Websites About Apartments In Newcastle

[StuM82]

Is anyone aware of any sites that give views about living in the apartment buildings in the City Centre/Quayside, etc? I'd like some real views of what they're like, are they full of marauding stag and hen dos? Are you able to join in conversations with your neighbours through the walls, etc, etc, etc?

I've googled this but any search involving newcastle and apartments directs you to the myriad 'apart hotel' sites out there.

[StuM82]

Failing that does anyone currently live in a block of flats in town, e.g. 55 degrees north, the bar, the turnbull, centralofts, city quadrant, city lofts, marconi house, lime square, etc, etc, etc and care to share their experiences?

I'm currently living in a shared house and saving up for a deposit (first time buyer obv!) and would be interested to hear the positives and negatives of these buildings and what it's like to live there.

I'm aware of some people's opinions on these type of developments (I've lurked here for a while) so if you're just going to shout "slave box!" (funny as that term is) I wouldn't waste your time.

[tccambs]

Sorry mate, I don't really know. I know this isn't a very useful reply but just thought I'd let you know that we aren't just ignoring you. The Newcastle thread had some general opinions about some blocks though.

[milhouse]

Failing that does anyone currently live in a block of flats in town, e.g. 55 degrees north, the bar, the turnbull, centralofts, city quadrant, city lofts, marconi house, lime square, etc, etc, etc and care to share their experiences?

I'm currently living in a shared house and saving up for a deposit (first time buyer obv!) and would be interested to hear the positives and negatives of these buildings and what it's like to live there.

I'm aware of some people's opinions on these type of developments (I've lurked here for a while) so if you're just going to shout "slave box!" (funny as that term is) I wouldn't waste your time.

I own a flat in one of the properties listed, drop me a PM if you want to discuss anything.

[stuckmojo]

Failing that does anyone currently live in a block of flats in town, e.g. 55 degrees north, the bar, the turnbull, centralofts, city quadrant, city lofts, marconi house, lime square, etc, etc, etc and care to share their experiences?

I'm currently living in a shared house and saving up for a deposit (first time buyer obv!) and would be interested to hear the positives and negatives of these buildings and what it's like to live there.

I'm aware of some people's opinions on these type of developments (I've lurked here for a while) so if you're just going to shout "slave box!" (funny as that term is) I wouldn't waste your time.

I lived in Curzon Place, (near the Hilton) in 2 separate flats, and it was absolutely awful. Paper-thin walls means you hear your neighbour snoring and all their conversation. The finish and fittings are so bad that you'll need to replace the lot sooner rather than later.

In my opinion these flats will not last as long as the mortgages on them.

55 North looks good, but a lot of it is rented weekly, which means it works as a hotel, with associated issues.

[sammi]

I live on the Quayside and every weekend its full of big groups of drunk stag parties shouting abuse at any woman who passes them in the street, they tend to stay at the Travel lodge and Premier Inn, i live near the Travelodge and about once a month the fire brigade are called in the middle of the night and everyone is out on the street making noise. On a Sunday morning there is broken glass, beer cans and vomit. I am in the process of moving away after having put up with this for 2 years. I wouldnt recomend buying on the Quayside.

[milhouse]

I live on the Quayside and every weekend its full of big groups of drunk stag parties shouting abuse at any woman who passes them in the street, they tend to stay at the Travel lodge and Premier Inn, i live near the Travelodge and about once a month the fire brigade are called in the middle of the night and everyone is out on the street making noise. On a Sunday morning there is broken glass, beer cans and vomit. I am in the process of moving away after having put up with this for 2 years. I wouldnt recomend buying on the Quayside.

I agree with what you say. I am very close to you, we have intruders in the communal areas and the noise can be horrific at times. However I have found it very character building for m e. We have created a residents association and we all talk to each other regularly, we tackle all the problems head on. We even currently have the council doing noise monitoring after we made such a fuss over it.

[milhouse]

I lived in Curzon Place, (near the Hilton) in 2 separate flats, and it was absolutely awful. Paper-thin walls means you hear your neighbour snoring and all their conversation. The finish and fittings are so bad that you'll need to replace the lot sooner rather than later.

In my opinion these flats will not last as long as the mortgages on them.

55 North looks good, but a lot of it is rented weekly, which means it works as a hotel, with associated issues.

I agree - in some apartment blocks it is the communal areas that soon lok shabby. You need a good block management company to keep on top of things and if they're not the flat owners need to come together and do "Right to Manage" to protect their investments. This is what we are doing where I live. I own a flat and we pay 2 grand a year in maintenance fees but the communal areas are delapodated. We are going through Right to Manage to manage the block ourselves due to crappy management.

[Mr 0.01%]

I lived in Curzon Place, (near the Hilton) in 2 separate flats, and it was absolutely awful. Paper-thin walls means you hear your neighbour snoring and all their conversation. The finish and fittings are so bad that you'll need to replace the lot sooner rather than later.

In my opinion these flats will not last as long as the mortgages on them.

55 North looks good, but a lot of it is rented weekly, which means it works as a hotel, with associated issues.

I also lived in Curzon Place, more specifically the Tannery building right opposite the Hilton a few years back. I posted about how bad it was when I left (due to my landlord being indicted of MASSIVE FRAUD).

It was awful quality. The thing I remember most was that I could hear the guys above me orgasming. The girl I could handle...the guy grunting...hmmmm! The stairwell was also a floating metal structure so the sound of girls in heels coming in at 4am went right through the building. Loads of louts walking through the complex pissed slamming gates as well. The guy below me was also (though not necessarily intentionally) noisy and used to get up every morning at 5am waking me up. In the end I just started getting up at 5 myself.

Just from my experience, I don't know what sane person would want to buy a flat there. Paper thin, tiny, no green space and The Central Pub has just been refurbished there. It's nice but I wouldn't want to live right next to a pub. Dread to think what Newcastle Quayside is like. Or 55* North. Why would anyone want to live on a MASSIVE ROUNDABOUT ABOVE A MASSIVE CHARVA BAR. Eugh.

[milhouse]

Arise ye old thread! I ended up answering my own question and have lived in a couple of blocks myself now. Still saving for a deposit aiming to buy around 2014 if I can find something worth buying.

First I rented a place at City Quadrant. Now the flat itself was actually lovely and I got it cheap. Nice quality, no issues with noise in the building or short term lets. However, I ended up moving out four months into a six month stay due to the noise of the nearby 'nighttime economy'. Not much fun getting to sleep then being woken at 3am when one place kicks out and then 6am when the club closes! Also the traffic noise was surpirsingly bad even though I was on the fourth floor, buses are noisy beasts.

Was going to post about the block I currently live in but maybe not a good idea from a privacy point of view. I'll certainly update when I leave. Better than the old place in respect of noise but it's far from perfect.

Im at Marconi - u anywhere nearby?

[Jeremy1]

Hi - thought I'd mention that I lived in Blackfriars Court for 18 months ago in the mid 2000s and really liked it. My partner & I rented before moving on to a bigger place elsewhere and the only real negative was the relative lack of space after a time - almost no storage and the second bedroom was really more of a spare room with a single bed for crashers.

On the plus side was location (I walked to work every day) which is prime. Close to the shops/Stowell St and St James's but not particularly noisy (often very quiet at night, despite its centrality). There are trees and bushes around (in blossom right now) and the property was solidly built, with no noise leakage apparent. It felt very safe in our second floor flat.

Not saying this would suit everybody, but I do think as city centre apartments go it's one of the best (I viewed several other places before selecting, including St Peter's Basin - too remote without a car - and Peel/Temple). I walked past yesterday for the first time in ages and felt positively nostalgic. As a starter home, could do a lot worse. It looks from the boards that several have sold recently (I haven't checked prices yet) and others have been let, so I suspect there may be some (rare) liquidity - at the right prices, obviously.

(Although it looks like this is my first contribution here, I did post a couple of times a few years ago before losing my signing in credentials and I have nothing to lose or gain from making these points about Blackfriars). JF

[Mr 0.01%]

Are you an Estate Agent, Jeremy?

[Jeremy1]

Are you an Estate Agent, Jeremy?

>sigh< Well if I was, I'd have something to gain, but I'm not and I don't. I thought it worth writing because I liked the fact that earlier posters on this thread were doing someting that doesn't often happen in this arena - drawing a distinction between poor quality/positioned new apartments (Curzon Place, for example) and others (like Blackfriars) which may have something more to offer.

I could have added that one of the pluses here is that the blocks are purpose built (not converted larger buildings) and this paid off in terms of construction solidity. They also pre-date many of the blocks that appeared at breakneck speed when the bubble came along which means build quality was not as compromised.

I'm certainly not deluded enough to think that anything posted on a website like this can influence other people to buy a property. But hey - maybe I should think about the EA career path (maybe not... .).