Which property would you choose?

[Clementiness]

Option n1:
A bright, spacious apartment in a nice part of the town. Easy commute to work, good schools for DS, currently renting in this area so wouldn't need to worry about finding a new nursery and we are in the process of applying for schools so whatever place we are given we can go ahead with.
We like the area, have friends living nearby and just a generally easy life and suits our lifestyle.
Cons: it's a flat, not a house. Service charge on top of mortgage payments (but wouldn't pay extra in commute so money wise it'd be similar to option 2).

Option n2:
House further out. Commute is decent but not as good as option n1. Trains would be more expensive and potentially a bit trickier for pick up/drop off but manageable.
Slightly smaller space than option n1, needs a bit of work but nothing major.
Not very familiar with the area, less amenities and would need to drive much more than we do now (I don't drive but have licence so would need to re-learn). Nice schools, although we'd likely have to apply after the deadline and will need to find temporary childcare for DS as couldn't continue to use current nursery as too far.

Both properties are within budget and they are 2 bed. I suspect we can potentially get a better deal on the flat because currently less in demand. We are planning to buy a place where we can live for at least the next 5 years, potentially much longer.

Flat definitely. Avoid driving and a long commute wherever possible.

Is there a park near the flat, or a shared garden?
Most people are in large tenement flats where I live and it's really nice that there is always someone to play with in the park or communal gardens, the sense of community is much higher than the suburban areas, where they have their own little gardens.

The only reason I'd choose option 2 is if you think you would be upgrading to a bigger place in that area, so you would be putting down roots there. If your 5 year move is likely to be neither area, then option 1, as the lifestyle you have sounds perfect for now and the chopping and changing would be hard.

@LittleLittleRex Flat would likely be a conversion apartment, most of these don't have a private garden as that's normally part of the lower ground ones (which we are not keen on).
In terms of area, we'd settle wherever we decide to buy, whether it is here in a flat or in the other area in a house, wouldn't be moving area again in a few years.

@parietal in fairness, commute would only be about 20 min longer but trains slightly less frequent so need to be more mindful when planning our day whereas now we don't have to worry about train times etc as so frequent

Location is the most important factor. The nicest house in the world will be awful to live in if it's in a rough area.

@DrJoanAllenby just to be clear option n2 isn't in a rough area, it is actually in a very nice area, just with slightly less amenities and a longer commute

@ThomasWhite do you work for them?? 😁

House ... I don't think I would want somewhere with no outside space