Flat floor preferences?

user1977

sheramber said:

My son went for top floor for security- less chance of  intruders.

I've had conflicting advice about that - obviously they won't be climbing through windows easily, but assuming they prefer to get in through the door, there's less chance of them being disturbed on the top landing.

Fionargh

user1977 said:

sheramber said:

My son went for top floor for security- less chance of  intruders.

I've had conflicting advice about that - obviously they won't be climbing through windows easily, but assuming they prefer to get in through the door, there's less chance of them being disturbed on the top landing.

Yes I live on 1st floor of 4 storey flats. Ground floor has a private entrance so my floor is the first in the communal entrance and we had a burglary on the top floor a couple of years ago.

nicknameless

We've lived happily in a ground floor flat of a purpose built block with 3 floors of 4 flats for going on 17 years now.  The exception to that was when the flat above had hardfloors and very inconsiderate neighbours.  It was rented.  It is now owner occupied and carpeted.

In this block if I could guarantee the neighbour above that we currently have I would choose ground floor where we are every time.  Overlooking garden in corner of block (very private), easy for deliveries (shopping etc.), easy to get stuff in and out of flat (no lift).

Flats depend very much on construction and neighbours.

hangryconsumer

Top floor every time. It’s either enduring ceiling noise, or being complained at for noise. I lived top floor once and had some fogies complain about normal daytime noise since their grandchild thought there were monsters in the ceiling like 6-7pm. They were also part of the management company, so don’t buy a flat if any of the residents are in the management company. They think they own the place and and therefore act unreasonably when you are acting completely within the law. Can make your life hell. 

bouicca21

sheramber said:

My son went for top floor for security- less chance of  intruders.

 I installed a burglar alarm as soon as I moved in, but as it happens the only flat in my block to have been burgled was on the top floor.   The police said that higher floors are actually more vulnerable - if potential burglars can get into the building then it’s easy for them to hide in the stairwell or on higher floors.

goldfinches

bouicca21 said:

sheramber said:

My son went for top floor for security- less chance of  intruders.

 I installed a burglar alarm as soon as I moved in, but as it happens the only flat in my block to have been burgled was on the top floor.   The police said that higher floors are actually more vulnerable - if potential burglars can get into the building then it’s easy for them to hide in the stairwell or on higher floors.

I live on the top floor of a three storey block and have had this sort of situation with a neighbour who used to lurk on the stairs to beg the other residents for money once he'd run out of cash for booze, that was horrible on dark nights over the winter. 
I would second all the other comments about flat layouts too as feeling as though you can't make another mug of cocoa at 3am because your kitchen adjoins a neighbour's bedroom can be a pain. That said I prefer the top floor for the views and general peace and quiet.
The things that might catch you out are cheap entryphone systems where you can't set them to silent overnight in case some joker on their way home from the pub decides to keep ringing your doorbell and high charges for cleaning and gardening. Each flat in this block of 8 pays nearly £5 per week for someone to sweep the staircase, clean the staircase windows and change the lightbulbs, currently that gets us 20 minutes a week from a man who's so slow he's almost in reverse! The other thing that's always a dead giveaway is the state of the bin area and the bins themselves, there are never enough and the bin men often put them back any old how so check to see that someone sorts that out regularly and keeps the bin area clean and tidy. We get squirrels, mice, rats and foxes as well as seagulls, crows and magpies plus cats from the flats and so on.

london21

Personally prefer Low-rise max 4 levels.

Ground floor with a garden.

NameUnavailable

Top floor, nobody above you (most flats leases include conditions to state that carpets must be laid but you see so many flats on Rightmove with hard flooring and I know of someone who had this issue with a neighbour above them who fitted laminate flooring and caused huge annoyance until they were forced to change it!).

Obviously ground floor if stairs are an issue and there's no lift, or its a garden flat.

Be especially careful with conversions. As said, noise can be a big problem as they were never meant to be separate dwellings and you might just have a layer of plasterboard and floorboards between you and the next flat, and then there's gaps/holes for pipes etc. for sound to travel through. Also plasterboard walls between flats........

tryingmybest99

I love my ground floor flat! 

Pros; don't have to carry stuff upstairs, lovely view of the garden and no restricted height ceilings (I've seen this in some top floor flats including in my own block). 

Cons; I was a bit worried about security at first (I've put in a security system now), upstairs neighbours aren't too bad for noise (I actually like a bit of noise, I like to know people are around) but I know it's a future risk if someone else moves in, people can see into my flat (I might put some window film up in the bedroom) and sometimes people slam the front door which disturbs me. 

Other considerations; mine is a purpose-built, brick block (I think the balance of space is fantastic, unlike most of the conversions I saw). I also like that it is a small block of flats, with 7 flats. 

There's 7.8 billion people on the planet. We can't all live in detached houses and I think living in flats can be lovely if you find the right one. I love where I live!

Emmia

Gavin83 said:

I'd rent a flat but I certainly wouldn't buy one. I'd rather carry on saving until I could afford a house than buy a flat.

In answer to your question if I was to rent a flat my preference would be top floor every time. Number of floors doesn't really matter, although the 3 floor building is potentially more likely to be a purpose built complex than a house conversion (which is important) and is more likely to have a lift. You might also get better views. However all of these are potentials so it'll depend on the building.

We live in a ground floor flat in a 4 storey building + basement flat below. - no lift, but it is a conversion rather than purpose built.

The walls here are mega thick, so we don't really have issues with noise - at most I can sometimes hear people walking around upstairs, in the same way as you might hear a family member walking around in a house you owned and lived in together.

I'd go, ground floor with own (not shared) outside space. 

I would not go new build flat.