Buyers and renters
Moving here
What you would want to know before an offer: how the estate is run, what the blocks are like, prices seen, and the caveats an agent may not mention.
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How the estate is run
Leasehold flats; one resident management company per block (Ochre Yards One to Eleven), each with its own managing agent; no right-to-manage companies. The block pages record each company and its agent with dated changes from Companies House. Ask the seller for the lease length, ground rent and the last three years’ service-charge accounts — we do not publish those figures.
Prices seen
Recent sold prices per block are on each block page where we have them; they come from Land Registry data via aggregators and should be checked against the Land Registry before you rely on them.
The honest caveats
- The estate backs onto the East Coast Main Line and the A167; overnight bridge works run through 2026.
- Road access is by one route at the eastern end; see Getting in and out by car.
- The town-centre air quality management area covering this site was revoked in December 2024, meaning nitrogen dioxide is now within limits.
- River flood risk is rated very low: the estate is on a plateau above the Tyne.
- There is no cladding or EWS1 issue that we know of at any block. That is an absence of evidence, not proof; ask the seller’s conveyancer.
Fire safety and EWS1 forms
If you are buying a flat with a mortgage, the lender may ask for an EWS1 form: a record, signed by a qualified professional, of a fire-safety assessment of the building’s outside walls. One form covers the whole building and lasts five years. Not every building needs one: it depends on the building’s height, how much of the outside is clad and in what, and its balconies, and forms are asked for most often on taller buildings. RICS explains when a form is needed.
We don’t record EWS1 results for individual blocks: they sit with each block’s managing agent, and an out-of-date answer could mislead a buyer. Before you offer, ask the managing agent, through the seller’s conveyancer, for:
- whether the block has an EWS1 form, its date and its rating;
- whether any work to the outside walls has been done, is planned or is being disputed;
- the building’s height and number of storeys.
In a building of 11 metres or five storeys and above, the Building Safety Act 2022 protects most leaseholders from paying to fix cladding, and caps what they can be charged for other historical safety defects. Whether a particular lease qualifies depends on, among other things, when it was granted; your conveyancer will ask the seller for the leaseholder deed of certificate and the landlord’s certificate that show it. GOV.UK explains the protections.