Upper or Lower flat?

Serendipitious

If there are only two floors, I'd say upper is the better choice. I've lived in the middle and whilst there I never heard anything from the floor below, but I did hear noise from the floor above, mostly when they had visitors (it was very quiet otherwise.)

AubreyMac

That would depend on the layout of the block and your own lifestyle.

I have a friend who has a top floor flat and it is brilliant because it is a corner one. outside her front door is the communal hallway and the side is the communal stairs. The only thing 'shared' is her floor which is someone elses ceiling. She agrees it is the right one for her.

My sister also lives in a upper floor flat. She has a special needs kid and is forever struggling to drag things up the communal stairs (pushchair, car seat, oxygen tanks). He's at the age where drops things and runs around. For her she would rather have a ground floor flat.

I have a top floor flat and while installing my new boiler, a leak happened which dripped down to neighbour below. The pipes and everything is so old and I'm glad that it's unlikely to happen to me. I can hear my neighbours below and to the side, even their TV. Living on my own I'm unlikely to make much noise.

Anatidaephobia

Definitely agree with upper flat preference. When I lived in a ground floor flat, I could hear music from the flat above and people moving around. I prefer to be further away from the street as well.

Kynthia

Ground floor flats have their advantages and some things depend on the specific building. However if you are going on which is quieter then it's usually top floor flats. Most noise comes from people living above you so being top floor eliminates that. Also there will be less people in the stairwell and you won't have the noise of people coming and going through the front door or in the car park.

However when living on the top floor you will definitely have people below you so you'll need to be considerate and moderate your noise. You should have soft flooring, turn the base very low on your music and surround sound, not use the washing machine early or late, not have children jumping or running around if possible, etc.

GwylimT

We live in a ground floor (owned) flat with a large private garden running the lenght of our flat, we only hear our neighbours if we have the window open and they are doing something noisy eg children playing in the garden, we hear the occassional bit of DIY noise.

The floor you on has no real bearing on sound, its about the construction of the building, I have only ever heard DIY noises through our wall, our flat is much quieter than our previous semi detached property which had thick stone walls.

anna42hmr

Both have their advantages, but another thing for ground floor that i have come across is that its easier for deliveries of larger items and the ability to have what ever floor you like (for instance in the flat i own, on the ground floor the lease allows for wooden floors those above the lease hold specifically states carpeting only - though how many actually stick to this i would question).

We have no issues with noise and can rarely hear the neighbour above us

Also not having stairs is great if people have kids or the flat is owned by someone older or with mobility issues so potentially more people will consider these.

When i bought this one, we looked at a number of flats and all had negatives and positives.

However, one of the ones i looked at was on the third floor (top floor) in a really lovely renovated old building, however it had no lift, which would be ok for me. However my mum has issues with her knees due to arthritis and was struggling a bit with the last flight of stairs - which made me more conscious of it being harder for her to visit if/when her condition deteriorates.

As such it also made me aware of both the limitations for me and also what other buyers may need to consider when it came time for me to move on and sell the flat. For example wouldn't envy a mum lugging kids pushchair etc up them.

Old_Git

I have lived in many flats over the years .Everything from basement bedsits to top floor council flats .
I found the bedsits had the best sound proofing .
My last flat (many years ago) was the middle floor of a three story council
block .I could hear every sound from above and below .
Upstairs used to hoover at 3am ,downstairs had sex every morning .

anna42hmr

Fluffi wrote: »

And contents insurance tends to be more expensive on the ground floor because its an easier target for thieves (sadly). .

I never quite get the logic of this, as essentially surely the risk is the same as a house as that has a ground floor so if they are going to access via ground floor windows/doors would be just the same.

Also, i always remember that several years ago our local neighbourhood watch scheme had a police office come and talk at one of the meetings about home security and near my parents is a retirement village consisted of flats and someone from there mentioned about whether ground floor was more secure.

He suggested from what they see in our area that higher level flats are more at risk as the burglars are less likely to be disturbed (especially as often its because they have gained access via security doors not being closed properly, faulty trade buzzers, being left on catches, lock being faulty, old security door keys not being cancelled or following someone behind who is a resident who has not closed the door behind them etc.)

Money_maker

Old_Git wrote: »

Upstairs used to hoover at 3am.

Thats bizarre.

Old_Git

Money_maker wrote: »

Thats bizarre.

no it was just badness to waken me up