of how monies are used, the doors and entry's of the development are broken so our safety is compromised. Their customer service is negligible, and does not attend the issues. In a building in such a bad state of repairs and as they refuse to do management packs sales have halted and property value plummeted.In my experience I would stay well clear of this developer, as although as new it seemed lovely, the harsh reality soon hits and then it's too late to get out.
lighterside oflife
Chilmington Lakes - Hodson Developments
We spent a few months looking for a new build and looked at many developers in Kent . We had read some negative reviews here but these were from a long time ago on a different build, so thought I would do a review prior to exchange , between exchange and and then after completion if there is any snagging .We initially went to sales office and were met by two lovely ladies who took a lot of time taking us round the development, not just showing off the show home, but actually showing us the phase and various houses that are being built. The sales office are run by another company and they have been amazing. After a couple more visits we reserved our home the developers have been so understanding about the sale of our home. We had a few small customisations and thats been taken care of by the sales office and referred up-to the head of Sales at Hodsons. Many phone calls and emails , dealing directly with the head of sales, the site manger and the sales office. We have visited site now a few times and everyone is always very helpful. All concerns and questions get answered even if it means the head of sales calling us out out of hours. Really impressed with this attention to detail. We went with this development as the houses have great finishes which are normally expensive extra's (quality bathroom and kitchen fixtures and fittings, downlighting, all flooring etc ). So to summarise, we hope to exchange fairly soon, just awaiting our house sale exchange , then we will be onto final build and completion. Great team of people who at all stages have taken the time to deal with us . Will do another review after we exchange contracts but so far so good !
Rajnish Sehgal
