Thinking of downsizing and have lots of questions!

[MinnieGirl]

Hubby and I are considering downsizing. We currently live in a Victorian terraced house, but it needs a lot of work now. We’ve been here 28 years, and put in new windows, bathroom and kitchen when we moved in so they all need re-doing. And so it’s a case of stay and upgrade..which we would struggle to cope with! Or move. We are thinking about a ground floor flat. We are in our sixties and have some mobility issues.

So… I would be interested to hear from anyone who’s done a similar move. Particularly the pros and cons of flat living..
Also, do estate agents show people round your house these days? I’m so out of the loop here!

Any other useful suggestions would be most appreciated.

We moved from a terraced house to a share of freehold ground floor flat with a small garden. We love it, it’s actually bigger than the old house in terms of square footage and the layout works really well. No ground rent and as freeholders we have some control over the service charge. We’re lucky in that the 5 other freeholders are pragmatic and proactive and the managing agents that we appointed are pretty efficient. The service charge has gone up 20% since 2022 though but understandable due to inflation and new fire regulations.
Our upstairs neighbours are an older couple and very considerate, we can hear them from time to time but it’s never been a problem. I could hear what my neighbour was watching on TV in my terraced house!
I initially didn’t want a flat but we live in a city and to get the location we wanted it was really the only option in our budget.

What region are you in? Couldn't you move to a cheaper region? I would look for a small mid-terrace bungalow with a small courtyard (or patio'd) garden. Many can be had for less than £200K if you are flexible.

Flats could be wonderful but you have to be so careful and lucky in choosing the right one. Get it wrong and you'll be living a nightmare re service charges, noise, leaks, over-heating, broken lifts, etc.

Thank you for the replies.
We have given up the idea of a flat. No outside space and service charges have really put us off.
This isn’t a nice area so we are looking to move out of it but finances won’t stretch that much…