Ground floor vs first floor flat - which is worth more?

Indigo_and_Violet

In my experience square footage on floorplans only counts the indoor space, not the outdoor. Have you done the sums on the individual rooms to double check? 820 sounds about right for a large two double bedroom flat.

As others have said, it's hard to call. In broadly your situation we chose the ground floor with garden, because there's only two of us and we wanted outdoors space and cats. We have broadly the same layout (two doubles, one of which we run as a sitting room, plus kitchen-diner) and a plan to put a proper garden room in to give us an another space. But that's because it's a flat we want to live in long-term. Our best guess is that a proper garden room might cost twice as much value as it will add (expected cost £15k) so it's whether we want to spend £7.5k on a nice study. 

If you can cope with no outdoor space (do you have any where you live now? How much time do you spend at home? Are there nice parks/streets nearby?) then as others have said the 3 bed is more flexible. If making maximum return and moving on quickly to a house is the priority then having a lodger would make a lot of sense. 

andy444

Ground floor flats can be popular with elderly and disabled people as they don't have to deal with any stairs. They can even be popular with households with young children as you don't have to drag pushchairs etc up a load of stairs.

In a converted house I imagine that the sound proofing could be poor and anyone living in the ground floor could hear the upstairs occupants when they walk around. You'll also have better privacy on the top floor as no-one will be walking past your window.

I don't think either one will definitely be worth more than the other, it depends on the buyer what they want.

AFF8879

salane19 said:

eddddy said:

Your question seems to be more about the value of an extra bedroom and an extra bathroom vs the value of a garden - than a comparison of ground floor vs first floor.

Tbh, I'd focus more on what suited my lifestyle. For example,

Do I want a nicer second bedroom, third bedroom and bathroom for guests?
Do I want a garden to sit in, have bbqs etc?
If I like cycling, does the first floor flat have somewhere to store a bike?
etc

More generally with ground floor vs first floor...

Do you mind going up and downstairs more frequently? (Moving furniture, carrying the shopping, taking out rubbish)
Is security an issue? (e.g. it's harder for a burglar to break in via a first floor window.)
Ground floor flats are sometimes noisier? (Footsteps and clanking from above)
Is the flat close to the pavement? Will you have passers-by looking through the ground floor windows? (With TVs, laptops etc visible - or would you put up net curtains?!!)
etc


 

I don’t mind living in either. My main aim is to purchase the flat that will have the biggest increase in value in 5-6 years. 

Any major swings in value of either flat are going to be similar, is living 5-6 years of your life somewhere that doesn’t suit your lifestyle as well worth an extra few £k?

stormpassing

Why does the downstairs flat have a shared kitchen and reception room, if the upstairs has a separate one and it’s only two flats? As much as I love outdoor space I’m not sure Id want to share my kitchen with anyone.

starving_artist

I'm not convinced that just because the upstairs flat has more bedrooms it is more attractive. While is likely to appeal to a family that same family (or multiple occupants who enjoy socialising) is also likely to end up longing for outside space.  Those with small children will get fed up of trailing prams/buggies etc up and downstairs and stairs are not a ideal future planning for retired folk.

user1977

stormpassing said:

Why does the downstairs flat have a shared kitchen and reception room, if the upstairs has a separate one and it’s only two flats? As much as I love outdoor space I’m not sure Id want to share my kitchen with anyone.

I think the OP just means it's an open-plan room, not that there's somebody else walking in to use the kitchen!

Slithery

Are you a first time buyer?

If so what makes you think that you'll make any money on either of them? Owning for such a short amount of time means that you'll pay hardly anything off of your mortgage as your payments will be mainly interest. You also have to factor in an extra lot of buying fees plus you'll lose your FTB stamp duty discount which will be worth more on a more expensive property in a few years time.

It might make better financial sense to stay where you are and save your money for a longer-term house in a few years...

Sistergold

Choose a home not an “investment”. Both are being priced the same so it might just be they will both be same value up or down? 6 years of your life is too long to be in a place just because you think it will appreciate the
most, in the end it might not appreciate at all. There are some on here who say there is going to be a crash so who knows? No one can tell you what the market will be like choose what will give you best quality of life. 

another_casualty

Imho, you'd be better off with a maissonnette providing you have the right neighbours .
One that is older say , 1960s concrete flooring . You can get maissonnettes that both the ground floor and first floor each have their own garden. Differences may occur where one owner has a loft, while the other has a garage . Compromises. Flats are all about compromise. 

With converted flats  many are immediate buy to let , which means if you own one you should always expect to be looking over your shoulder more often than not . 

From my experience in my gd flr Victorian conversion it looks like the buyers of flats for sale here when they come up are all investors , which may / may not be problematic should I decide / have to sell in the future . I purchased mine from a woman letting out to tenants . My flat would immediately appeal to woman with pram or cyclist. And of course investors. 

Plus I have a shared communal garden which I don't use. I do have a designated parking space . Out of 7 flats only 3 of us live in them . Me and 2 directors of managing agents.
Being on the gd flr, you have to be responsible to keep communal area free of bikes/ prams / footballs as if you don't you could lose everything due to insurance not covering you. 

Plus regarding the front door in the communal area , it can be left open / ajar from irresponsible tenants  which is very annoying . 

As for value op ,from what you have stated, there shouldn't be much difference although the service charges and council tax may be different between the two. That's a guess ..