1950s flats

[smallblueeyes]

We are looking at some ex-council flats on 1950s estates in London. I have family nearby and we need to move to be close to them, but as it's quite central these are probably the only properties we'd be able to afford. I'm not too concerned about the neighbours as I grew up in the area and know which bits are dodgy.

Having looked at the layouts, they look quite spacious with decent-sized rooms and storage, but the kitchens seem very small. Does anyone have experience of living in this type of flat with children and the pros and cons?

I lived in this type of flat for a year as a student. Actually it was two adjacent flats but the other flat's kitchen had been converted to a bedroom if that makes sense. So that's 8 single women sharing a small kitchen.

It was a bit of a nightmare as two were clean freaks and a couple of the others were in 'Kim and Aggie' territory, plus one was a vegetarian who wouldn't use the grill or oven if someone happened to be cooking meat at the time. I shoud imagine in comparison your family would be able to live with the kitchen very comfortably (unless you have 6 or more children I suppose)! The only concern would be whether there is room for a washing machine anywhere in the flat.

We aren't in a flat but in a 1960's house with a small kitchen.It is about 12ft x 9ft,so too small to eat in.It was a struggle until we had it refitted and planned properly,now 4 of us can be in there cooking at the same time and not be under each other's feet.I did move the washing machine into an outbuilding so we could have a dishwasher though.It was amazing how much difference having a properly thought out kitchen can make space wise.

Thanks Cattleprod and Mirage. The kitchen sizes are similar to the one you had, Mirage. Did you have to knock down walls in order to refit it? I don't know if that would be possible in the type of flat I'm looking at.

I haven't viewed any of the properties in person yet, I've arranged some viewings for next week so I'll make a point of checking for enough space for the washing machine and a dishwasher.

No,we did no structural work at all.We used Wickes to do the kitchen plan and ordered the kitchen from them,but had our own fitter put it in.[We saved £1000's that way].It really is amazing how much more spacious a well planned room can feel.I would never have believed the diffrence it has made.