Would it be better for DD to buy a flat or house?

orchid2010

My DD is looking to buy a property as a first time buyer.

She will have a 40% deposit and in her price range can afford a flat or small house. She would be the only person living there for the immediate future.

Would it be better for her to buy a flat or house. I have seen a lot of threads on here about the problems with leaseholds etc.

SailorSam

I've never lived in a flat and maybe with living by myself one would be perfect for me but, when the time comes for your daughter to move on and she wants to sell there'll be a lot more buyers out there for a small house than a flat. One of the things that has always put me off flats is having to pay service charges which can get quite high.

BitterAndTwisted

If I had the choice it would always be a freehold. No ever-rising service-charges and in control of whatever repairs and maintenance needs to be done and at what cost.

Slinky

Freehold every time if you can afford it. We had a flat my husband lived in when he was working away from home. The management company sent somebody round to inspect it who came back with a list of stuff they wanted doing, including reinstating a gas fire (none in the flat when we purchased it) as they didn't want it being heated with electric! Your home isn't totally your own for you to make your own decisions when it's leasehold, and of course there's also the problem of the lease getting shorter as the years go by (unless it was 999 years to start off with).

Does she like animals? You only have to read a few threads on here to fine there can be issues if you want to keep a pet. Or issues if you don't like animals and your neighbours keep pets.

If she can afford a house, encourage her to go that route.

jonewer

House. Every time.

orchid2010

Thanks for your help.

Yes, she has a cat so looks like a house is best.

Lokolo

I chose location over whether it was a house vs. a flat.

I could either afford a house in a rough area, or a flat in a nice area which was close to the train station. I chose the latter.

With a 40% deposit, if borrowing allows it, buy a house in a nice area.

phoebe1989seb

Lokolo wrote: »

I chose location over whether it was a house vs. a flat.

I could either afford a house in a rough area, or a flat in a nice area which was close to the train station. I chose the latter.

With a 40% deposit, if borrowing allows it, buy a house in a nice area.

Same happened to DS and his GF when they were looking to buy for the first time in 2011. They were looking in SW London and needed two beds so her sister (and her BF) could have the second room while she was at uni.

They wanted two equally-sized (as far as possible) bedrooms and a garden so the sister's dog could stay over occasionally. The houses in safe *nice* areas - for two young women, 18 & 22 - were out of their price range or had one good- sized bedroom plus a box room. They didn't want to take out a mortgage so were restricted in what they could afford for cash.

Eventually they realised their budget would stretch to a reasonably spacious ground floor garden flat with share of freehold on a new 999 year lease, five minutes walk from the tube in a much nicer area than the equivalently priced houses. Pets are allowed so no probs there either

I would normally say always buy a house if possible, but as in this instance, location is always key.......