from a house to a flat

sock-knitter

hi i was wondering if anybody had gone from living in a house to living in a flat?
i currently rent a 3 bedroom house, and when my kids get a place of there own in the next year or two, i've thought of giving up the house and renting a flat instead, the idea being a smaller place being easier to clean, easier to keep tidy, all on one level appeals to me
has anybody done this?, and has it been the right decision or have they regretted it
sorry if this is on the wrong board, if it is please feel free to move it

hazyjo

I've only done it the other way, but bear in mind you may end up with people living above, below and/or either side of you. Is your house currently terraced/semi/detached? You might also lose a private garden (handy if only for hanging washing!) and you'll probably have service charge and ground rent to pay. All pretty obvious, but wanted to say think it through very carefully...

I suppose if you're renting you always have the choice of moving if the neighbours from hell move in, or upstairs rips up all the carpets and clomps around on wooden floors in stilettos all day...

Jx

sock-knitter

i've done it the other way round myself, rented a flat then moved to a house when i had a family, now the kids are ready to fly the nest i fancy a smaller place
as for the garden, i hardly use it, have to pay someone to cut the grass, dont hang washing out, as i find it easier to dry on clothes airer indoors, it hurts my arms an shoulders reaching the washing line, when i have a bad day.
council flats in the area where i want to be, the rent includes the services charges
thanks

The_Blue_Hatter

I had a flat which I sold and bought a house in prep for a family. The only negative I could see all depends on your neighbours which affects you more in a flat than a house.

Do you have a council house that you want to swap for a council flat? If thats the case then I wouldnt want that at all! Maybe find a smaller house.

VioletBaudelaire

Not me personally, but I know someone who moved from a large house to a 2 bedroom flat (both in London, and the flat is very central)

We were having a conversation about flats versus houses, and she said she preferred living in a flat and would always choose to do so in future (mind you, it's a very expensive flat, so there are no soundproofing issues, and she has a huge terrace)

I also met a man a while ago who'd just retired, and he and his wife had moved from a big house in Surrey to a flat in Blackfriars. He said they loved it. They'd been waiting until their children had grown up and left the house so they could get back to central London!

Neil_in_Bristol

I haven't moved from a house to a flat, but when I moved from a 1 bed flat to a 4 bed house, I was suprised how little difference there was in size.

carefullycautious

I moved from a 3 bed house to a GF flat and would not wish to go back to living in a house.

However, there have been issues with noise from above which at one point had me at breaking point (all resolved now but not pleasant at time)

So you need to do your homework before committing.

Jowo_2

I've moved regularly between houses and flats. In the flats I've lived in, there's definately been more issues in terms of noise and neighbour issues.

For example, in my current flat (which is a victorian tenement rather than a conversion which tend to have a poorer reputation than tenements for sound proofing) I still had to ask the next door neighbour to move their stereo from our shared wall. We have a couple of landlord owned properties in our block of flats and all of their tenants without exception have been a nuisance (noisy parties, drug taking, poor rubbish disposal which led to an outbreak of rats, leaving the security door open, etc).

Some of the owners and all of landlords have generally been quite stingy about taking responsibility for the shared cost of cleaning, decoration and maintenance in the common areas and this has led to disputes in the past, including verbal abuse and intimidation. At the moment, everything is fine but there are two empty flats in a block of 8 so we always feel that we are only ever one set of new tenants away from all the usual hassles they bring.

In a previous property where we we were the only owners in a Victorian conversion that had 4 flats, it was a big nightmare because the tenants were so transient, largely students, immigrants or DSS (an alcoholic and a series of single mums). We experienced attempts to steal our bikes from the hallway, stolen and dumped post, rubbish dumped in our garden, lots of noise, drunk and violent visitors, tenants who let their mates stay (post for at least 6 people going to a 1 bedroom property), a tenant who absconded without reporting a leaking pipe which damaged our kitchen, drug dealing, student party flats, the front door frequently left open, constant interruptions from strangers wanting to be let in to visit the tenants, regular visits by the police.

I think the key is to avoid properties with poor sound proofing, where there is strong management in place to deal with cleaning and maintenance of the shared spaces and where there are mainly owner occupiers.

As an aside, one of my friends was evacuated by the local council from this property because her building was in danger of collapse. Apparently a landlord simply sealed up their ground floor flat some years ago (some of the owners didn't even know there was a 4th flat on the ground floor as typically there is usually no more than 3) and overtime, a leaking pipe made a supporting wall buckle and now it will cost £300k to fix. I'm sure Glasgow is not the only city where the neglect of building maintenance has led to a number of properties being in danger of collapsing. It's an extreme example but I'm aware of a handful of properties here where they've had to be evacuated due to basic neglect.

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/mobile/news/editor-s-picks/hidden-flat-has-landed-us-with-a-300-000-repairs-bill-1.1095373

sock-knitter

thanks for the replies so far, a lot to think about. yes it is a council house, and yes it would be a council flat. the area that i'm thinking, has older aged residents, so not the usual teens/ early twenties type that tend to live in council flats in my area. the corridors etc look well looked after, plants on windowsills, a friend of mine in her 60's loves it there, i'm only 40, but i like a quiet life

muskoka

i'm not sure, but wont the council pay you to give up your house and move into a flat?

sock-knitter

muskoka wrote: »

i'm not sure, but wont the council pay you to give up your house and move into a flat?

not heard of the council doing that, i dont think they will