Buying a small apartment with DC, are we nuts?

[Somethingsgotthagive]

First Time Buyers in outer London with a DC. Finally in a position to have a down payment for a mortgage after years of saving and childcare fees almost behind us. We are currently tied to London and both commute frequently for work which means we need to stay put in current area due to easy commute and lots of amenities for DC.
We have a maximum budget of £530K (which would only get you a nice flat or maisonette here) but given the current high interest rates and job market uncertainty, I am now wondering if it’d be more wise to keep the cost lower and aim for a less expensive property, around the £480K mark - this would mean a smaller 2 bed flat, most likely 600 sq feet or so. Are we mad to consider that?

Please refrain from saying things like “I could buy a castle where I live in Wales with that budget”. I am in the London suburbs and have ZERO interest in moving to different parts of the country so need to work with what I have available to me.

Are you likely to want another child? Try to future proof as much as possible so you don't have to move again for at least 10 years.

2 bed house admittedly I haven't lived in London since I was a child and this may be a terrible area but this is £450000

The Flat-Horror is far more prevalent on MN than amongst anyone I know in real life.

If you max out your budget how long would it take you to build your savings back up?

Buying somewhere that suits you for a long time is important - buying and selling is expensive with SDLT, EA fees etc. SDLT especially - big discount for your first purchase, full whack after that!

Personally I would look for a garden flat with share of freehold.

What general area of London are you in?

Which suburb/part of London do you need to be in?

I agree with this.^
Flats in UK often have small rooms, low ceilings and thin walls. However I think it’s doable if location is good for you and there is park near by for DC.

The fact that every time I ask these type of questions here on MN I get people suggesting other areas and sending me links to houses proves what I was saying about the UK obsession with houses😂

How do you feel personally about living in a flat ? It doesn't bother me as I grow up in the flat and my neighbours where doctors, solicitors etc wasn't any rubbish about classes. I'm well educated spent 10 years on upbringing kids husband can't work is retired. So I accepted my sytuation.
Is all about you not what other think is about you and how you manage. Also think about kids are you able to take a blame later on that you in the flat or move out if necessary. Also will you afford good food, clothing holidays for them and put some savings aside.

I have spent 1/2 my childhood in a small flat, in a lovely neighborhood. Surrounded y friends. Cycled to school, libraries and cinema. The beach was near. I was super happy.

Then my parents bought a large house in a picturesque village. Backward, isolated, boring. Nothing to do except going to church. I hated it.

Also a large part of my family (cousins/nephews/nieces/ etc.) has grown in flats in southern Europe. Everyone is well.

This is anecdotal but in my experience there are other factors at play than house size when measuring happiness.

Edited for typos

@Paternlink I only ever lived in flats as I am European and never even thought about it until I started discussing housing with Brits and realised how snobby and obsessed they are about houses and type of houses too.
I am mainly concerned about DC and in a way want to shield them from that but I need to also be realistic and do what works best for our current needs.
Yes we will have money for clothes, holidays, activities and savings

@BellaDelBosco absolutely. It’s not being happy I am concerned about but rather other people judgement and mainly towards DC.
I wish it wasn’t like this here but it is a very classist society

We lived in a flat in London as a family four with a cat and dog added in, living in a flat is fine, the lack of stairs means less wasted space, its also much easier to supervise young children as they’re not as far away and they can’t fall down the stairs. I now live in a house (for the first time in my life) and I would much rather go back to flat living.

Ah it's you. You've posted this before and got snippy with people who were just trying to help you.

@Somethingsgotthagive but then why would you care about their judgement? Honestly if people judge for this they are showing themselves for what they are. I am sure kids and all people will all gravitate towards your cool flat - doing one's own thing is charismatic.
💖

My kids are not judged as they still friends with their posh friends they are half British. Unfortunately they see kitchens big as our fault or their big bedrooms and they fill ashamed. Probably that is what you will cope with. They will question you why we can't have it why you can't have better job etc ? London is multicultural and lots of diversity I think you will be in better sytuation than me.

What @YouveGotAFastCar said.

@BIWI trying to help me by essentially pssi g the message that you shouldn’t give up on getting a house as flat living is so c.ap we wouldn’t wish that to anyone?😂 I am not asking for advice on where to buy a house!

@Simonjt can I ask you why you’d like to move back to a flat??

What dies the extra 50k get you? You say a bit nicer/bigger but how much bigger do you mean.

Sometimes more size doesn't mean more useable space. So make sure both have enough storage space.

They’re easier to live in, no stairs, no wasted space due to stairs, your young children are closer to you when they wake up in the night and you’re still in the living room etc, no hoovering of any stairs! Bills are lower due to having neighbours attached to you, parcels etc don’t go missing as no one else can get in the building.

It us so frustrating asking property questions on MN.

The pointless and irrelevant ‘’I could buy a mansion for that in North-West-East Town’

The regional suburban dwellers who must have detached with off street parking and consider anything else a ‘nightmare’

The suburban Londoners on the fringe of the Home Counties who slag off perfectly normal, if a bit gritty, areas nearer in as shit-holes, dangerous etc

Giving advice on places they haven’t lived in for 15 years and are now changed out of all recognition.

And then the endless links to ‘eligible’ properties that they have failed to notice are O-60s leases, shared ownership, tenanted etc

OP: real life is not MN. Really wealthy people live in apartments in London. Perfectly normal professional families with kids live in nice flats in Hackney (for example) and so on. No one bats an eyelid.

I thought the same and tried it out in a holiday flat. I felt 600 Sq ft was too small for our family of four. I couldn’t get away from anyone, ever 😜

I do like flats a lot, but I’d look for 800 Sq ft if possible. I think really bright flats can feel more spacious. And a well designed layout means a lot.

I haven’t RTFT yet but so far you’ve ignored every single post asking you where you’d like to live, saying how they think flats are fine, how nobody will judge you, etc.

If there are people who judge you for being in a flat they're knobheads and to be avoided.

With your budget have a look at Worcester park. My boss is buying there and her budget is similar to yours. V commutable