Unreasonable to move into a flat?

[CanterburyRoadBlock]

I'll try and be quick and concise, would really appreciate advice/experience.

Me, on my own with 2 children (one disabled) aged 10 and 15, and a dog. 2 years ago we were homeless after leaving of loved home of a decade, I left before I needed to after being spooked by the LL telling me she was thinking of selling. I had no idea what I was doing and mentally very low. I ended up buying a house in a nearish town to our village, it was available and sold to me at 2k under home report and i used a FTB scheme. It needed much more than I could have imagined, included repairs requiring a whole new flat roof section, new roof tiles, a repair to the underground drainage after sewage was coming into the DS loo, a new front door etc. But it is a 4 bedroom with a good size garden. I have dealt with this almost entirely alone and it has cost me my health as well as my finances. One of the worst parts is the road at the front is used as a race track, literally, I've seen it and I now take two hours a day doing the two school runs, on top of the boys sports 5x a week. I have a very flexible role, which I cant really move on from and earn more, although I am overqualified, because I neee so much flexibility with all the driving.

This leads to me AIBU...to buy a flat? I cannot afford to buy a house where we want to be (back home in our village), but there are some flats right next to the HS, which my 10 yo would start next year with his brother. They are fairly new, maybe a decade old, two bed, two bath. I would set up camp in the living room. This would solve some big issues for us:

1. The commuting would stop, I may actually be able to have a life, change jobs, go to the gym. Sports club is also held at the school, I would get back around 17 hours a week
2. My youngest is currently out of catchment for his brothers HS, the same one his current PS feeds. He actually has friends there now.
3. I cant afford a lot

But we would loss space, and the garden, although there is green space right outside

@CanterburyRoadBlockit sounds like a good plan to me.

Instead of a sofa bed you could look at a wall mounted Murphy bed with integrated sofa and storage for your clothes.

Something like this:

I know this isn’t my thread but thank you! This could well be something I look at in the future :)

Try for a ground floor flat with a garden. Having to go downstairs and out every time the dog needs a wee gets very old very fast. (Can you leave the disabled dc while you do that?). And think through carefully how everything in the flat would work re disability access - work it out for every room. And where any bulky mobility equipment etc would go. The right flat exists but it might take you a while to find it - more than most people do.

I think it would need to be a ground floor flat with a dog because otherwise you are likely to have (probably justified) constant noise complaints. However, as long as you dog wont be barking when the communal door or hallway is in use, I think your idea sounds fine.

Is your eldest likely to go to university or move out at 18 as it would only be a short time not having your own bedroom if so. I’d be inclined to have a wardrobe in the biggest bedroom so that your living space doesn’t look like a bedroom when you aren’t sleeping.

Grant but you have more neighbours to piss of and complain in a block of flats rather than the house attached
also the coming and going in the communal areas can trigger barking

I think it's best to do what is right for you at tje moment. You can always change again, meanwhile you will all the positives. Xx

I moved from a 3 bed flat above a shop to a 4 bed house with a huge garden. Hate it. Looking to move back to a flat above a shop!

Do it. We live in a 2 bed maisonette which is like a flat I suppose. Just under a hill with woodland and a common next to, few nice houses and space to dry your clothes outside. As I am not British and for me a barbecue in a garden is a dead concept, I literally do not need a private garden, plus the communal gardens are massive and no one goes in there.

Having smaller mortgage allows us to save all my salary while my husband pays for everything else. I pay for holidays, repairs etc

Someone asked me what I like to do if there is sun outside and I want to have a coffee at least in the garden. I don't need to drink coffee in the garden but if I want to for whatever reason, I can. I have a garden the size of mansion grounds literally as it used to be one before they turned it into mansionettes as I call them

I would hate it but it sounds like your sanity is at stake here so it would be the best thing for you.

Not all flats are in a block you know. I'm in a flat which is the bottom half of a house.. Own front door, no communal areas, back garden and front driveway

Sure but the OP’s prospective flats are in a block if they’re newly built 2-bed/2-baths.

You’re welcome 😀.

There a loads of different configurations you can get. The one in the picture has a desk on one side but you could have two storage units.

They save a huge amount of space by integrating the sofa (that you won’t be using when asleep) and means you can have a much better quality mattress for sleeping as it doesn’t need to be thin enough to fold back into a sofa.

Plus they take two minutes to set up/put away with all the bedding staying on the bed so you don’t have to worry storing that during the day.