Would you live on the lower ground floor?

[paulanka]

I've always said I didn't want a lower ground floor flat - risk of damp, they can look dark, potential flooding, people always walking past, concerns over security etc. Ideally I'd avoid the ground floor too.

However, I saw a property recently that I really fell in love with. It's lower ground floor but the living room is at the back and opens straight out to the ground level garden. There's a massive bay window and glass patio door, it's south facing so it felt really light and airy. The bedrooms are at the front but there is a large front garden between the house and the road, so you're set back about 8 metres from the pavement. There's also about 2 metres of fenced off space directly in front of the bedroom windows that nobody can access. The flat comes with a good size private section of the garden & patio, then a larger communal garden. It's on a lovely, quiet road. It's recently refurbished and is gorgeous inside. It's chain free and the asking price is within our budget.

It's basically everything I want, except on the lower ground floor.

I'm struggling to find a flat that ticks all the boxes. I especially don't want to compromise on having outside space, which is something that often rules out the higher floors (where I'm looking is 95% converted period properties which often don't have balconies).

Would you consider it or keep looking for something on a higher floor?

It entirely depends on all of those factors you've mentioned

• the light
• the ability to go straight out into your own private garden
• size of rooms
• how far back you are from the pavement
• height of the ceilings
• the type of road its on

Sounds lovely x

I've lived in one and loved it. It's was spacious, light, and well decorated. Very happy days spent there.

Context is everything.

It sounds lovely. My only experience if them in is that they're really dark but this one doesn't sound dark :)

I loved mine too - it was The Garden Flat

Nope. We’ve literally just moved out of a lower ground floor flat into a house. We thought it would be okay because our back doors opened straight out onto the garden so nobody walking past on the street.

It was noisy & people didn’t respect the fact that they were right outside of our window, it was even worse when it was warm and everyone sat out there. Kids would kick balls right near our window etc and people would be out there all the time and as it wasn’t set up like a house with a garden as a buffer it was awful, wouldn’t do it again.

I have a duplex flat with the bedrooms lower ground. I was a bit wary but I actually love it. It’s so quiet and the absolute best thing is that it’s supremely well insulated.

Cosy in winter, but the absolute best thing - it stays cool in the summer, during the heat wave it was like having air con and I was very smugly sleeping under a duvet when everyone else was sweltering!

so as long as it’s been done well it will be lovely

I live in one and absolutely hate it, it's really damp in the winter and I just find it really depressing but the flat you're talking about sounds lovely and very different to mine

Thanks everyone, really interesting to hear the range of experiences!

I guess I'm just wary of overlooking all the potential issues I mentioned at the start of my post. Still slightly concerned about damp but the flat itself really didn't feel like lower ground floor - it was light, airy and nobody can get right up to any of the windows.

I'm also note sure about having someone living directly above me but at least it's only on one side. Currently renting on the top floor and I can hear all of my downstairs neighbour's conversations anyway!

I would live in one if I liked the 'feel' of it, but I wouldn't buy one.

I would, despite having the same reservations as you. Having my own patio would tip the balance and I'd go for it, particularly as shared gardens aren't really ever used.

Yes, it sounds lovely!

Sounds lovely!
We live in a basement flat with a large rear patio and communal private garden across the road and love it. We also love the area (zone 1 london) there is no way we could afford to live in this postcode unless we were basement or top floor.
The survey should reveal damp problems but I would probably expect it in a basement flat. My husband lived here before I met him and before I moved in it did smell a bit musty but is because he'd hang washing inside and never open the windows. So with good ventilation and an area to dry washing outside its fine now.
Check the lease too, our freeholder has responsibility for all the external walls and structural pillar type walls within the building so when we renovated recently we had them replace the damp course. That work has something like 20-30years guarantee on it so if there are any issues we could get the damp proof company back in.
See if the owners recently did the damp course and whether it's got a warranty.
Re. Flooding, this does worry me, the flat adjacent to us flooded last year but it was because there was super heavy rain and their drain was blocked with leaves (tennents so never bother cleaning their patio). Is the paving permeable? Plenty of drains? Is it any lower than the neighbours?
I had our drains cleaned by dynorod after the neighbours incident and also bought some flood protection snake things to put against the doors incase of another really heavy downpour. Our patio garden has about 40% of the space as raised garden bed and has permeable pavers so the water doesn't sit around.

Also check where the downpipe from the roof of the building goes. You don't want that in your patio in torrential rain.