Upside down house?

[ldnflatbuyer2021]

What do you think of houses with the ground floor having two bedrooms (one of which is used to access the garden) and bathroom.
The first floor then has the living room and kitchen (no loft space).

There is potential to create stairs from the living room into the garden.
Along with that, an 200 sq.ft. (20 sq.m.) extension in the garden from one of the bedrooms,

I think you need to consider how long you intend to stay there and whether it suits your lifestyle. If this is likely to be your longterm or forever home and you absolutely love it, go for it. But if not, you need to bear in mind that it will have a limited market when it comes to resale.

The upside down layout is more common in houses where there’s a really nice view /aspect to be had from the upper floor. Is that the case here? If so, that automatically makes it more of a positive.

I think it's fine where the view is amazing but where there's no real benefit I wouldn't buy.

I have an upside down house, although there's also a bedroom in the loft with a balcony. It was built this way to maximise light and there's a great view of the sea. It's a very bright house and I love it but I understand it's a bit quirky and not to everyone's taste.

Really don’t like the idea of only being able to access the garden via a bedroom. If there was some other garden access I could probably get on board with an upside down layout.

Yeah, it's the access to garden through a bedroom that would be hard work, I agree.

I lived in an upside down house once and never really gave it much thought while we were there. Not particularly spectacular views either!

It doesn't have a great view.
Actually the garden backs into an A rated road.
This is London, Zone 2 mind you. House from 1980s.

Currently access to the garden is via one of the bedrooms, but after we buy - we would add stairs / balcony from the living to the garden to get better access.

I can't get over the ( negative) issue of having to lug all my groceries upstairs.
And I always sleep with my windows open so it might take me a while to get used to that ( perceived lack of security) on the ground floor.
But mostly heavy shopping....

I’ve known a few people who bought townhouses so garage & storage/utility on ground floor, kitchen & living room on 1st floor & bedrooms on 2nd. They all ended up moving the kitchen at least down to the ground floor. Far easier to supervise kids playing in the garden etc.

Unless it was in a 100% guaranteed crime free area, I’d hate it. I need bedroom windows open at night, and unless it’s really freezing, not just a crack, either.

Dds are the same, so when one of them was looking for a flat, EAs were told absolutely nothing on the ground floor, so don’t bother asking.

its a no from me
How will you entertain in the garden if access is through a bedroom ?
Did you post about this a few weeks ago ? there was a million pound house on here that had the same layout

My friend has one which works really well as it's build on a hill meaning the back garden is level with the upstairs but the drive at the front is level with the donwnstairs. They have a dumb waiter in the garage they use for shopping and rubbish.

I had an upside down house as the middle and top floor had sea views. It was in a steep slope so you entered in the living (middle) floor, with three bedrooms and bathroom below leading out to the garden (each had french doors to a deck with garden beyond), and huge master with en suite and walk in closet above. We built a big deck off the living room which ran the length of the house, and stairs from there to the garden. But to be honest I very rarely went down to the garden, and I don't recall anyone using the ground floor deck either. Those stairs were a huge barrier to the garden - I'd much rather just walk out. Plus the deck was big enough for bbq, table and chairs.
It was worth it for the view but the deck was essential. I wouldn't buy an upside down house without outside space on the living room floor.

A lot of council's are reluctant to approve balconies to if they will reduce neighbours privacy. Might be worth checking local planning guidance if it's essential to your plans

Could the crime /security thing be sorted out with choice of bedroom window? I’m not sure that sleeping upstairs actually makes you safer if you have windows you can open and secure.
I’d not like garden access only from a bedroom, but it depends on how you use your garden - if it’s an early morning/ late evening zen retreat for adults it won’t matter, if it’s children in a paddling pool and BBQ then it will.
Otherwise, I’d worry about heavy-footed people who get up early or stay up late disturbing people sleeping in rooms below, but that’s because I like my bed!

Is there a reason why it’s upside down? Seems unusual to have such a quirky layout if no view.

Here are a few photos: imgur.com/a/xFDvvXC .

You may not get planning permission to put in a staircase and balcony.

Are all of the houses in the block like this? Or has “yours” been redesigned?

From the photos, I can see why you might choose to redesign because the angle of the sun and all that thick greenery so close to the building probably means that sunlight into the ground floor room is somewhat restricted, which doesn’t matter so much with bedrooms.

But I don’t think it’s so much the upside down layout (which wouldn’t bother me personally, if I liked the house and the area itself) but only having access from the bedroom I wouldn’t like. If you have children that means them running in and out of the bedroom possibly with dirty shoes, and it’s a bit of a hassle when you have guests around for garden parties. There’s no guarantee you’d get planning for creating access from the living room, I’d want to check that out first and make sure it was a firm option.

@RandomMess

You may not get planning permission to put in a staircase and balcony.

Why do you think so?

Can you imagine from the imagine from the photos where it would be?
It would be just an extension to the above juliet balcony - so the total space used by the house probably wouldn't expand from the current one.
We would also do a circular spiral stair case downstairs so it would only stay on our property.

I am not sure if that needs a planning permissions or it's under permitted development?

Balconies (apart from simple Juliet balconies) and structures prominent from upper floors don’t fall into permitted development. Whether permission is granted will depend on the local authority and characteristics of the area etc. I used to live in an upper mausoleum with a private garden and wanted to put a staircase from the living room for direct access, was refused on the grounds of it being out of keeping with the area.

I used to live in an upper maisonette, not mausoleum. That would have been weird.

@ComtesseDeSpair Gothic Chic

The juliet balcony overlooks onto a busy road with some apartments on the other side.
Mind you this is an area in London with quite a few flats - so perhaps balconies might be ok.

Having lived in a house with the lounge and kitchen upstairs, I would never buy one.

The joyless task that is lugging every bag of shopping upstairs shouldn't be underestimated. Also think about the limitations as to what lounge furniture you can actually get to fit up the stairs!

@ChequerBoard

Having lived in a house with the lounge and kitchen upstairs, I would never buy one.

The joyless task that is lugging every bag of shopping upstairs shouldn't be underestimated. Also think about the limitations as to what lounge furniture you can actually get to fit up the stairs!

To be fair this is something most people living in flats experience