Big flat or small house?

[Alexalee]

My dd has a choice to make
1100ft2 3 bed flat in a period house, high ceilings and nice features, private section of garden, no direct access ( it's about 1 minute walk away)
750ft2 3 bed 1950s terrace house, decent garden
Which would you go for?

If the freeholder sells up, everything can change very quickly!

Just on practicalities, it would drive me mad to have to go back and to to the flat if I was having a BBQ in the garden and forgot the sauces or needed cutlery etc.

There is no management company, the freeholder lives in the building and gets repairs done and charges the flats after, very reasonable costs from works done in the last 20 years that we have seen copies of.

Make sure she checks what has been done as it will give her an indication of what will need to be done. I had the same thought then 18months after buying got a £15K bill for a new roof.

I’ve been in a similar sized house for the past 11 years. We’re now moving as I’m imminently due my second, but our little house has served us well.

Agree with all said above - own space, easy garden access, even with the higher price per square foot, I’d go for house every time. I do get the appeal of a period property though!

Because they are the same price, I would go for a house. My first property was a flat, but only cause it was so much cheaper than houses in the area - house every time for me.
And whilst the garden is only a minute ago, that sounds like a faff - going backwards and forwards to get anything you haven't taken with you - I'd end up not using it.

The house - I hate having no immediate access to outside space. I know some people aren't bothered, though.

The arrangement might be all very well now, but what if the resident freeholder decided to sell? Might not be so lucky with someone else.
With a FH property, at least you're in control - and it's yours for good (as long as you keep paying the mortgage).

The flat sounds way nicer.

That sq ft is super small for a 3 bed house.

Even if no formal management co you still need permission/ agreement to do repairs etc and what happens if that person moves out or can no longer do the job? Sounds like a low risk, I agree, but just a warning that you can't control these things, unlike in a house. If she's happy to accept that risk then the flat sounds nice, although the outside space access would still make me lean towards the house.

House. I need a garden, can't imagine not having a garden by choice.

Flat if she is planning on having children. Raising children in less than 1000sqf is masochism.

I've lived in lots of flats, but only ever bought houses. I have loved the flats though.
What about drying laundry?
That was the biggest nuisance for me. She won't want to lug everything a minute walk away and then have to sprint back again when it looks like rain!

I think the garden is the biggest negative of the flat. I wouldn't really count it as having a garden if you have lock the flat, and walk 1 minute each time you want to go outside. I like to just open the patio doors / back door and walk in and out.

Normally I'd say house because it's f/h, own garden easily accessible, you can extend or do what ever you like, no ground rent or service charges. But in this case, the flat sounds lovely for someone without kids. Maybe the flat, but move to a house later if she has dc?

I think she sees it as a 5 year home and then move to a house.
Incidentally the identical ground floor flat below sold last summer for 400k... so a premium of 70k... but again the garden is not directly outside as they are tiered gardens and that flat has the 2nd tier... dds would be tier 4

House due to following positives -

Freehold
Less potential for noise travel
Garden or outside space

The flat being leasehold would be a big drawback for me.

There's no guarantee the freeholder won't sell up and the current cosy arrangements massively change. Even if that risk doesn't concern you, it may concern future purchasers when your DD wants to sell up.

I live in a big flat and love it, but I have direct access to my garden. One of my best friends lives in a gorgeous upstairs flat that has a private share of the garden but they have to go down stairs, through their front door and round the back to access it, it's such a pain in summer when you need to get drinks / go to the loo etc and now we have kids I really appreciate being able to get straight out into the garden. I wouldn't care if I lived in a flat or house but the garden would be a deal breaker for me

Flats are absolutely not harder to sell than houses? I’d go for a large flat over a small house without question.

Thanks for all the thoughts ladies.
I think the non direct garden access is my biggest drawback

Flat.
I would rather have more space internally. The amount of time I spend indoor is far greater. The rooms in the house must be really small and would make me feel closed in.
Even with kids, I would prioritize indoor play area and storage space over a garden.
In fact, even if the house is the same size, I would prefer a flat if all else are equal: same outside space, same location... because there is less space wasted on stairs and corridors in a flat

Flat. Absolutely. I would have said house but having read there's no possibility to extend...nope. Worst case scenario that she gets stuck longer than 5 years and has to start a family there, I would absolutely take internal floor space over direct access to a garden (and I speak as someone with two kids who had neither space nor garden!) Before kids, a 1 minute walk to garden (presumably secure?) is just hassle in terms of going to the loo, refilling drinks etc, whereas having that much space for storage and living is a huge asset!

House

For the garden and also (bizarrely) the stairs. They were such a novelty when I moved out of flats, and now many years on I like the idea of having separate floors for living and sleeping.

And my own garden.

Flats are absolutely not harder to sell than houses? I’d go for a large flat over a small house without question. Not flats in general, no, but those with 3 bedrooms + will have a limited market.

What way does the back garden face re the house ?
That's a deal breaker for me.

Is it in London? Londoners tend to be more pragmatic about square footage than elsewhere in the country so it won’t be too hard to sell the flat on.

Lack of direct access to the outdoor space will mean that she will rarely use it. I speak from personal experience and she won’t regularly carry her washing / coffee / lunch the one minute to her share of the garden. She just won’t. The flat sounds a good bet but don’t let her pay a premium for the outside space.