WWYD housing with toddlers: Patio garden and stairs or one level apartment?

[hodgepodge01]

We are moving back to London from abroad with almost 2yo twins.

We are trying to choose between two 3bedroom options.

1. a mews like house with light from both sides. Three stories with living on the ground, bathrooms and laundry upstairs and a 8x6m patio. Front door opens into alley/lane.
2. a fourth floor apartment, bright with light from all directions, fully carpeted, lift (though wouldn’t fit double buggy), smaller secondary bedrooms. Portered.

Trying to weigh up what’s better for the kids. Being on a single level or having access to the back patio. Both are close to the same wonderful park down the road with multiple gardens and playgrounds.
Assume the patio is safer. Not sure if the kids will go stir crazy. We’re used to much more room. We also need to potty train so living areas with carpet seem a bit challenging.
Apartment is available now, house is being refreshed and we’d need to move in the week before I start a new job.

Thoughts on what is important at this age? The kids can do stairs but need assistance of course.

thanks in advance

I would go the house every time. The ability to get the kids out into some fresh air, even if it is small, is priceless.
Stairs will be a bigger deal for a very short period of time. Try to picture both homes over time rather than the very short period of stair danger and potty training.

They are not going to be 2 year olds forever !

Being able to let them mess with a water/sand table while you have a quick coffee .

Can't do that in an apartment .

House all the time .

House house house! Even a small patio means access to scooter storage, small trampoline, mud kitchen, can have planters and plant veg and flowers with the kids - all such lovely things denied when you’ve no outdoor space!

House no question. Stairs is only a temporary issue and the garden is forever.

Definitely option one.

Get the one that you like the most. They are only toddlers for a very short time.

House!

Thanks for the input. We’d probably only stay a year in either rental, until we found something more enduring. Though we’ve made a buy offer on a flat nearby and wonder if we should had held out for a maisonette.

We weigh the outdoors highly even though the house is just paved (and currently looks a bit grim).

The flat has fantastic light, which is hard to give up and the kids love tearing around the whole expanse of our house here.

We used to live in (2) and now we live in (1). We moved when DS was 3 years old. MN tends to be quite negative about flats but in the part of London where we live, most people live in one. I definitely miss all being on one level (and having a porter!) and I miss the actual flat itself but we have a lot more space in the house and it’s nice to have a small terrace although we don’t use it as much as we should probably. I think if you’re only renting for a year, it won’t make too much difference really and they both sound like good options.

How’s the sound insulation for whoever is below you in a flat when there are 2 2 year olds thundering about?

I would think complaining neighbours could make flat difficult.