Four bed flat or three bed terrace?

Petite_Anglaise

Personally I'd go with the 3 bed terrace- presumably freehold, with a garden?

A 4 bed flat sounds potentially very spacious.
the big question is how much is the service charge & ground rent? this will eat into your monthly expenses.

also is the lease a decent length of time?

In terms of re-seling in the future, a 3 bed terrace will always have more potential buyers than a 4 bed flat, in my opinion.

the_midnight_Wolfboy

General consensus seems to be with the freehold, good points it does have a front and back garden so space wise its probably better in the long term. And yes the leasehold costs would be about £1200 annually so effectively another £100 we could have been paying on a mortgage! Good points

The main issue for us is whether we want to spend the extra and live closer to central. Hanwell is zone 4 so we could get into London 10-15 minutes faster than West Drayton would

But with our budget we could probably only afford ex-council e.g. the Cuckoo Estate conservation area two bed terrace...which are £440k ish ..not sure that would increase in value more than a 3 bed period terrace in West Drayton?

getmore4less

Did I read that right both only have 1 bathroom?

4beds really needs at least 2 washing/toilets spaces

Jenniefour

the_midnight_Wolfboy wrote: »

But with our budget we could probably only afford ex-council e.g. the Cuckoo Estate conservation area two bed terrace...which are £440k ish ..not sure that would increase in value more than a 3 bed period terrace in West Drayton?

You might be interested to know that the Cuckoo estate is in the catchment area of an excellent school, and that has affected property prices in that area. Check it out, not sure exactly where the boundaries are.

If the flat you're looking at is the one on Church Road, then you will know (if you've been to see it) it's on a main road. That's the slight downside. It's a great price for the area though - which reflects the amount of work that needs doing. Which means money. It's also the top floor of a house which means it may be possible that the attic space belongs to that flat and could be extended with a loft conversion. If that's possible and you're looking to add value and have the funds to do it to a good standard then that might be worth taking into account.

However, do bear in mind that if property prices keep going up and we get another spurt in this area when Crossrail gets opened you might not be able to afford to get on the next rung in the same area. Plenty of houses in that area already over the million mark.

Service charges. £100 pm seems very reasonable to me, and I would want to know whether there's a sinking fund and how much is in it because some service charges are not high enough to have a fund to hand for major repairs, if needed.

Whether a house would increase more in value than a flat in London is debateable, and I'm not convinced it's true. Folks here are used to living in flats, there's a lot more of them. The London market is very different.

essjae

Have you looked at this one in Hanwell?

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-63570860.html

A little smaller than the 4-bed, but also a little cheaper and with loft access and a garden (and the roof pitch looks quite steep so could be scope for converting...)

cloo

I agree with Out Vile Jelly that a 4-bed flat would not be an easy onward sale - I'm not sure many people want large flats.


Also avoiding service charges and leasehold (as the flat probably is), is a bonus, as is having a garden.

Jenniefour

essjae wrote: »

Have you looked at this one in Hanwell?

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-63570860.html

A little smaller than the 4-bed, but also a little cheaper and with loft access and a garden (and the roof pitch looks quite steep so could be scope for converting...)

I would check with agent whether the loft is actually part of that flat, most of them on that estate are not although they can be used for storage.

Lummoxley

Hanwell has already seen a big surge in prices over the last few years. This is mostly the London effect but also, in my opinion, has been partly driven by crossrail.

The flat in Church Road is in easy walking distance to the station whereas Cuckoo Estate is 15-20 minutes walk. Is the West Drayton one as close to the station?

I sold my 2 bed flat in Hanwell last year and bought a 3 bed mid-terrace in Greenford for the same amount. This works for me as I work locally, if I was commuting up town I may well have stayed in the Hanwell flat.

That said, you should factor in how you would get to the station. If walking it would be a smaller radius than if you cycled to the station. I could cycle to Hanwell station from my Greenford house in less time than I could walk from Cuckoo Estate to the station.

Lastly, as previous posters have said, freehold can be important. I've added a large extension to my house in the last 6 months, something I could never have done with the flat. Good luck.

IslaWright

Three bed terrace, is a great option, four can cost a lot of money in add cost later on.

the_midnight_Wolfboy

Thank you for all your replies! (When I work out how to use the thanks feature on here I will utilize)

I think we will end up going for somewhere in West Drayton, although the area is mean't to be worse it is significantly cheaper and not much different in terms of commute time.

We did end up viewing the flat on Church Road in Hanwell, for a 3/4 bed flat close to the station it does seem reasonably cheap and we can't work out why - other than the cosmetic condition inside leaving a lot to be desired.

But overall we feel like it would be safer to go for a freehold in zone 6