House or flat?

bp5678

Hi there,

As a person looking to buy my first house, I've just gone and viewed my first property to move into.

I went with my parents as they may pick up on things I may miss (particularly things regarding the heating, boiler, electricity etc as those sorts of things I'm still educating myself on). My dad has a flat he rents out so I trust his judgement from a landlord perspective too.

I had done my own research and a house seemed a better investment than a flat as I won't have someone living above/below/to the side of me and therefore less noise, I'll have a garden, won't have to pay the fees of living in a flat, and it'll generally feel more homely.

As I'm looking to buy just for myself, I may move into a 1 bed or potentially 2 bed house.

After the viewing, my dad commented that it may make more sense for me to choose a flat over a house because in a one bed house it's basically a living room and kitchen downstairs and a bedroom and bathroom upstairs. That layout is pretty consistent with all 1 bed properties. But because there is a staircase and corridor/hallway/landing at the top of the stairs, this will add to the price quite a bit and is sort of "wasted space".

His argument was when you picture the house on both floors, if you effectively take all the rooms (bedroom, kitchen, living room and bathroom) and you put them all next to each other side by side and on one floor (i.e remove the staircase) you've effectively got what you'd get in a flat. Doing this would be far more cost effective.

As I say, originally I was swaying towards a house over a flat but hearing his comments has left me seeking further advice/guidance/another opinion.

On another note, what are your thoughts on the part-buy-part-rent scheme? Pros and cons? Would you recommend it over buying a property using a more traditional mortgage process?

Tom99

I don't think I would rule out a 1 bed house based on your father's space argument.
Your reasons for ruling out a flat are far more valid. However what is the demand like for 1 bed houses? They must have very limited appeal because they are so small and I guess less likely to be in a convenient location like many 1 bed flats.
I would also rule out any shared ownership scheme if the property is new because it will be way overpriced.

BMilo1

Speaking from experience I would never by a leasehold property again! If I were you (and if your budget allows) I would purchase a freehold house over a leasehold flat any day!
In regards to the part buy part rent scheme I would urge you to do your research on this as I've heard some horror stories (especially if it's a new build) many new build houses are poorly built and have service charges and permission fees which need to be paid. Many councils aren't adopting these roads so homeowners are having to pay for maintenance which, in worse cases can be up in the 1000's per year.
Good luck with your property search

SmashedAvacado

With a flat in a block the maintenance will be done by someone else -
With a house, you choose what to do and when

the kind of person you are / and your approach to maintenance is a key factor (not the only factor). Can you see yourself arranging someone to fix the roof / replace a window or would you prefer to pay a service charge and have assurance that someone else is arranging these kinds of things.

I would have a house because i can deal with stuff. many people can't / don't

MovingForwards

If you can stretch to it go for a 2 bed house or flat as that gives you options in the future to have a partner, lodger or a home office etc.

It will also be easier to sell in the future.

1 bed houses are cute, but you can't really grow into it.

Socajam

I have a 2 bedroom flat from a converted semi detached house with a large garden - lease 900+ years and ground rent 1 pound.
If you could get a flat into a converted house with a long lease I would go for it.
I am not into newly built houses or flats.

bp5678

Socajam wrote: »

I have a 2 bedroom flat from a converted semi detached house with a large garden - lease 900+ years and ground rent 1 pound.
If you could get a flat into a converted house with a long lease I would go for it.
I am not into newly built houses or flats.

Sorry I don't quite get what you mean. So the semi detached house was 2 floors and your flat is on one floor and there's another flat belonging to someone else on the floor above?

davidmcn

Do 1 bedroom houses even exist where you're looking? They're a fairly rare type of beast. 1 bedroom properties of any sort can be difficult to shift - even first time buyers these days tend to already have reached the stage of wanting two bedrooms.

scottishblondie

A one bedroom anything has a limited appeal and so may be harder to sell on. It also doesn't really give you any scope to grow in the event that your circumstance change. I would buy somewhere with at least 2 bedrooms.

AnotherJoe

What scottishbloke said. One bedroom anythings also do less well in times when house prices fall are hey are just attractive to fewer people. You are also likely to stay in a 2 bed longer (you wont be moving up into a 2 bed for example) saving you a set of house purchase costs, as an FTB you'll save more on SDLT, and you have an extra bedroom for a lodger, friends, relatives, storage, office, whatever.

AlexMac

Over the past 40-odd years I have owned three different freehold houses (sucessively, as our primary home) and five leasehold flats (one as our primary home, two others as holiday homes plus a couple of "Buy to Let" investments).

Based on this experience, and given a free choice, I'd go for a freehold house every time as my own home, rather than a leasehold flat. The possible exception is for a so-called "shared freehold" detailed below.

Several reasons, some mentioned above such as control; no-one to tell you that you must have carpets (a common lease clause), that you cannot have pets without permission, that you need permission (which may also involve paying a fee just to ask) for even minor internal alterations, to stick up a satellite dish or to sub-let if you ever need to move away for 6 months or more in future.

Other reasons relate to control over costs and Service-Charges.

If you have to buy a leasehold, check what type of lease it is, how long it is, who the freeholder is, how much the Service Charges are, exactly what they cover, who manages the building and how maintenance (routine day-to day stuff, cyclical stuff like external decor every 5-8 years, or one-offs like roof or guttering replacement etc) are decided, managed and charged for.

We were lucky in that our one leasehold "home" one was in a small "shared freehold" where we and the other five leasehold flat owners were members or Directors of the Freehold Company, so we had more control of the above- albeit not as much control as if we owned or own Freehold house, very cost effective management and very low service charges. The same applies to our little second home; a shared freehold with very low service charges of £420 a year.

If a leasehold is all you can afford, my preference would be for a similar shared set up. I'd run a mile if it turned out that there was a remote freeholder who was in it for the money, an unresponsive Managing Agent who was in it for their fat fee, a punitive annual Service Charge (we have friends who were paying £5k-£6k a year on a 3-bedroom leasehold flat- just think how much more of a mortgage that would fund!) or no "sinking fund" for major future repairs.

I'm not sure about your points about noise, but unless a flat is of modern construction with dense or solid concrete floors, some noise transmission is inevitable. Flats in older converted houses often have hollow "suspended" timber floors between levels and these tend to cause complaints even if carpet is fitted.

But- you pays yer money and takes yer choice; my two BTLs have great freeholders and reasobable Service Charges and repairs costs!