First time buyer house or flat

oystercatcher

I would hate the idea of a flat, I think of noise issues and nasty communal areas and I would hate to not have a garden. That is just me though.

I suggest lots and lots of research and viewings. Wander around potential areas and work out which areas are nice and quiet which are near amenities you might want , shops etc . Look at what you can get for your money and weigh it up, only you know what will suit you.

My son lives in a slightly rough area so his house was a bit cheaper than 'nicer' roads, however he has lovely neighbours and hasn't had any trouble. out of 5 or 6 roads on his little estate his road for some reason is much nicer and quieter than the surrounding roads the houses are the same and priced the same but these are the little things you can learn if you look around.

nyc_451

Nasty communal areas...noisy neighbours...disrespectful renters... you guys have been to some terrible places :rotfl:

I live in a flat, the communal area is looked after by a maintenance guy who knows most of us, it is dead quiet after 9-10pm, renters are behaving just fine. We had one couple who liked having parties on the weekends but they didn't last long, my neighbour thinks some complaints have been sent to the landlord by our management company. Any other issues are also quickly addressed by them, anything little like putting a nappy in a recycling bin, smoking too close to the premises, shutting the doors loudly etc. Any faults with lights etc are fixed promptly, quick response to out of hours emergency number.

Am I just lucky? I thought this was the norm...

JayRitchie

Hi OP

I like living in a flat because there is some additional security - especially if not on the ground floor- and major repairs get sorted by someone else and the cost split over several people. I would be careful not to buy in anywhere more than three stories as there can be problems with repairs at greater heights and mortgage companies have been known to refuse to offer mortgages.

csgohan4

Flat= leasehold, ground rent, service charges and still have to pay for maintenance for inside your flat like boilers, painting e.t.c

House= Usually free hold, no ground rent usually, no service charges, pay for maintenance for inside and outside

Choose detached or close enough therefore less noise. Have a garden or an exclusive one. Generally can do what you want without a freeholder's permission as your the free holder

if I had the money, house all day. Flat you cannot control the noise around you, but with a house you generally can or at least one with a good build to negate sound

cattie

Many people who are against flat ownership have never actually owned one, so have no real idea of what they are talking about. I've owned both flats & houses & some of the worst neighbours I had were when I lived in a house.

It was to all intents & purposes a lovely quiet road, but this family lived next door but one to me & were what I can only call a chav like family with lads in their late teens/early 20's. They would be drinking in the garden with loud music of course & would have a game of seeing how far they could throw beer cans over the fence. My cat had a near miss from one of these missiles once. Also They thought nothing of parking across somebody's drive.

Because you have to report any complaints regarding neighbours when you want to sell a property, none of us were willing to make a complaint & to be honest, we feared reprisals from the many youths that gathered there.

Not that I've ever encountered such bad neighbours while owning flats, but at least with a flat you can get onto the managing agents or freeholder if there are any issues & get them to sort it out.

Houses are great for families with young children, but I prefer flat living now I'm getting older, no maintenance worries for me to have to sort out, gardeners to maintain the spacious & lovely grounds & neighbours who look out for each other.

bouicca21

I’ve lived in both too. My flat is no noisier than a terraced house. Actually it’s quieter than my first house where a particularly obnoxious teenager thought he had every right to blast the neighbourhood with his music.

I have direct access to a huge communal garden, and my own little bit just outside my patio doors. The garden is actually bigger than the one I had when I lived in a very large detached house,

Some of my neighbours are lovely, some are so so, and one I avoid. As I remember it, it was pretty much the same when I lived in a house.

The advantage is that I could afford it, and it’s closer to shops, restaurants and the station than a house of similar value. Also I am behind two front doors - mine and the communal one - so difficult for burglars and the local jehovah’s witnesses leave us alone. If a tile falls off the roof, someone else sorts it out.

Smodlet

blue_mango wrote: »

Nasty communal areas...noisy neighbours...disrespectful renters... you guys have been to some terrible places :rotfl:

I live in a flat, the communal area is looked after by a maintenance guy who knows most of us, it is dead quiet after 9-10pm, renters are behaving just fine. We had one couple who liked having parties on the weekends but they didn't last long, my neighbour thinks some complaints have been sent to the landlord by our management company. Any other issues are also quickly addressed by them, anything little like putting a nappy in a recycling bin, smoking too close to the premises, shutting the doors loudly etc. Any faults with lights etc are fixed promptly, quick response to out of hours emergency number.

Am I just lucky? I thought this was the norm...

Lucky? Either you are so rich you could buy one of those houses on Escape to the Country-type programmes or you live in Utopia. My experience of flat-living has been very different having said which, the worst neighbours I have ever encountered have been here, in a semi-detached house but it all comes down to area again.

Good luck, OP. There seems not much of a consensus on here but, in general, house wins over flat purely for space, flexibility and ease of selling.

nyc_451

Smodlet wrote: »

Lucky? Either you are so rich you could buy one of those houses on Escape to the Country-type programmes or you live in Utopia.

I'm on the same wage as the OP, had to move to a working class town to afford a flat for 120k. No rich people in my neighbourhood, they're nice working class peeps.

This is my first experience in owning a flat, I didn't think I was concidered to be lucky simply because my neighbours are normal...

Smodlet

blue_mango wrote: »

I'm on the same wage as the OP, had to move to a working class town to afford a flat for 120k. No rich people in my neighbourhood, they're nice working class peeps.

This is my first experience in owning a flat, I didn't think I was concidered to be lucky simply because my neighbours are normal...

Then you are indeed lucky, I think. Good for you.

ethank

I would think a flat in a nice area would probably be more saleable than a house in a not too nice area.