from a house to a flat

breadlinebetty

Jowo wrote: »

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

That sounds horrendous. But it sounds more like the problems were due to the location rather than it being a flat. You would never suffer all those horrendous problems in an expensive apartment block in a good area of central London, or an expensive converted house in a leafy suburb. The problems you experienced (drunks, drug dealers, rubbish etc) would occur even if you lived in a house in that area. And unless you live in a detached house a fair way from your neighbours, you can still suffer noise from loud music, partying, noisy next door neighbours etc. You can even suffer from the neighbours living in the house across the road if they're a nuisance family.

Houses and flats per se are swings and roundabouts. It depends on the build, design, location - a whole host of things. But more importantly, location will usually determine the type of neighbours to expect - whether you live in a house or flat.

neverdespairgirl

I lived in houses until I was 19 - in a Victorian semi, then an Edwardian detached, with weekends and school holidays in a 14th century end of terrace cottage.

Since 19, I've lived in a 3 bed, one-floor flat built in the 1920s.

A lot depends, I think, on the quality of the construction - we never hear anything at all from our neighbours, either upstairs or downstairs. We've liked it here a lot.

m_13

We've lived in a mix of flats and houses both rented and owned. Currently we're moving from a flat to a bungalow. The flat is leasehold and we miss not only our own outside space but also the ability to be able to make changes without a time consuming process where the answer is always no! If you are moving from rented to rented then you may not experience the same frustrations but trying to get 60 flat owners to all agree on something is not easy.

We'd also like double glazing (can only have secondary as the front of the building has to remain all the same) and miss having gas (no gas in the building at all). I'm looking forward to having my own sky dish and more than one feed so that Sky+ works properly and I can get that second different channel that I pay for. I won't miss having extremely elderly neighbours and the presumption that we will look after them if there is a fire particularly as my elderly neighbour keeps setting fire to things in his flat!

I will miss having a caretaker to receive parcels when we're out, knowing that somebody is looking out for our property when we're away, a car port that has a route to the road cleared when it snows and living slap bang in the town centre.

As others have said, if there is good noise management and maintenance then I'd live in a flat again but for the time being I'm really looking forward to owning all my own walls again.

carefullycautious

just out of interest what is the age limit for going into this flat. you say you are 40 and the residents are 60. Have you checked that you will be allowed in.

If it is not for over a certain age limit you may find that as people leave younger people will move in and you could find yourself with problems