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Property/DIY

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Original poster

Big flat or small house?

115 replies

Alexalee · 23/04/2019 09:02

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?

OP posts:

Original poster

Alexalee · 23/04/2019 13:20

Zone 6 south east london

OP posts:

beanaseireann · 23/04/2019 15:25

And the garden orientation OP ?

whitehalleve · 23/04/2019 18:42

House. Due to being freehold and no service charges. Having said that I live in a flat!😃

IceRebel · 23/04/2019 19:08

Lack of direct access to the outdoor space will mean that she will rarely use it.

I agree with this. People buy places like this, and talk themselves into the garden not being a problem. They rationalise that a 1 minutes walk isn't a lot, and of course they will use the space. However, when push comes to shove the amount of faff and effort to get to the outside space means it doesn't get used

Original poster

Alexalee · 23/04/2019 19:19

No idea about garden orientation

OP posts:

TitusP · 23/04/2019 19:23

New leases tend to be 125 years, so I would question the 99 year lease, banks can get a bit funny about leases under 100 years I think.

I would say house, I lived in a beautiful large period flat and we had endless trouble with damp which we couldn't fix as it was an issue with the outside of the building and we were at the mercy of the useless management company. We couldn't do basic maintenance the building needed, had no control over what our service charges were spent on as the mechanism to challenge this was long and convoluted. We had two demands for payment for works that didn't need doing as much as the damp needed addressing but we had to pay them. We were flooded from the flat above, we had issues with noise, we had issues with the floor that the flat below wouldn't let us fix.

We felt so trapped and miserable by the end. Buying a house was so freeing.

museumum · 23/04/2019 19:25

In my 20s and 30s I had lovely period flats in town. Lack of direct garden access didn’t bother me at all.
I moved into a house at 40 when ds was 2.5 which is far less nice but we do use the direct garden access.

Langrish · 23/04/2019 19:25

However nice the flat is, if it’s a conversion and wasn’t properly sound proofed, the neighbours will get on her nerves, conversions are renowned for noise problems (especially if you’re on the ground floor).

averythinline · 23/04/2019 19:27

House- mainly because of the leasehold situation - what if the current fair free holder dies/decides to move away and sells....what if new neighbours move in who are nosiy/anti social...
conversions are usually not well insulated (although that depends on when it was done a bit...)
I really loved my period flat but was very lucky that when I sold it as my upstairs neighbour went travelling and rented hers out and they were a nightmare .....
direct access to garden is also a massive win...one of my BF bought herself a small house planning to move after 5 yrs ...she is still there 20 years later and loves her house doesnt need it any bigger and has acquired a dog so garden been great....

cheeseandpineapple · 23/04/2019 19:32

Have you seen the flat and house OP and if so does the flat look and feel noticeably bigger than the house?

Sometimes the sq footage of a flat can include a proportion of the common parts.

It the flat looks and feels bigger, brighter and overall has a better feel, would go for the house.

Your daughter probably has a gut feeling about which she can see herself in and should go for that.

llangennith · 23/04/2019 19:35

House. I like to feel it's mine, not a shared property.

MitziK · 23/04/2019 19:43

House.

I became too ill to manage stairs to a flat by the time I was 34, when at 30, I was running up five flights with eight shopping bags full to the brim. I needed surgery in that time (due to falling down those fucking stairs whilst ill), but had to refuse it due to the recovery period requiring, according to the specialist, 3 months in a wheelchair, 3 months non weightbearing and 6-9 months dependent upon crutches if everything went to plan.

A friend who, without any additional diagnosis, very fit, active and healthy at 38, needed an almost identical operation, is still significantly disabled 7 years after her surgery. She often has to go upstairs on all fours/down them on her behind, but at least she only has to do that once a day and can leave the house whenever she likes, no matter how much difficulty it's causing her on any given day, as she can just roll out in her chair or use her crutches.

Moving to a house gave me my life back and I will never willingly live in a flat again.

It's also so amazingly quiet in a house, compared to noise from above and/or below. Even normal living noise is completely different.

SwedishEdith · 23/04/2019 19:55

Would love to see floor plans. If she's no plans for kids, she could make the house more open plan to feel spacious. Presume can't do that in the flat?

Original poster

Alexalee · 23/04/2019 20:33

This is the flat

OP posts:

Original poster

Alexalee · 23/04/2019 20:34

As it's just her the third bedroom would be used as a big walk in wardrobe

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LegoPiecesEverywhere · 23/04/2019 20:37

The flat. The house would be too small for a family so I wouldn’t let the re-sale value put her off.

Original poster

Alexalee · 23/04/2019 20:38

This is the house... it's nearly 800ft2...

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IceRebel · 23/04/2019 20:42

I can't see the sizes on the flat floor plan, but that 3rd bedroom looks tiny.

bebeboeuf · 23/04/2019 20:44

Based on floorplan I still say house by far

BuzzPeakWankBobbly · 23/04/2019 20:44

Is the flat bathroom on a different floor?!

ThanksItHasPockets · 23/04/2019 20:46

Based on those floor plans, I’d actually go for the house. It looks like it has a decent amount of built-in storage to mitigate against the smaller room sizes and the living areas are much more sociable. I appreciate that she has no plans for a family now but things can change a lot in five years and if she did find that her circumstances unexpectedly changed she could have a baby or toddler in that house without needing to move urgently.

bebeboeuf · 23/04/2019 20:47

In fact I would never buy a flat.

My first property was a flat and I was so glad to get into a house.
The flat never felt 100% mins or 100% private’s due to leeshold and communal gardens.

I’ve rented flats also and I wouldn’t want to rent one again either

I’d choose a tiny house over a massive flat any day

ticketsonsalenow · 23/04/2019 20:51

The house would be too small for a family - don't be daft, of course it wouldn't.

House, definitely.

SwedishEdith · 23/04/2019 20:52

House as well now. The flat looks like it's a big living room taking the bulk of the floorspace. Kitchen looks narrow and, yes, it's not really a 3rd bed.

Original poster

Alexalee · 23/04/2019 21:07

Yes bathroom on a few steps lower
The kitchen is 3.4 by 2.4m... looks small next to the living room and bed 1 which are both 5.5 by 4.5m
Bed 2 is 3.75 by 4.75m
I am really surprised on the opinions, I thought square footage trumped everything after location

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