Warner Flats - are they good to live in?

saskeane

I'm looking to a buy a period Warner flat in the Walthamstow/Blackhorse area. They look like a great alternative to a conversion flat as they are purpose built, you have your own entrance and section of garden. Are they well insulated against noise from both the neighbour upstairs/downstairs and at the sides? If it is noisy, how much would it cost to insulate the walls and ceiling/floors? 

cattie

I lived in a victorian purpose built maisonette designed along the same lines as the Warner ones, though mine was on the borders of Camberwell & Kennington.

They are lovely flats, quite spacious & I had the ground floor maisonette. When I first moved there all was fine, 4 guys occupying the upper maisonette for the first 2 or 3 yrs & noise wasn't much of an issue as they were pretty quiet considering, apart from when running down the stairs. Then my neighbour decided to sell & sold to a single female 30 something. She ripped up the carpets everywhere (against the terms of the lease) & just had the bare floorboards varnished & then my nightmare begain. I could hear her cough, all her phone calls etc. It was as though she was living in my property & she was always having friends round & music playing. It was making me ill & so I ended up selling my place to get away from the noise issue. I could have complained to freeholder regarding the lack of carpets I suppose, but pointless creating an issue with a neighbour I felt.

There was never any noise from the adjoining properties I add & my advice would be to avoid a ground floor property & only go for one of the upper maisonettes as the properties, although purpose built, were not built with thought to sound insulation & these days wooden floors are what the majority of people go for, in spite of many leases stating rooms should be carpeted to protect neighbours from noise.

saskeane

Thanks for your reply Cattie. That sounds like nightmare! I’ve viewed both upper and lower flats and will go for the upper floor. Most of them have wooden floors in the reception rooms. If I’m successful with getting one, I’ll check with the downstairs neighbour and the freeholder before choosing the flooring. 

RoisinDove

I lived in a ground floor one for a while and had terrible problems with rodents. Like really bad. Rats as well as mice. I don't know if I was just unlucky or if others had the same issue, but it put me off going for a ground floor one again. Noise wasn't too bad - you could definitely hear the neighbours but not anywhere near as much as I could in the 30s house I lived in after that where I could literally hear the neighbours flicking light switches and coughing. It felt a lot more solidly built. 

saskeane

Thanks for the tip Roisin.  Another good reason to go for the top floor!