Bournville Village Trust Reviews 

Basically useless their head office is 100 yards from.the valley park boating pool a lovely area full of litter streams full of rubbish and err litter geese problems at the pool.for o er 10 years yet every complaint is met.by nothing to do with us it's Birmingham city Council who run the area...
So what does the Bournville village trust actually do ???.
They should take the vally park back under their umbrella as Birmingham council are hopeless they can't even answer the 6 emails I've sent ...

We moved into a new bodge, sorry I meant build 5 years ago within Telford and I am disgusted at the state of the area! Within less than a year we were having issues with our neighbours (on right in pic) and their lack of care for the property.I am not ashamed to say I reported them as their laziness (on benefits too!) was bringing the area down. This issue was finally resolved approx 2 years later after numerous calls, emails and even face to face meetings. We now have great neighbours as the others moved out. However before this issue was resolved somebody else within our small street of 9 houses had complained about the state of our neighbours garden and the stray wheelie bins so a representative from BVT had called there for a chat with them but had no joy. Upon returning from work I found a note from the BVT representative on my bin requesting I contact her regarding my own bins. I called the representative who I found out was called Maria R**** and she explained to me the scenario of trying to contact next door and as she had no answer she targeted us....wow!! She noticed our bins were partly on show which was against BVT policies. I need to point out that I was totally unaware of this rule until this moment, I had partly screened them off for our benefit aesthetically as we are the only property within the street with steps in our rear garden which makes it near impossible to store the bins there hence having them at the front. This was in October 2022. I got into a blazing row with Maria as I did not appreciate being victimised especially as many neighbours in our street and the surrounding streets had their bins 100% on show and were not contacted...I checked! What made the situation more personal was the fact (without boasting) we were the only house in our street with a maintained garden as we take care of our home inside and out! I made the jobsworth aware of my feeling of victimisation and I was assured due to the BVT policies and visions...🤭 that within a few months EVERY household would be contacted to resolve the bin issue. Rules are rules so as a good hardworking tenant I spent several hundreds of pounds to alter the existing screening to adhere to the BVT request, still annoyed that we were singled out. So here we are mid 2026 and nothing much has changed, apart from the area has rapidly declined. It is resembling the council estate I have worked so hard to escape from and in my opinion BVT do not help. Whilst out yesterday I saw cracked slabs, so many unkempt gardens, weeds a foot high, broken fences, strewn rubbish and most annoyingly....wheelie bins! Now tell me we were not targeted. Recently there was a BMW in pieces and filled to the brim with rubbish and car parts on the road and driveway at the house behind, after 6 months of me and many others complaining it finally got moved. I have complained so many times about the state of the immediate area, specifically the bin vicmisation scenario and all I get is "we do regular walks for issues" or "we have asked them to move the bins", I think that after 4 years the issue will not change and we have been singled out. What really annoys me is we pay a service charge on top of our rent. After challenging this I was informed it goes toward the upkeep of the area and to maintain a monument built on the land. If Mr Cadbury was alive today he would be distraught that his vision is in complete tatters. FAO the BVT representative please do not bother replying with your templated response. After 4 years, what will change?

Terrible service never on time leave you waiting for days when emergency occurs

BVT used to have such high standards, but these have really slipped now.
Many houses have over grown gardens and leave wheelie bins out 24/7 and put out extra bags of rubbish days or a week before the collection day.
Many roads have rows of wheelie bins piled up on public pathways, making areas look really untidy and obstructing the paths.
Bad neighbours getting away with bad behaviour and not following their tenancy rule book.
Cars parked poorly and mounting the pavements.
BVT just ignore everything, this is why things are getting worse.
It's about time they took back the power and made things great again.

Yet again there's nothing to bid on whilst you have empty properties available that could be fixed, advertised on jigsaw and offered to people in need of housing, the waiting list is not reducing it feels like we are being neglected.

For over three weeks complaints were being logged by a number of properties in the area of blocked drain and raw sewage spilling into gardens. Apparently was not an emergency as we could still flush toilets and use taps. After many many calls they finally turn up and now because they could not be bothered to investigate the issue straight away, severn trent are now involved and it will cost a whole lot more than it would have done. In the meantime, these residents are unable to go into their gardens, their pets cannot go outside and the smell is unbelievable. Its like a third world country. The whole area is a disgrace with cars on front gardens and rubbish in streets and pavements with cars blocking the walkways. This used to be a sought after area to live, quiet peaceful but now its like living in an inner city slum. SHAME ON YOU BOURNVILLE VILLAGE TRUST SHAME ON YOU.

Bournville village trust have all their home owner pay a maintenance fee each year to maintain landscaping. I have lived here over 36 years and never been this bad . Well this year we have a grass island on black Haynes road full of leaves from the trees and gutters with weeds over 12 inch high. No sign of landscaping team this year . Grass has not needed cutting so what are we paying for . Gutters are full of weeds so when we have a lot of rain again the houses that got flooded a few years ago don’t stand a chance as weeds are blocking drain .the rain is like a river down our road when it rains . After 36 years bournville village trust have decided it’s not there job to maintain gutters on our road. But we home owner are still paying maintenance fee that goes up each year . Not impressed

The way how they treat people on their housing waiting list is totally deplorable, people just left on there for 5 years constantly bidding on properties but never get offered anything. Understandably there is a housing crisis but waiting 5 years and longer is just wickedness especially as they give most of their properties for private renting of £1300 and above which is unaffordable to many of the people on their waiting list hence why they are on a housing associations waiting list because they are in need of social housing.

Houses on Elm Road, Willow Road, Linden Road are regularly advertised on estates agents website for private renting, why can't you advertise them on your jigsaw website so people who are in urgent and desperate need of permanent social housing can bid on and be housed

They really need to put more properties for social renting on their jigsaw website. Week after week there is never anything to bid for yet thousands of people are living in squalid, unsafe conditions/temporary accommodation.

They also need to move people down the waiting list so they can be in position 1, keeping people in the same position every time they bid on a property is not going to get them an offer because they need to be in position 1.

Look how many 1 star reviews you have but still no improvements are made it's really bad!

Disgusting plans to build 1450 homes in green belt

Homeowner living in a BVT managed area. Have to pay hundreds of pounds a year service charge.
Other new developments have a service charge but not as much as this. Most are around £100 BVT charge over £250.52. Other developments get value for money, we don’t with BVT. You have to pay for the upkeep of premises, pay staff high wages and Wear and Tear fund with thousands in it not being used. BVT are supposed to keep the area tidy and clean and follow their own rules, which are not enforced. The area is a complete mess.
Don’t mind the rules, but £250 per year for the grass being cut that any member of the public can use, don’t need to live in the area is disgusting. We don’t even have grit bins when needed.
They claim they…
Estate caretakers – keeping courtyards and communal areas within our responsibility clean and green
Estate officer services – providing support in a number of areas including advice for alterations, resolving breaches and carrying out inspections throughout the village
Grounds Maintenance.
Wear & Tear Fund
Community activities – building partnerships with local organisations and residents to build a strong and inclusive community
Communications – providing regular, up-to-date communications about Lawley Village
Total waste of money.

Customer service department are, in my opinion, incompetent.
Switchboard personnel excellent but they didn’t transfer me to anyone… only took messages.
Calls to customer services not returned within the time period specified. Emails poor and not followed up.

Homeowner that lives in a BVT managed area. Have to pay hundreds of pounds a year service charge. The area is a complete mess and none of the rules are enforced, meaning antisocial behaviour is rife. Previous complaints ignored. Not impressed at all.

Had a leak from the bathroom radiator 2 weeks ago and reported it they came out yesterday and spent all of 5 minutes fixing it then went problem solved not really still got leak now I am not a plumber but I know what the problem is so I’m going to go out and buy the right tool and do it myself also we pay extra in our rent for the grass cutting and they came today took over 2 hours and then they missed by the gate and a little bit in the middle so even though I’ve got cancer and copd it looks like I will have to do it myself . Also my wife has got a guide dog but b. V. T has refused to mow the grass where the dog has been even though it exempt from picking up the poo and I have cancer and on chemo so they expect me to pick it up what do I do

I've been a tenant on the BVT since I was 6 years old, now 45. So a decent amount of time. I always wanted to live on the BVT when I was older. But that has all changed. Its not the same anymore. They don't care, its all about money! They take ages to reply to emails, even though it says within 10 days. I can't believe that this is still classed as a charity.
I've been waiting since the 21st August for a reply to a question I asked, could I have a pet. But still no answer, even though my neighbour above had a pet dog and cat. Think very carefully before moving to this area. Its not all its made out to be

Overcrowded and cannot bid.
I am in band A and been harassed from the moment they housed me, I have asked to be moved as I am bullied while being pregnant. I have had to get police involved twice, complained to council and much more. The bidding system is disgusting. I have only been allowed to bid once this year as already a tenant otherwise no doubt me and my family would of already been housed and away from harrassment but they dont care. A big family in a tiny two bed flat is a health and safety hazard in itself let alone having a neibhour bully you and your children!

I've got no choice but to write another complaint against BVT. I submitted my application to add a conservatory to my property and they have taken over 3 months to process the application and I still don't have a date of when this will be finished by, even though they promise that this process should take no longer than 10 weeks. They didn't even bother responding until 4 weeks into the process when this should have been submitted into the neighbours for a consultation period and we are now 3 months in and this still hasn't been done. The worst of it is, they have had all of the information they are now requesting from me already previously so just delaying the process for no reason and in the meantime I have now lost another builder because they have taken on more work in the meantime. Thanks BVT for making everyones lives so difficult.

Just visited doctor, due to negligence regarding duty of care. Absolutely disgusting treatment which may lead to court proceedings.

Beligerent and very vindictive individuals, do not move into this building if you are a single female.

Speaking to another resident who stated, while eyes filled up with tears, she was verbally attacked also in the washing room area.

It seems people who have lived in Rosefields longer are prioritised. Managers and anti social behaviour team not worth even calling. Been advised to take matter further by Doctor.

We pay them 100s of pounds for them to do absolutely nothing, after paying them TWO yearly instalments our road is riddled with pot holes, weeds and rubbish from contractors. Road / green space management is a myth. All they've managed to do is knock on the door saying we should put our satellite dish on the floor, big jokers!

Disgusting rip off. They should be prosecuted for fraud. They take your money but do nothing they are supposed to for their ridiculous ‘community’ fees. I really hope legal action is taken against them and they are forced to refund everybody for not supplying the service the are paid for.

This housing association is so biased they will always put works housing society & people with an area connection to Birmingham in priority 1 and priority 2. This is there order of priorities -:

Priority 1 - Household applying for Bournville Works Housing Society property
Priority 2 - Connection to the Local Authority area Birmingham
Priority 3 - Band A
Priority 4 - Band B
Priority 5 - Band C
Priority 6 - Band D

So as you can see if you are in a band A, B, C or D you stand no chance because will be in a crazy bid position like number 72 or higher. This is very unfair and they purposely do this so only people who are works housing society or got a local connection to Birmingham will stand a chance of getting a property. Why don't you put people who are in band A as priority 1 for a change rather than low done in priority 3. Stop being prejudice and show fairness to all the bands!