Would you choose the house or the flat?

[whatafineday]

We made an offer two weeks ago. Heard nothing so continued the search and made another offer this Monday. And found out in the space of 24 hours that we have two choices.

Both are 4 bed 2 bath. Flat is 20% bigger and 15% more expensive. Would stretch our budget to the max. Access to private section of garden down the kitchen and via a communal area. Share of freehold in a period conversion. High ceiling and windows in both bathrooms. On a nicer street.

House is a modern build so presumably upkeep is less costly. But it has only a small patio, only big enough for a small table and few chairs and pots. Open plan living with glass door opening out. Though small, it does feel bright. Privacy better. Slightly better school options. But in terms of commute, need to add 10 minutes. And water marks in bathroom. Not sure if leak has been properly fixed. Cannot afford to walk away after survey as flat will be gone. But of course with the flat, all sorts of things can come out in the survey.

There is no option C. We need to move by a certain date and given how challenging the rental market is, would not want to move into a rental.

Which one should i go for?

100% house. The flat sounds lovely but £££ to maintain.

Houses is 100% yours nobody to negotiate with over repair and its slightly under your budget so less of a worry should interest rates go up.
And it has better schools.

So doesn't the house have a garden at all, just a patio?

yup. just a patio.....

Freehold is normal house ownership. You are thinking of leasehold (which is also the one that ends after a certain length of time @marmiteloversunite).

Usually in a flat where the owner owns part of the freehold, the flat owner has a lengthy leasehold title on the flat and then owns shares in a company that owns the freehold and / or directly owns part of the freehold.

It means the length of the lease is irrelevant because as the freeholders, the flat owners can extend their leases for another 999 years for £1 if they want.

As for which to buy, I’d say the house. Period properties often cost a fortune to heat and because they are converted generally have very limited insulation between flats so will be noisy. Purpose built flats (at least ones of decent quality) often have noise deadening insulation in the walls and floor. You still hear the neighbours but not as much.

I also wouldn’t see the lack of a service charge as a good thing. There should be a service charge and a sinking fund so if the roof needs replacing a week after you move in, you don’t end up paying half the cost - instead the money should already be saved up to cover it.

It’s also been my experience (anecdotal only) that in a housing crash / housing downturn houses maintain their value better and in a housing boom, they appreciate more.

House.

House, unsurprisingly, is the overwhelming preference. Let me be more specific. The patio is not even 100 sqft. Would this sway your view?

Which one took 2 weeks to accept your offer? It suggests either they were holding out for more so there's a risk of gazumping or they're just not on it. Either way it's a bad sign going into the conveyancing process which is always long and painful. So I'd go with the other one.

House every time

the legal set up and the potential problems with accessing the garden in the fiat would make me run a mile

I’d always say house, but this house doesn’t sound great to be honest. A patio garden sounds like a huge sacrifice when you have a child. Is there really nothing else in your budget?

If you have lived in a flat before and understand the pitfalls, go for the flat.

I lived in many flats when I was younger. Never, EVER again. House every time for me.

I think you should go for the flat, because your heart is set on it. It doesn't sound like the distance to the garden bothers you. And your daughter is old enough not to be screaming constantly which is what tends to annoy neighbours.
Your commute will be easier and a proper garden clearly means a lot to you.

Supply low in the area. Anything decent/reasonably priced gone in a week. We've been looking for the better part of a year. It's been frustrating.

Well yes because I’m not a gardener and as long as I have some private outdoor space, that’s all I need so I’d prefer the private small patio to the garden you describe.

However, I don’t have a 6 year old. Having said that, I’ve always thought one of the points of a garden is a safe outdoor space to leave kids on their own. I wouldn’t be happy to do that in a garden that’s accessible from the communal area and not from the flat / house.

Also, are you required to maintain the garden? If so, will you end up hauling a lawnmower up and down stairs? Where will you keep said lawnmower? Most flats have gardeners if they have green areas. I assume not in this case if it’s a private garden.

This is a very good point! It's the flat....my heart is sinking. i don't mind the small patio of the house. but the list of fixes is long.

There is a shed for garden stuff. And also a couple of trees that could be expensive to maintain. No TPO fortunately. I have no green fingers either. Probably will just use the space to dry washing and the occassional barbecue.

One of them is at the top end of your budget. And there is a substantial risk right now that mortgage rates will increase - will you still be able to afford the mortgage if it goes up?

As to a patio, that doesn't have to be forever. You can always lift the slabs and have a small lawn put down - our neighbours have done that. It's a small garden but it's grass now.

I'd say house. Some flats are lovely, but not worth stretching yourself for.

I’ve lived in a spacious period conversion flat and a smaller house. I much preferred living in the flat, being all on one level felt like we made much better use of all the space available. It was also share of freehold but with a service charge and reserve fund. Overall that was good value for money, we spent a similar amount on maintenance of the house and buildings insurance over the years. However we definitely made more money on the house when it came to selling so it was probably a better investment.
We are about to purchase again and have gone for a flat. We’ve moved to a more expensive area and would have had to make too many compromises on location to afford a house anyway.

Flat because you're disappointed everyone is saying house. Go with the one you love. It sounds nicer too. Is the school situation reasonable in the flat?

Neither. A house with only a patio is grim and will be squashed into one of these rabbit hutch style estates. If I had to choose I'd go for the flat.

Flat sounds far better - I could see you ditching the house in a few years as it's too small. Also, it's great to have direct access to a decent garden without being the person who has to look after it!

Of the two, I'm sure that my heart would be with the flat (size and period charm always do it for me). Head would probably say house. I should say, though, that I absolutely do not give a crap about outside space as that wouldn't factor in much for me.

If a bathroom leak is so off putting to you then I'm not sure a period property where you have to secure the permission (and contribution) of other free holders is going to be for you.

It could be something as minor as the silicone sealant, or the overflow becoming detached, or someone just leaving the sink running. I suspect most houses have some form of bathroom leak at some stage.

Of course it needs checking but it's likely to be a lot less hassle than sorting a leaking roof in a flat which is coming into your bedroom but the downstairs neighbour doesn't want to pay for yet as it's having no impact on them.

A period property with high ceilings is lovely but don't underestimate how much more they are to renovate or maintain (or heat in winter).

Before the energy crisis and massive hike in any building project I'd probably have said the flat but right now, house.

I loved my flat pre kids but I've just pegged out my washing in my garden in my pyjamas. That wasn't something I'd have done going through a shared garden. You really need to consider how useable the garden space will actually be.

I agree with @WillyLows because you say your heart sank at my comment.

So work out if you can mitigate the issues with the flat:

• Are you the kind of person who copes well negotiating with another person or would it upset you too much?

• Can you afford the flat if financial pressure increases? Or if there's an unexpected communal repair bill?

*How will you cope if your neighbour finds your child too noisy, or takes up midnight oboe?

Look again at your back up options (renting) because given the uncertainty in the market you could be stuck in whatever you buy long term (if prices fall) so I think this is a bad time to buy something that makes your heart sink.

That said, my current house was a big project we bought because we were about to be priced out of the area we wanted. I didn't love it but the houses we loved kept going. 12 years in we have no plans to move, whereas I was desperate to leave my beautiful Georgian flat after 3 years (no sound proofing).

Can you post a picture of the house garden from the details if you don't want to share a link