living with a teen in a two bed flat

[khkupn33999]

Hi,

We are looking at buying a two bedroom flat next to great school and with a lovely commute. DC is only five years old so trying to decide on how viable it would be to stay in the flat long term. The flat isnt cheap but really convenient and yes, we are living in London. It definitely works right now but does anyone have an insights on living with a teen in a two bed flat. Is it hard? I know they need their own space, any tips?

Well it's a 2 bed so they'd have their room,how much more do they need? I share with 9 year old so teen has own room(still takes over living room to do revision)

Well it depends how big it all is. How big is their room? Will it comfortably fit a single bed, wardrobe and desk? Is there access to any outside space? Is there room to sit and eat as a family? Is DCdef an only child forever?

Don't you already have a thread on this?

No, but is there one? I might have a look. Found it - ok, thats not me. Though I was more think whether its tough to be in a flat with a grown up kid. Our two bed place has perfectly ok rooms etc.

In Europe this is totally normal. I have found with teens that location is key. We enjoyed having the space of a house during lock down but otherwise a flat would be totally fine if well located for seeing friends.

One thing to bear in mind is whether the kitchen is separate from the living room. If your teen has friends over they won't want to sit with you so you might end up sat in your bedroom to get away from them!

A lot can change in 5-10 years, I wouldn't overthink it OP!

Another vote for location being important in the teen years. Your life will be immeasurably better If they have independent access on foot or public transport to things that interest them and also school.

Having to drive them everywhere is really not ideal.

@ jamaisjedors good point about a kitchen. I am so used to our kid being us at all times. But I guess it would be good to be able to have dinner without bothering the kids. How often do teens have friends over and if say, they play game etc where do they usually do that? Am assuming that teens game but I guess ours might not. Who knows.

Ds and i moved into our flat when he was 3. He's now 17.

It's been fine for us.

I think location and access to outside space, public transport and in your case close to school really do make a difference to the experience.

I know other families who've raised children in flats in areas we call concrete jungles with no park space and high rises close together affecting light - and although these are generally spacious with great storage (council property) this has affected their living experience.

We also lived abroad until then and lived in apartment blocks which is common. Again location and facilities was key for us.

Thank you. Do you think outside space must include a garden or be close to parks? Does your DC mainly spends time in their room and where do their friends go?

I have a teenager and 2 almost teenagers. Our flat doesn't have outside space and is quite small. I find that ds17 does have friends round but that they tend to congregate more in the houses/flats that have a space further away from parents. This is not necessarily a bad thing!

Do not underestimate the benefits of being an easy walk away from a good school.

Admittedly my teen is busy with extra-curricular stuff, but she and her friends usually spend all their time in her bedroom (coming down only to be fed).

It might be worth investing some money in a decent desk bed. We stayed in an LSE Hall for a couple of nights one summer and the bed was able to flip/rotate to form a desk and vice versa. It was really clever:

https://www.studybed.co.uk/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwma6TBhDIARIsAOKuANzg0IAwM7xQDGk-WpYFUnDrT5qQhxcB3Y1OvgErbwzB1sXAeONHxcaAiNuEALww_wcB

DS is 16, DD is nearly 15. They don’t really use the garden. If they want outside space, they go out.
Outside space was much more important up to the age where they play out with friends.