New housing developments

There are already over 300 new council homes in Forge Wood with more under construction. Properties at Forge Wood are let to people on our Housing Register.

In addition to building new homes at Forge Wood, we have also acquired Potter House and six additional flats in Crane Court. These new flats have a slightly different specification to other council homes in Forge Wood. They have carpets and vinyl flooring fitted throughout and a built-in gas hob and electric oven. There are downlighters fitted in the kitchen and a shower screen in the bathroom. These are non-standard items and will not be maintained by the council but will become the responsibility of the incoming tenant.

In addition to the six flats in Crane Court mentioned above, a further 27 will be available in the next few weeks. These started to appear on Crawley Homechoice at the beginning of July.

These flats meet the council’s usual specification and you can find out more in the questions and answers section below.

We are experiencing minor handover issues with 1 to 6 Potter House and hope these will be sorted out in the near future. We can then arrange viewings for those who are waiting.

We are awaiting handover of 1 to 27 Crane Court and if you have been nominated for one of these please wait until we contact you to arrange the viewing.

We do not as yet have a handover date so if you receive a nomination, please do not visit the site or attempt to view any properties before the viewing date. The area is still a building site, and access is restricted to ensure site safety and security.

Are white goods installed and what type of flooring is fitted?

Our homes in Forge Wood are unfurnished and we do not supply or fit cookers, washing machines, fridges or other white goods.

There are fittings for electric and gas cookers, please make sure you use an appropriately qualified fitter and for gas cookers, a Gas Safe registered engineer.

Vinyl flooring is fitted in kitchens, bathrooms and toilets, but carpets, vinyl or other floor coverings are not fitted to the other areas of the property.

There are certain items that Crawley Homes would not normally provide as part of any tenancy agreement. We are gifting items to new tenants, which include:

towel rail
toilet roll
bathroom mirror
shower curtain
over bath clothes dryer
coat hooks

The gifted items for houses also include a garden shed and rotary dryer.

What storage is there?

Most homes have built-in storage cupboards.

There is no access to the loft in houses or flats. Items cannot be stored in loft spaces because:

it prevents the high levels of insulation from working effectively
some properties have solar panel equipment in the loft

Can I decorate and put things on the walls?

There is a period of time after construction where the developer is responsible for defects. This is called the defects period and at Forge Wood this lasts one year.

During this time you cannot:

paint or paper the walls
mount televisions on the walls

We suggest that pictures are put up using ‘command strips’.

Do I need permission to make changes?

Yes. If you are thinking of altering your home you need to get permission from our surveyors before you do any work.

Alterations include (but are not limited to):

fitting new lights
taking out a kitchen cupboard
changing doors
fitting an alarm or ‘ring’ doorbell

Email our surveyor team for more information.

Can I have Sky TV or Virgin media and what about broadband?

Freeview and Freesat television is provided at Forge Wood through a FIRS system. The hub for is under the stairs. Aerial points are in a multimedia socket in the living room and bedrooms.

Sky TV packages are provided through specific suppliers, and Sky boxes can be connected to the multimedia socket. Dishes cannot be fixed to the building. Virgin media is not available at Forge Wood.

Broadband is also supplied through the FIRS system. Visit Open Fibre Networks for details of available providers.

What is parking like?

All homes in Forge Wood have at least one allocated parking bay. Generally flats have one bay and houses two. Visitor bays are also available across the neighbourhood.

Please park considerately and make sure you use your allocated space. Visitors must respect the parking arrangements by using your bay or one of the visitor bays.

Who supplies the water, electricity and gas?

Water
Both supply and waste water are provided by Independent Water Networks
Tel: 02920 028 711
Visit the Independent Water Networks website

Electricity and gas
The current supplier is British Gas and when you move in you need to set up an account with them. Once you have done this you can then change suppliers in the usual way.
Tel: 0800 048 0202
Visit the British Gas website