Please talk me out of buying this beautiful apartment

[Nstarr]

Myself, partner, plus 2 under 2. Kids need a garden right? So please talk us out of buying this absolutely stunning apartment.

-new build with loads of character and history.
-high ceilings, huge windows, spacious rooms
-luxury very high end finish similar to a 5* hotel, very much our style.
-‘Good’ local school

BUT

Maintenance fees of £1700 a year, slightly further from family moving from Surrey to Hampshire, no garden!!!

There may be plots next year with small gardens, we’re not in a rush. It’s generally just not practical. We could easily afford the 2 beds. The 3 beds are same price of a house. But a house would take £££££’s to get to that standard. Please talk us out of this ridiculous idea.

And 1700 a year is quite low. In portugal where I live now the fees are minimum 50 a month for a fairly low quality condo rising to 300-400 a month for a top quality condo.

Also, regarding the high end finish - that can be achieved anywhere. My flat is on the main road above a row of shops. We spent £50k and have the high end hotel style finish. (It was worth it and still cheaper than a house).

A garden is absolutely needed with young kids. Your said you've got two under two so I'm assuming one's a baby who will stay in one place at the moment? Wait until they're two and three and you take them outside or to the park on your own and one legs it in one direction and the other goes the opposite. You need a safe garden where they can do that and you're not constantly worried! You can leave them to nip to the loo for a second without having to drag them with you. You can sit down and keep an eye on them because they're contained, you don't have to constantly keep getting up to return them! Absolutely non negotiable for me, even if the garden isn't huge. It'll give you peace of mind.

What floor would the apartment be on? Neighbours above you will be noisy, especially in a new build. Anything higher than ground floor will be a bugger if the lift breaks.

Don't do it!

I’m not sure I understand how a new build can have history. How old is it?

I really think you’d regret not having a garden. I’ve known people to move into flats with babies and regret it so much when the kids are older. Not just so you can relax in the summer rather than be stuck indoors but also for kids parties, family parties, a chance to grow fruit and veg if you are ever that way inclined. If you ever want to get a dog etc. Not that you can’t do these things in a flat but a garden definitely makes it easier in my opinion.

Two children under two? That finish isn’t going to hold up well.

A house with garden is what you want. Worry about the luxury finish when the kids are old enough not to wreck it.

Plus, as mentioned, there’s the risk of annual fees being increased. If they hike them up you may find it impossible to sell in the future.

New builds tend to be superficially gorgeous but not built to last. The maintenance fees can go up and you have no control over them. The kids will enjoy a garden not a nice finish in a certain style.

I want to see this beautiful flat!

Link please! We were so tempted to buy a gorgeous Edwardian flat, original features, basement and huge shared garden. Instead we went for a very sensible detached bungalow. It was the right decision where children are involved.

You need a garden 100%

It's a no from me. I was very close to buying a similar sounding flat - it was gorgeous and in square feet much bigger than the house I eventually bought - but at the last minute realised how difficult it would be to not have any outside space with 2 active boys.

When COVID hit I was SO thankful to be in a house with a (very small) garden as that outside space was used every day, especially when we were self isolating as contacts and couldn't leave the house at all.

No matter how swanky the flat seems, I expect 10 days inside it with no outside space at all would become very claustrophobic very quickly!

Just another perspective here. I live in Edinburgh in a tenement flat. It's absolutely normal throughout central Scotland for professionals to live in tenements, in fact depending on the area they're mostly considered aspirational.

Three families in our stair have kids, they happily play either in the shared back green or in the many local parks.

I don't 'have a garden' and I don't miss it apart from on the very hottest days of the year.

Nobody can deny that gardens are generally lovely, but they aren't a prerequisite of modern family living.

I lived in a flat with 1 toddler. It had a garden but was still rubbish. Carrying prams, babies, shopping up the stairs is really difficult. You have to go out to let them play rather than open your back door, make dinner while you watch them. You have no way of knowing what your neighbours will be like and they maybe the type to moan at your kids running over the floorboards etc. When it's wet you are literally stuck inside as it's not that practical to take everything to go to a park etc. If you have a garden you can easily put up a covered space they can play in. Kids outside toys like bikes take up a lot of space. If your kids have friends over as they get older do you really want them running around your flat rather than your garden? Imagine another lockdown being stuck in with no garden space, bored kids and worn out parents. For kids an outside space is much better as it takes the pressure of parents at times. My nearly 2 and 4 year old spend hours in my back garden playing as we a playhouse, slide, mud kitchen and they are happy. My 9 year old plays out the front of our house on bikes etc for hours. It would be a nightmare bring stuck in with them all the time. Kids get harder in some senses as they get older and a garden helps massively.

Buying a place without a garden when you could afford buy somewhere that does have a garden is absolute madness imho - especially if you have young children. There is nothing better for wellbeing than your own little bit of outside space, your children will benefit more than you can imagine from having a garden, even if it's just a small bit of grass to place on in the fresh air.

After the last year we’ve had I’m surprised anyone would be considering choosing to have no garden with small kids if they have a choice

How does a new-build have character and history?

I definitely wouldn’t sacrifice my garden for a “high end luxury finish”, especially with small children. I have parks and beaches nearby but the garden is still a godsend. I’m sitting in it now while DC potters around with their mud kitchen and I ignore them and drink a cup of tea supervise. My house is a bit scruffy but the garden is lovely and well used.

The children are part of your family and it’s a family home
I doubt small dc would enjoy sitting in the high end 5* hotel type apartment on a hot day as much as they would enjoy having a garden to play in.
Of course you can’t buy a property purely for their needs either but try and find something that works for everyone

I would also add that I did live in a flat without a garden with young kids. We made do (lived near a park we went to) and didn't think about not having a garden at the time but OH MY GOD when we moved we so appreciated the garden. In our flat we'd be at the park every day but with a garden you can be in and out. The kids can have a paddling pool, football goal, tennis swing ball etc. They can nip in and out, build a den, camp out. As adults it's also lovely at the moment to have dinner outside orsit and have a cup of tea. Admittedly that's only a few months a year though. I actually find the kids use the garden just as much in winter as it's easy to pop out for 5 minutes as it stops raining where as I'd never bother going to the park if it might start up again any minute.

£1700 pa service charge is peanuts. Round here in London they start at 10k per year.

However, kids need outdoor space.

In Surrey/Hampshire/Sussex there a quite a number of developments of mansions into large apartments, you should be able to pick up something similar with a garden.

Gardens aren’t just for children though. As adults, we love our garden. Bbqs, sitting and reading, planting herbs and flowers.
I love sitting outside to have a coffee in the morning or a drink in the evening, as the sun sets and stars come out.
Dc have grown up playing, planting, feeding birds, having picnics and doing gardening chores. . Even now as teens, they’ll come and join us in the garden for food.

The high end luxury finish can soon become tired, dull and outdated. It only looks great now because it is UNUSED!
You're better off prioritising what your growing family needs.
You can move to a high end pristine place in the future when the kids are gone!

The garden wins out every time with small children.

As others have said, you can pop a paddling pool, painting, tent, whatever out there even in a very small garden and it is worth it for that.

When my two were small they spent a lot of time outside, even though our garden was small.

Can we see it now

I've had a quick nosey on Rightmove and the only place I can find that matches your description is the one in Aldershot?

Obviously I may be completely off the mark, but if it is, the broadband is absolutely appalling.

I would think of a flat as a temporary option for single people who couldn't afford a proper house.
How bizarre. People all over the world live in flats. How are they not 'proper'?