small house or a large flat - help me decide

[colabottles21]

Have just sold our house during the lockdown and are contemplating our next move. DH got a job in London and will have to be onsite three days a week so the plan is to move there. The only snag is that on our budget we can really only afford a very small house in an ok-ish area or a big flat in a really nice one. Have only one DS so schools are important as is the general feel of the area. Would it really be too weird for our next move to be a flat? Or do we have to settle for a much smaller house in a less nice area? London prices are crazy and I didn't think that we'd be contemplating this in our 40s but the new job is great and it would be too much of an opportunity to miss it. But having never lived in London we just don't seem to have as much equity as everyone else here.

Has anyone successfully lived in a flat with DCs? Did you end up moving to a house after all? Was it weird to be living in a flat if everyone else had a house? Am clearly overthinking this and am just trying to sort out what I think and what is feasible.

Where does he work and where are you planning on living?

You can easily commute to london from further reaches like Kent, Surrey etc and still have a doable commute, sometimes quicker than living more centrally. I used to live in Bromley and commute to Victoria and Mayfair, I could be door to door in 35-40
Minutes, where a colleague lived in Acton and it would take them way over an hour

Get advice, on here, loads of people live in and around london and commute too

Sat down last night and looked that our budget is around 600k which would be fine where we are but obviously won't get us much in London if I want a safe area with a good school for DS. DH will have to commute into Aldgate East but I might also have to commute back to where I work currently but only once a month or so. Any ideas of how to square that circle are very welcomed

I think describing living in a flat with a DC as potentially ‘weird’ is rather insulting. We currently live in a 3 bed flat with our two DC as do many of our neighbours and friends. The cladding issue for flats that have been caught up in this mess is terrible but certainly doesn’t apply to all flats. Ensure that the property has a current EWS1 form, it’s the properties that don’t have that are seriously struggling. In terms of leasehold/freehold there has recently been a been a new law passed where leaseholders will be given the right to extend their lease by a maximum term of 990 years at zero ground rent, so flat living is not all doom and gloom. We moved from our small 2 bed house in a not great area to a much bigger 3 bed flat, out DC go to the local school which is excellent. Our development is relatively new and we hear absolutely no noise from our neighbours above and either side, I have friends living in mid-terrace properties that experience terrible noise. However, that all being said it is very difficult to sell flats at the moment and we are in a situation now where we want and need to sell and are really struggling. The lack of a garden as people mentioned is the most genuine issue I have experienced with living in a flat, especially during a lockdown. I would never buy a property again without a garden, although I also wouldn’t choose to buy a tiny property in a bad location just because it was a house if there were other options.

Where I'm looking at buying all I can afford will be a 1 bed house (only a few come up every now and again), but I will be holding out for that rather than buying a 2 bed flat

The service charges in London are a rip off, paying an extra 100 quid a month on top of my mortgage? No thanks

Where do you need to go back to?

Period flat with garden....yes

It’s also fairly easy to get to Aldgate station from Liverpool Street/Euston/Kings Cross rail routes from further out so you could look at places on those routes.

so many things to think about and seemingly so many more compromises if we move. DS is 9 so not sure how much he will use the garden but he does need a decent-sized room and somewhere his mates can come and hang out. We also like having people over for dinner so ideally would need at least a big enough living room. Hence, thinking that maybe a flat would be ok, but its definitely daunting thinking through leases etc

With your update of commuting to Aldgate East, could consider somewhere like Wapping if you haven’t already. Walking distance commute, lots of parks and access to canals and rivers for walks, and good primary schools

I think you need to work out what the commute time your DH would be willing to do (I would say for 3 days a week an hour ish is pretty doable if not an hour 15) and look at places from there

Where are you looking in London? Would you look at places on the outskirts with an easy commute? For example, St Albans has excellent state schools (pretty much all excellent or good) and a 20-min train into kings cross st pancreas and you’ll get some three-beds within walking distance of the stations for £600k. Or look Essex-way at somewhere like Upminister. Schools mostly good. Really easy commute into Algate East.

Op what about East London? Wanstead. South Woodford? Or other areas near Epping Forest? Still accessible to central london but with more green space, and good schools (albeit catchments matter). On the central line so a quick swap at mile end would get you to Aldgate East easily.

A move further out of London will get you a house. If your DH needs to commute into Aldgate East then he would want to be coming into Liverpool Street and the commuter towns in Essex would probably make sense. There are a lot of good areas there but there will be more knowledgeable people here than me on where would suit you best

I agree Londongent Liverpool Street seems sensible first point and then maybe Kings Cross as another depending on where they are at the moment and where friends/family are in terms of road routes to get to them

Its not my area either though I am South going into Waterloo/Victoria

Small house all day long. Market unpredictable and may well crash. Houses always do better than flats when market is bad. Plus leasehold issues can be a ball and chain.

Flat. Definitely flat. Look out for ex-council places - often much better built than private flats.

With ex-council you can check easily if they’ve been through ‘decent homes’. If so you shouldn’t have big surprised when it comes to maintenance bills, and you’ll also have better insulation than most private dwellings. There’s usually a much more generous floorplan too - none of the squeezing a tiny bed into a room and calling it a bedroom.

Having the council as a leaseholder works pretty well too - they can’t flog it to a dodgy company that then triples the fees.

In London most estates will be very mixed - poor people, rich people, immigrants & seventh generation Londoners. I’d count that as a plus point. Oh yes - and good estates are likely to have playgrounds and stuff.

What’s your budget, and what area of London will he work in?

There are lots of areas that have cheaper housing and great schools, and because of the high housing costs lots of people live in areas considered less nice than if they were in another city.

London has micro-areas: middle class terraces and semis right next to social housing.

Being close to a good secondary will be key for you.

Sorry, missed your post with budget and area.

if you got a converted Warner flat in Walthamstow (top floor with loft converted) you can get three double bedrooms, a garden, access to good schools and good commute

eg

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/74958456#/floorplan?activePlan=1

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/83274799#/floorplan?activePlan=1

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/87477241#/

In catchment for an ‘outstanding’ and very popular secondary (and very close to some great primaries, but in-year admission is always a gamble. Though school places are coming up at the moment because so many people are moving and the London population is v mobile) This is on the doorstep of both Hitherfield and Dunraven primaries, also close to Streatham Wells, Sunnyhill and Julian’s would be do-able and all good schools if a place came up.

P.S. and is a quick walk to Tulse Hill Station for Thameslink and London Bridge trains, and to Streatham Hill for Victoria. Easy buses to tube at Brixton.

We almost bought a flat initially but things that put me off is lack of parking space for visitors. They have only a limited space for visitors and can get booked during holidays. No garden access or communal garden so you can't leave DC to play by themselves. Also any minor repair work needed lot of approvals from leaseholder and building management team. You can only use their handy men etc. My friend lived in a posh flat and she couldn't get her balcony door repaired for 3 months in winter as it needed approval and only a certain agency who had the contract had to be engaged for the work due to the maintaining look of the balcony.
I am glad we went for a modest 3 bed semi. Especially in lockdown it's nice to have the garden for DC when we both are wfh and don't need supervision. Your budget is reasonable I would recommend rent in an area and get a feel before you buy.

Aldgate East is well connected via circle and metropolitan lines so you could check areas such as Ruislip for that budget.