Moving to a flat. Thoughts please.

[HarmoniousHumbug]

Early 60’s and widowed. 1dc who has made a life 3 hours away. Occasional visitor.

I’m currently in the large family home in a village and have to drive everywhere. Like the garden, but hate gardening.

I’d like to move to a 2 bed flat in the nearby city, but reading MN briefly in the past has put me off with a long list of negatives.

This time I would really like to hear from anyone who lives in a flat/retirement flat.

I’m hoping for some positive feedback!

I live in a flat and I love it. I picked a ground floor flat as I have mobility issues and I've been happy here for more than 10 years now.

My mum downsized to a flat after my brother and I were out of the house and loves it. I intend to do the same - once I don’t need these bedrooms I have no interest in cleaning them!

I would stay very clear of a retirement flat.

Flats absolutely have pros and cons. I’d be carefully checking the details about length of lease, ground rent costs and service charge costs. Ground rent in particular can catch you out. If it is over £250 a year (1k in London) it can make lenders twitchy, which might not matter for you now but could if you plan on selling at some point.

We moved from a large 4 bed detached with a large garden to a large 2 bed maisonette (the bottom half of a 4 storey Victorian house) with a tiny shared garden. I love it. No gardening, much less housework and maintenance. All the time in the world to do hobbies and interests. Much lower running costs. I found getting rid of “stuff” very cathartic. It’s not such a dramatic downsize as you are proposing but even just not having a garden to maintain has made a big difference to my quality of life. At Christmas we rented a nearby Air B&B as overflow sleeping accommodation which worked out really well.

Flats can be great or can be terrible and sometimes even with all the research in the world you don't know what you are going to get. Or you do but then something happens and it turns from great to terrible.

Would you have the budget for a small bungalow?

I’ve lived in flats for decades. I love them. No serious maintenance responsibilities, love being on a single level for stuff like sorting washing, nice chats with neighbours when I bump into them in communal areas. I think a lot of the noise on MN is snobbery and assumptions. I’ve always lived in share of freehold properties which makes a difference.

I should probably have said we are in Scotland so no issues with leases etc.

I’d avoid retirement flats - they usually have onerous service charges associated with e.g. support staff on site, alarm systems and communal facilities, as well as restrictions on who you can resell to, which makes them very hard to sell on.

Leasehold is an imperfect system but ultimately you have to remember that there are around 5 million leaseholds in England and Wales and that the majority of them just bob along quietly - as with anything else, you only really hear about the problematic ones so there’s a confirmation bias. Well maintained period conversions and small purpose built blocks without cladding or high maintenance facilities like lifts and communal heating systems are the safest bet.

I owned and lived in flats for years, mostly issue free. Sound transfer was a bit of an issue in one old Victorian conversion, but equally, if often is if you live in an older terraced or semi detached house. It was quite nice never having to think about cleaning the gutters or what to do about maintaining the outdoor space. When I consider all the various odds and ends I now spend money on in terms of maintaining and keeping up the structure of my house, the flat service charges were roughly equivalent.

I would suggest that if you can afford the extra cost you try to rent an airB&B flat for 2+ weeks in the middle of the area you are looking at?
Moving from semi-rural to what will be high density living can be a shock to the system.

My parents moved into a ground floor flat in an over 55 block. They love it. Beautiful maintained gardens, nice neighbours, plus they’re living just off the high street in a lovely bit of the SE. Lots of pubs, restaurants, shops and even a theatre within 5 mins walk. Bus stop outside flats. Train into London 25 mins. They’re out lots, made lots of friends and don’t regret it.

However, there is a looming issue with the roof that’s likely to cost all the flat owners about £5k each though- check the accounts before you buy.

They recognise flats are getting harder to sell and there is a pretty steep service charge but they figure selling it will be my problem eventually and they have the money.

They have no regrets.

Think about the type of flat you want - over 55s, postered block, flat as a floor in a house etc - and look into the associated costs with each of them. Each comes with pros and cons and only you know what will work for you. My parents downsized from a detached 4 bed in the midlands to a 2 bed flat they had as a weekend base originally in Kilburn near the high road (on the basis it was 15 mins away from where we lived at the time) and hated it - portered block with high service charge but the neighbours were all abroad or transient so no community and the pigeons on the balcony drove my mum mad. Turned out that things they could cope with for a weej at a time became bigger issues when living there all the time. Nowhere to dry washing, not even enough space to entertain and not enough space for friends and family from abroad to stay with them with their luggage (second bedroom was v small) and outside was very busy and gritty. They sold it and moved to a semi detached 3 bed bungalow in zone 6 in a mixed use close - further away from us but lots of families and other retirees there, a garden for mum, countryside for dads daily walks, buses to the tube/shops and much more their pace of life.

OP I'm in a similar position to you. I'm not in UK though but we have similar rules about management fees, sinking funds, ground rent, block insurance, length of lease etc. But I'll be looking in the next year or two and so far, I've seen most leases here are very long - 999 years in many cases with peppercorn ground rent too! That would be new developments, not sure about second hand. There's not the same tradition of splitting up a house into two or more flats here really.

Anyway, my one non negotiable is a balcony, terrace, or private patio area. I don't want a shared outside space, although one place I have in mind has a communal roof terrace but all flats have either private balconies or terraces aswell. The roof area is used for get togethers in Summer, which sounds very civilised - if they don't have sound systems and disco lighting ha ha. But I can take it or leave it. There is a laundry room and a gym, together with a cafe on site with WFH spaces for rent during the day. Yes the maintenance fees are high, but you get what you pay for I suppose!

A well managed development is a no brainer, entrance and grounds well kept, and the exterior well maintained etc. It costs extra here for a parking space either surface or underground. So a good secure entrance gate is needed to prevent others from nicking your space!

I may decide not to bother, but I'm having a very interesting time looking at what is available and where.

I moved into a HA over 55's flat a couple of years ago. It has been great. No negatives for me. I was worried before I first moved as I had never lived in a flat before, but it was definitely the right thing for me.

I hear no noise at all from neighbours. The only downside for me is no access to outside unless I use the communal gardens. If I had the choice I would have gone for one with a balcony.

We're looking to move, and have recently viewed a stunning Victorian conversion. Long lease, peppercorn rent, low annual service charge. Its big, though - more square footage than our current 3-bed detached so no worries about having less space. Less than 10 mins walk from the small cathedral city we want to be in, all amenities on our doorstep. The downside is no outside space but believe me, I'm willing to overlook it for this absolute beauty.

I love a flat. The rest of the world doesn't have the same daft snobbery about apartment living that the UK (and MN in particular!) does. Just do your due diligence and go for it.

IME it’s not snobbery. The rest of the world probably doesn’t have such ridiculous restrictions or costly leases/service charges.

A huge percentage of accommodation in the UK is terraced, can’t see how that’s very different to a flat architecturally speaking.

I’ve lived in an apartment for years. So simple living on one level.
Get one with a balcony, and you really want either purpose built with great soundproofing, or top floor.

I’ve done both houses and flats. Not having much of an outdoor space was hugely damaging to my mental health when I lived in flats, then you’ve got all the issues that come with the dreaded leasehold tenure, which most flats are. Noise above and below unless you’re on the top floor. There’s good reasons why people were so negative about flats on previous threads that’s you’ve read on here.

On balance, if you can afford the service charges and ground rent (which go up every year) and having a smaller space than what you’re used to, then go for it. And will a terrace be enough for you after all those years with a garden? Personally I would only downsize to a small terrace house or a bungalow.

I am not sure it’s snobbery. There are lots of problems with flats in the U.K. that are not necessarily an issue in other countries. (Speaking from experience, having lived in a flat in two other countries). First issue is the completely ridiculous leasehold system.

Second issue is terrible building standards and little noise insulation.

My dad and wife moved to a retirement apartment nearly 2 years ago. They’re in their Nineties and lived in a 5 bed house. The flat wasn’t cheap and they do pay a service charge every month which also isn’t cheap but they were spending money every month maintaining their home and garden. It’s given them a new lease of life.
Fabulous staff who have become friends. A great social life. Lots of events put on every week. They can have breakfast and lunch in the communal dining room if they wish. Guest suite for family who come to stay. Nominal charge to stay. They’ve made so many friends.
They absolutely love it. No responsibility for any upkeep of the building and gardens. When we go and stay it’s like being in a hotel!

If you buy a retirement flat in a complex, it wont affect you but if you leave it to anyone...horrendous to sell...have friends trying to sell late parents flats...zero interest, high fees, lots of clauses in lease, pay back amounts etc etc...these are costing over 500 a month until sold and will probably end up cheap in an auction.

And perhaps the biggest reason why they’re hard to sell is that only a limited market can buy them.