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?

Surely you’re not that desperate for a council house if you’ve been waiting for 12 years?! And to be that picky is quite selfish imo. There are people (I was one) who are literally homeless and would take anything they’re offered for a roof over their head. I lived in a tiny 2 bed house for 2 years with 3 children until something more suitable came up.

I still don't get it. but yes I'd take it

I can only echo what others have said, it ticks so many boxes, why does it matter if a townhouse layout doesn't work for other people? Plenty of new build estates are townhouses over several floors, they all seem to sell.

You will be the one living there not other people. You have been on the list for 12 years, there is always a compromise when either renting or buying a property.

You’re not going to get a great deal of sympathy on here OP. These seem trivial reasons to give up the opportunity to have a secure, low cost permanent home that otherwise works well.

I would also be very careful - in many councils if you repeatedly decline opportunities you’ll be booted off the list.

I love living in our townhouse. We've been here 10 years.

Also I need a diagram to see the layout.

@Spendonsend, OP literally says she wouldn’t consider buying the flat in her first post, so the resale issues are irrelevant

Does it matter? You aren't reselling it?

Some one is far less likely to break in as they'll have to climb two flights of stairs to get to anything worth nicking

I think its fair to be able to decline a couple. No one should be forced to live somewhere they don't think is suitable eg next door to known drug dealer. Too many steps for their ability.

Yes, i know but she seemed fixated on it so i was trying to say that it wasnt like shed be forced to pay for a non town house layout value and then have to resell it with a town house layout value.

That doesn't sound like a townhouse it sounds like a maisonette. Perfectly normal in many parts of the country. Apart from the entrance on the floor below the rest of the layout seems quite standard for many houses, not all houses have a bathroom upstairs.

You're not buying and this sounds like a better setup than your current studio flat.

Do you lose priority on the list if you keep turning down properties?

In my LA if you turn down 2 you get put to the bottom of the list.

What's the difference between a townhouse and a maisonette?

She says she's turned two previous offers down and been outbid on another two.

OP you'd be mad to turn this down when it ticks all your boxes.

You’ve waited 12 years just take it! You can’t really be fussy

I don't know why you'd decline what sounds like a well located house with much more space than you have now. Yours and your DD current living situation is the priority

It’ll be a bit annoying to have to go to flights of stairs for the bathroom but the positive is that you have that layer as a ‘sound breaker’ so even if the people downstairs are noisy you shouldn’t be bothered by it. After 12 years in a one bedroom flat I’d be snatching it before someone else does

*two

Not sure if I entirely understand your concerns but yes, I would go for it. It’s in the right location and you can afford it.

How can you prefer to live in a one bed flat and sleep on the sofa then to take a townhouse?!

Sorry, I missed that.

You've been 'waiting' for a property for 12 years and want to turn it down because you are worried the house you don't own might not be sellable? Huh?

Well exactly. There is not this endless supply of council houses that you can just keep rejecting perfectly good offers in the hope something bigger/nicer or with a "better layout" comes along.

There are flats like that in our town. They're called maisonettes and the only different sounds like the toilet situation. Is there really only one toilet on the first floor? Anyway the maisonettes here have toilet/bathroom on the top floor where the bedrooms are. They are hugely popular because of the privacy and security of the buildings and are bought up really quickly (for just under half a million)

I lived in a townhouse until recently. It was over 3 floors. It was great. No issues. Only slight pain was having to trudge bags of shopping upstairs to the kitchen but that was minor. Cleaning was fine too. I got a cordless vacuum and so could zip up and down the stairs easily. I've never heard of townhouses being off putting, we sold ours the first day it went on the market (twice as the first buyer fell through) and they both offered above asking.