flat v house

[Greenhats10]

FTB here and would love to get MNetters advice on our dilemma. We are FTB with a toddler and are currently looking to buy our first property in London. Just started looking but already found a nice two-bed house in an okish area - primaries fine, secondary terrible (would have to move and its really terrible), longish commute - this week we also saw a really nice two-bed flat in a great area with an amazing primary and secondary school and a much easier commute. They are priced almost the same - but now we are really confused about what to do in this market.

Do we go for the house for now but know that we will have to move in say six years time to a completely different area and uprooting everyone or go for the flat where we could stay for much longer (it's really big and the schools are great). I know that everyone always says house over flat but with the looming recession we are just totally confused. Plus my partner is European and totally loves flats - his dream home would be a flat in one of the mansion blocks by Marylebone rather than a detached house. Any advice??

I'd go for the flat because I think location is key. Only disadvantage I can foresee would be potential noise issues with upstairs neighbours. I lived in one gound floor flat and the noise annoyed me so much even though it was just footsteps etc.

Definitely the flat!

well originally we inly looked at flat in crouch end/muswell hill/ally pally area...commute, schools, areas...but really cant afford a house here and as a teacher wont have money for private.

I loved forest hill when visited it....but commute is an hour for me rather than 30mins plus secondaries for noys are not great and we wouldnt be able to afford to move to a house in say dulwich.moving further out would only make our commutr longer.

in my head forest hill is sort of like crouch end...

commute with kids is a big factor imo

If you can, look at Sydenham. It's only one stop further (about 3/4 mins) and is lovely (very biased as that's where I live) my neighbours have got their son into forest hill boys and really liked it when they visited.

I have one of each which makes it harder round here for sure.

Honestly don't worry about secondary schools now. Schools can really turn around quite quickly. Our nearest primary went from being on special measures to outstanding in less than 10 years.

@Twizbe I've grown quite fond of Sydenham since moving to Forest Hill. I enjoy the walk down Kirkdale heading towards Crystal Palace park. Would love to hear of any hidden gems you can share!

I used to live between Forest Hill and Catford. Most young couples in the larger houses where I lived moved from flats in East Dulwich. Primaries are highly regarded and Forest Hill Boys is considered quite good these days. Commuting is good as lots of stations in the area.
I don't know north London so can't compare though know it is more expensive.

The flat, every time. It sounds so much nicer

I always swerve flats as you're essentially just buying a lease for X amount of years. Yeah sure the lease will last your own lifetime but it doesn't really make for a great inheritance for your children. Short term flat buying - yes. Long term or lifetime - no

Where do you need to commute to and how close are you to the station. We’re roughly a 15/20 minute walk from Catford Bridge, Forest Hill and Honour Oak Park and in the winter that walk after the train does kill me a bit. It’s totally fine when DP drops me at the station on his way to work but if you’ve got a train/tube/overground journey and then a bit of a walk it can be a bit of a killer

Does anyone have any updates on Forest Hill Boys? It's results are not great but I do not know it personally. Obviously only ever tell you about the past and not the future - has it improved in recent years?

From what i've read on MN forest hill is a great area for young families (am not really all that young but have a young kid, i guess) but do most people with DS move out for secondaries? Am really not sure if we could afford to or where we'd go.

My parents are horrified that we're even contemplating a flat...whilst my PIL dont even get why we are buying full stop

The issue for me with a ground floor flat would be the potential for noise from upstairs. If the upstairs neighbours have hard flooring, and especially if it's a converted house with suspended timber floors, it can be truly awful, even if they're not particularly noisy. I speak from bitter experience - it's what drove us in stages from our zone 1 flat to a detached in the suburbs, when in spirit I'd much rather be in a mansion block in town. Also the usual leaseholder issues with flats. Most people have no problems at all, or are less bothered by neighbour noise, but it's worth checking out before you buy.

@Greenhats10 I don’t know if this is the case in London but are you sure you’d have to move - down here we have schools go from RI or special measures to good/outstanding in less than six years

And the other way round - there is one near me that was recently downgraded from outstanding to RI...

I'm another forest hill-er and I love love love the area so much since moving here from Hackney.

@Boomclaps - I dont really know. My DH's concern is that if it doesnt then we'll be stuck or have to uproot ourselves to some other area with good schools that we cant afford. 30-35K just to move house is so much money.

The flat sounds nice, especially with the garden. Need a garden for sure.
One thing to consider is upstairs noise. Not seen it mentioned yet but if you have noisy people upstairs it will ruin everything. I guess the same thing can be said about neighbours on either side though.

Flat. They sell easily and lots in Europe live in flats with families.

Thousands of people live in flats in London. A good school is price less.

Flat with garden easy commute .
Nice location too.
Easy access to Stansted and Luton for flights to Europe

My parents are horrified that we're even contemplating a flat...whilst my PIL dont even get why we are buying full stop

Europeans don't seem to have the same obsession with owning property that the Brits do. Also there's more of a renting culture because rental rates are controlled and affordable is my understanding, certainly in countries like Germany. Not really the case in London.

I'm another forest hill-er and I love love love the area so much since moving here from Hackney.

@Elbels What is it that you love about it? I'm just curious

@smallgoon a few different things really, bear in mind I haven't got children.

1. Ease of commute (canary wharf)
2. Proximity to parks
3. Proximity to Dulwich and CP
4. Our road is like a fairy tale version of a neighbourhood, everyone is so lovely
5. It's just got a really nice feeling to it
6. 161, Bona and the sylvan

@Elbels Cool, thanks. I moved post corona so haven't had much of a chance to scout the area. I am excited though.

We originally started looking at flats in West London and ended up buying a 2 bed house in SW London.

I'd say house over flat everytime.

We were end terrace and I hated being attached to one neighbour (although we never heard them!).

Having someone above/below and beside me would be too much possible noise.