Help me make a decision: conversion flat or house...

[Iamabarbiegirl]

Name changed for this.
I live in a lovely area in London zone 6 with all the amenities we need, good schools, great commute and generally a really nice community and cute area. We have been here (renting) for a few years and feel at home. DD is still in nursery but we will have to start thinking of applying for primary school next year and we were hoping to be able to buy a house elsewhere before the applications deadline. Now because of current interest rates and a couple of other reasons, I think it's unlikely we will manage to buy a house on time for school applications. This is making me reconsider whether we should just instead try and find a way to stay in this current area, given we love it so much. The issue is only due to costs, as here we'd only be able to afford a 2 bed maisonette (potentially with a garden). We don't have a massive budget and all the areas we'd consider are expensive but we could get a 2 bed cottage or shabby 3 bed elsewhere. I was quite set on moving and getting a house but have recently being wondering whether it would make more sense to stay here.

• We love the area and feel at home
• great commute into London (we work FT)
• good schools
• good amenities and we like being able to walk everywhere, barely use our car and we like it this way

I wonder though, is all this enough to compromise on a flat/maisonette (likely a leasehold property also) for the long term? We are late 30s and with decent salaries but still high childcare costs and not very likely to double our income so our situation will not be drastically better in the future and also not sure I'd like to increase what will be an already very high mortage in my late 40s to more to a bigger house.

We are not planning on having a second DC although you never know what life can bring.
The other areas we are considering are nice commuter towns in the home counties, with a more expensive commute, good schools but maybe less amenities to our doorstep.

Are we mad to consider a flat over a house just because we'd have an "easier" life?

Typical layout. Obviously you can jiggle the spaces around. I had a bathroom where they've put Bedroom 2 and a massive kitchen/diner at the back with the exit to the garden stairs. Because mine was upstairs, there was an extra small room at the front which was my spare/study. They all have that dog-leg corridor - I enjoy spotting them on TV dramas!

If you buy an upstairs one, there's also scope for a loft conversion which many people do when they have another child.

In your position we bought the flat. I don’t regret it at all and love it as dc gets older and we are close to all the London attractions and opportunities.

I grew up in a large detached house and was bored and lonely so I don’t get why everyone thinks a big house equals happiness!

The one disadvantage of course is that flats don’t increase in value as much as houses. If we had spent the last decade living in a shoebox in the Home Counties we would be richer, on paper. But I think we would be less happy, less well connected with friends and work.

There are lots of families like us who live nearby - while I’m always really happy for friends who have moved out if that’s what they want, that lifestyle is not for us all.

I doubt your kid will think that. my parents lived in London before I was born and were going to buy a flat, but moved to the midlands to a house and raised me there - I hated it! Would much rather have grown up in London with all it has to offer, in a flat. Stay put, there’s a lot to be said for having a nice community, friends, conveniences and a cheap commute.

When you get out as a far as Zone 6, it might actually be quicker to commute in from the home counties.

I like Kingston but it's got more in common with the Home Counties then Brixton or Hackney

@kramerpin I thought this was tehnicaly not allowed as you have to live in your address for x months for it to be considered geniine if you are renting? It’s an option but a lot of hassle, especialy as we love our current area so

When you get out as a far as Zone 6, it might actually be quicker to commute in from the home counties.

Definitely!

@watersprites yes but as I am saying it’s not much about being London or home counties but rather the amount of amenities it has to offer and the good commute

@Roastingcoffee I hear that a lot re value but how much can a small terraced 2 bed increase in value anyway compared to a 2 bed garden flat in a desirable location?

Sorry that was more in response to people thinking if you moved a bit further out it was a deserted wasteland. I grew up in Wimbledon & my Kingston friends used to moan about the commute. How quick is it now.?

Flats in London have stagnated since Brexit. My old neighbour sold up 2021 & prices weren't far off prices a few yrs earlier. She struggled to buy a house as comparabley houses have gone up a lot more plus hybrid working means people are a little less tied to location.

And when house building happens it's invariably flats and not houses. If I was a FTB now personally I would skip the flat stage unless I was happy to stay in a flat. Stamp duty makes moving again £££

@Iamabarbiegirl very well indeed. Reason I said it was because we loved living in that area - (we live in Bath now (also love it) but if we went back to London it would be Ham/kingston/st Margaret's and I think 'where' you live and liking it a lot matters a lot mentally. That area has so much going for it- great retail, tons of greenery, schools , the river etc and decent enough connections. My own view is I would compromise slightly on the flat to live there or thereabouts (surbiton and norbiton pretty ok too) When I met my H he had a very very crappy rented 1 bedder in Hampstead but it was just such a pleasure going out and about locally and somehow the flat didn't matter really - I made it more pleasant with pics and lamps and flowers . You will find it very hard to replicate that vibe in my opinion unless you went as far as somewhere like Guildford or Winchester and then you start on much higher commuter costs

I've picked out some below that you might like - I think the one on East Rd is a really really good price.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/132013994

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/133930262

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/137450810

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/86039082

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/126798788

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/134097917

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/136116536

I would think about location to primary schools if that will be upon you soon. Kingston is one of the few London boroughs that is oversubscribed for schools

Op - I don’t know why houses gain more in value. Personally, a decent sized flat with a garden is a much nicer proposition than the same square footage with a staircase taking up a large portion …. But it is the case.
what kind of investment do you want to make - invest in your happiness or invest in your paper wealth?

It's generally not allowed and most councils are wise to it these days. We moved a week after the cut off for being considered for a school place and we had to jump through all sorts of hoops to prove our move was genuine (and it was genuine) and were treated like criminals by the council with threats to remove our child's place and all sorts of unnecessary hassle. You can actually get prosecuted quite seriously for school place fraud.

Is @tshermas post AI hence the random link

@watersprites yes that was a bit weird and random !!

Different boroughs will have different rules but where I am there isn't a specified length of time you have to have lived at your address, as long as it's the child's permanent address and you can produce council tax records, medical card, child benefit letter. Usually people stay renting for a year or two and don't own any property or rent anywhere else, and that is seen as a permanent address not temporary.

@Roastingcoffee "invest in your happiness or invest in your paper wealth?" this made me think a lot, you are very right.

Thank you! We could stretch to £520K depending on what happens with interest rates but most 2 bed houses start at £600K - I guess no point in considering those as even if they accepted lower offers, it wouldn't as low as that :(

@watersprites commute from Kingston is ok but there is Surbiton close by which has great connections, fast trains into Waterloo every 5-10 min

In love with this but doesn't have a garden:

You can get share of freehold. My flat is technically leasehold but that is because our flat didn't participate in buying the freehold. But my DH is still one of the directors of the residents management company. We have control over the costs, my DH is the one pushing to increase our service charge!