Why do people choose tiny houses over huge flats?

[MovingtoParadise]

I don't understand it at all

The flat next door to me is for sale, it's 1200 square feet. All done out, no work needed. Lovely roof terrace with views over London. 10 foot ceilings. Own entrance.

Tiny cottage round corner is £150k more, back patio smaller than roof terrace. No views, on a busy road. Only 600 square feet.
Only 7 feet ceilings.

Cottage is half the size. Why aren't people interested in square feet

The English are obsessed with houses because we don't know how to do flats. :) Other European countries are much better (have lived in flats in a couple of countries on the continent) - they have, for example, excellent shared laundry facilities, excellent, safe, child-friendly communal gardens, secure buggy parks and bike parks so you don't have to keep those in your house, long leases.
English flats by comparison are just shoeboxes. I've lived in a few of those too. Very very very glad to have a house now.

lack of private outside space

I once wondered into the back garden for a cigarette to find a lady sunbathing topless, she leapt about 20ft in the air, covered up and ran in the flat, red faced.

Odd thing is the garden was overlooked by at least half a dozen properties in the same building, I'm not sure what she expected!

Persian it's very sensible! If the building is converted into only 2 flats, then if you owned your own leasehold one party could refuse to do essential repairs to the fabric of the building etc
I understand the way you are saying it where you both share the freehold but what NapQueen said was that there were two separate leases.

I am confused but I think that tomorrow I will realise how thick I am being.

Where are all these cheap big flats? The only big ones I know of tend to be Victorian mansion conversions and cost a bomb. Or penthouse city centre ones costing even more.

I loved our old flat. Loved not having stairs, and the rooms were really big. But we were on the ground floor so had our own front door and little garden which did make a difference.