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?

OP, most probably after 3 rejections you will be removed from the housing register unless your LA's rules are different. You can get the single room as now you have no room at all.

When we were trying to buy a house lots of recently built townhouses were being sold by their new owners and I used to find the idea of buying one crazy. BUT those people can afford to buy whatever they want and you don't have that option.

Btw, a maisonette is a flat spread over two floors, just like any house, but it could be above another flat or maisonette and without a lift so a pain to carry shopping and buggies upstairs and a baby to your flat (it could be 2 flights of stairs).

can you take the small double room and give your dd the larger one?

Take the house !
you need a bedroom and you need to stop the looking for a house process after 12 years
Time to be settled

As for the cleaning , honestly you have to clean a full house no matter the lay out . Just do a floor at a time .

Friends and family will
always have an opinion but untill they are in
your position it’s pointless .

Never lived in a town house not I think they are great . And if I had to live in a flat I’d prefer a marionette flat they have loads of space .
Go for it ! Get excited about noting new things for your home and your daughter finaly
Her forever home as she’s waited her whole life for that .

Not a negative to most people it’s a huge improvement but to someone picking fault with everything. It’s because it’s not a proper house let’s face it.

I don't think the OP is unwell. As I and several other posters have expressed, I think she's just not that desparate.
I mean, I sort of get her point. Sort of.
Her daughter currently has her own room, she's on a sofa bed. While PP are saying that they are overcrowded etc etc not everyone has mountains of stuff once you're past the baby/toddler stage.

If she's not going to be kicked off the list, why not wait for the perfect house?

I would agree with your assessment if she was in a one bed with a husband and 2 kids... 4 people cramped into a one bed.

Two is a normal amount. OP doesn't have her 'own room' but neither would a couple. Why would a mother and child magically have more stuff than a couple?

I can't understand your nit picking! You're currently in a studio with soon-to-be teenager. The things you're worrying about are very minor. NO house is perfect. It sounds v suitable, you're both mobile. If you're not buying it, what's the problem? All types of housing is 'desireable' - there's a housing shortage!!

This concern of bedroom size is entirely flawed. You currently live in a 1 double bedroom flat. You have been offered a 2 bedroom place (I am assuming 1 double and 1 single). Therefore you can give the double to your daughter if you want and take the single. Either way the new place has a double bedroom just like your current set up plus you get one extra single bedroom than you currently have.

Yes lots of stairs increase risk of slips but your daughter is 12 not 2.

OP what do you think a studio/bedsit is?

You seem to have a one bedroom flat.

A studio/bedsit is where you open the front door and your whole house is there, apart from the bathroom. A studio/bedsit means the bed is in the lounge which also has your cooker & fridge.

OP are you in private rented now or HA?

This is really important.

Please do not stay in private rented in the current climate when you have a reasonable offer of social housing.

What would you do if you got evicted? I have just been listening to a radio feature about people living in vans/cars because private rental is so expensive and insecure.

A couple usually share a bed. Ideally a teen would have her own room. The house on offer would enable them to have a bedroom each.

Not only would both the OP and her daughter have a bedroom each in this new property, the OP would not be sleeping in the living room, so they would have a whole extra room to live in the whole time! What's not to like?!

@MyOtherCarisAFerrari , the OP is overcrowded though. The current property has 1 bedroom, she needs 2, and that will be the allocations policy of the L/A. Parents and children are not expected to share a bedroom, 'stuff' , personal belongings don't come into the equation.

I think it is probably because it’s totally different from what OP was expecting. She probably thought she’d be offered a flat in a block and this has thrown her a bit of a curved ball. I assume OP is in London but probably didn’t realise that councils own a fair few older properties that they didn’t build.

There’s no reason why OP shouldn’t spend some time thinking about the pros and cons. Her friends are coming up with cons (some of them daft) and I hope the more sympathetic mumsnetters have come up with some pros.

One thing OP hasn’t mentioned is the state of the property, so I imagine it is quite good. The next offer, if there is one, might be in a terrible state!

I am really pleased you have decided to accept the flat OP. I am available for virtual housewarming parties if required. The extra space will more than make up for a few extra stairs.

Don’t think so! OP almost certainly lives in London where virtually all council housing is flats.

I am baffled that you still describe a 1 bed flat as a 'studio' flat.

A studio flat is a single living/sleeping area - some combine kitchen area as well some have a separate kitchen.

If the bedroom is seperate to the living area, it is a 1 bed flat. Not a studio.

I had a two bed flat with ds 20 and 15. I was offered a three bed house in an area I always said I’d never live. I took it. Why? Because it was a roof over my head and my ds’ s got their own privacy. Beggers and choosers and all that!

@CaptainMyCaptain @loislovesstewie Yes, I know what the 'ideal' room numbers and 'legal' definitions of the LA are, I'm just pointing out why the OP might not be desperate to move. And is not just being 'irrational'.
When people say 'desperate', apart from instability with private rent, they are usually referring to people being in subpar temporary housing. Like I said upthread, entire families squeezed into BnB's, or people living in mouldy/dangerous housing.

There are families double the size of OP, living in a one-bed.
Many children don't have their own bedrooms, and never will anyway, needing to share with a sibling. Even if they have a council house - still two people squeezed into a box room.

So, it isn't entirely irrational for OP to keep rejecting things, waiting for her dream house. There's no pressing need. You lot might all feel that she needs more space. But she doesn't say that, does she?

Also @CaptainMyCaptain @loislovesstewie People have mentioned 'space' in the rest of the flat for OP's daughter. But 2 parents and 2 kids living in the same flat would have less space , even worse because they'd actually need a communal area big enough for all of them to get together.

Most of this thread is convincing OP to take it, probing her feelings which I think is silly. If she isn't that desperate better for someone else who actually needs and appreciates the housing to get it. It's as simple as that.

*living in a 2 bed flat!

Its a mix of houses and flats

I worked in social housing for about 30 years. I don't know where the OP lives but she still has a housing need. It might not be as difficult as people who are in temporary accommodation but she has that need. She has placed a bid for this property , if she is offered it she would be a fool to refuse. She might not be offered again.

Rather depend on how central or otherwise you are!

That's true, but there have been several pages of threads and loads of excuses.
Now OP think she'll accept it but is still going to 'have a think'.
You can lead a horse to water....

Well yes. But you said London you didn't say what part do I'm talking generally. We don't even know if op is in London. I'm in London and it's a mix of flats and houses. I was housed just over a year ago in a house. And there are houses every week on the bidding list.