Declining townhouse layout?

[notintowoo]

Hello,

I have been on the council register list for about 12 years. It is just DD and I (12). Over the course of those years, we have viewed four properties. I declined two properties due to price and unsuitability and the other two properties I was outbid.

I recently received a call from the council to view a property, which was declined by the first person. I went to view the property and although the location is great (for work and DD travelling to school and not far from my parent's house) and the rent is quite decent. The townhouse layout is what is putting me off. It's a terrace conversion flat. I am on the first floor (a neighbour below but no one above me) but it has a townhouse sort of layout. I have my own entrance door, the hallway/entrance is on the ground floor, the bathroom is on the first floor. The kitchen and living room is on the second floor and the bedrooms are on the third floor.

Also, a friend recently told me that if I was to consider buying the property (which I wouldn't), it would be very difficult to sell as townhouses are unpopular.

I feel a bit disheartened to consider turning this down but I wanted to gather all of your thoughts before I speak to the council. What should I do?

Sounds perfect to me, I would snap it up. Having no one above you is a massive plus point and the layout is no big deal unless you have a toddler.

My first house was a Victorian terrace and the bathroom was on the ground floor like many of them - you had to walk through the kitchen to get to it. Not totally perfect but never something that bothered us and we got used to it very quickly.

And just echoing the previous poster who said that this is actually more secure because no lower floor windows.

And the other one who said that you're leaping ahead of yourself - you're in a bedsit now, with a child who's nearly a teen, and it's not really realistic to think you can just jump to ownership of your ideal house in one step! I know why you're doing it - you're scared of change and that you might be made a fool of in some way if you dare to believe that things are about to get better for you - but take what the gods are offering you! Why not you?

OP it sounds perfect and I'm very jealous.

This. I am speechless

I think having a loo two floors down sounds more desirable than living in a studio flat with a teenager.

Also surely council houses are for people who need temporary low rent. Buying up the already limited stock makes it harder for all the people in a similar situation who come after you.

Location is important. Town houses are a pain with young dc but with a 12 year old it would but absolutely fine. After waiting that long I’d start thinking creatively about how I could make it work.

I don't think it's helpful of your friend to tell you town houses are unpopular when you are not even considering buying it. It's not even true. Lots of people choose to buy that design - look at the number of new build town houses.

It will be a big change moving from your flat but the advantages of all that extra space will be huge. Your daughter is 12 and it will be great for her to be able to invite friends round without them having to squeeze into her bedroom. With a living room, you will both be able to choose when you want to go to bed.

So your DD is 12, you realistically have 6 more years of being in these circumstances on the council list, when your DD may consider uni/ moving out to a house share. If you've been offered 4 houses over 12 years, the odds say another 2 in 6 years. 50% have been high rent, so 1 of those is likely to be high rent. Do you think the odds are that the single property you likely to be offered in your price range is likely to be better than this? And is it worth waiting for, when you could be moving on now?

I think you are being silly to consider turning it down on the day so of a friend, when they are unlikely to be in the same situation as you (sharing a studio with a teenager, with rent and location limitations), and on the basis that you might not be able to sell it, when you don't want to buy anyway. Be rational, think of your daughter, and take it! Good luck.

Exactly!

And if this is the thing that’s putting you off then in the future I’m sure you could have one put in on another floor.

I spent years on the council list and you will never get your perfect property.

My property has no parking and is a 5 minute walk to the car park, it only has a back door, only a tiny garden, in the middle of no where and no public transport.

I snatched their hand off though because of the location and because it meant me and my DD can have our own rooms, which we didn’t have before and more space.

Not a day goes by that I’m not so thankful that we moved here and we are both so happy.
It’s genuinely the happiest we’ve been in years. I didn’t realise how unhappy we both were in our tiny bedsit before.

You have to compromise somewhere and it sounds like you won’t get better then what you’ve been offered.

Take it and if for some reason you don’t like it (you will) then sign up to ab exchange site and swap with someone because so many people would want that.

The week of your move is tough, after that it’s amazing how quickly you get used to the change and it’s all fine.
Think how impressed your daughter will be to see her mum taking action.
You’re tougher than you think you are, go for it. Council properties are like winning the lottery.

I’d love to know your friend’s situation because she actually sounds really jealous and is trying to put you off it.

I don't think so. She is in a better position to buy her own house. She lives in a private accommodation with a garden. I doubt she is jealous.

I do hope that the reason @notintowoo hasn't been back to the thread in a while is because she is busy biting the hand off the council who have offered this property to her and her daughter!

Come on OP, you’re sleeping in the lounge but you’re going to turn down a house because your friend say it was an odd layout?

we lived in a townhouse for years and it was great. It’s a totally standard layout in the UK and think of all the advantages you’ve mentioned on the location.

I am struggling to believe this is something you’d turn down.

I live in a rental that sounds similar - ground floor is entrance, bedrooms on first floor, livingroom/kitchen and bathroom on top floor. It’s not ideal but it’s what we can afford in an ok location for us. I think you are never going to get a perfect property with the housing market as it is, especially if you are looking for council property, go for it and make it work for you is my advice.

The new property sounds much more suitable than your current one. The reasons you give for rejecting it seem tenuous to me, not that they aren’t genuine.
For example. Can’t hear the ground floor for someone breaking in - get a webcam. Don’t worry about resale, you’re a tenant not an owner so this is not an issue.

I’m really confused, are you buying it? If you need a bigger space, it’s council, you aren’t buying and a great location im not sure why you would decline it?

She's probably not jealous, but she definitely is looking at this through the lens of her own circumstances and not yours. Her next move might be buying so she's thinking about the cons - but you're miles off buying. And that's fine, because you and your child have been offered an amazing house at a low rent that you can have forever! You won't need to buy! Honestly, in this economic climate as the UK starts to decline and we realise that Thatcher sold us a dream that could only really last one generation - a council house in a decent area is the best thing that could happen to so many of us, it really is. take it!

You've waited 12 years. Madness.

YABVU

You are being bloody ridicolous.

They might not be a preferred choice but that doesn't mean there isn't a demand.

If the rent and location are right take it. You've been on a waiting list for 12 years and now you are being picky. You don't have the luxury of being picky - just like lots of other people.

'Undesirable' is for people with options. You have limited options.

Have not read the whole thread. Where are you living now, if you keep turning these properties down? Somewhere better, cheaper? Don't forget council housing conveys a much better security of tenure than private rental.

Another one saying you'd be mad to turn it down. It actually sounds lovely, I've lived in somewhere with a similar layout and really liked it. And if you're not buying it, what difference does it make if it's undesirable.

You're not in a position to be that picky.

I am desperate but a few people have told me that I should not take it due to the stairs (accidents waiting to happen), lack of security, will not be able to sell it ( I have a friend who advised me to buy a council property if I have the opportunity to do so, but said that townhouses are unpopular).

Then she's probably looking at it through her world view rather than yours. Don't cut off a gift horse in your face in spite or whatever the saying is