Buying a ground floor flat?

silvercar

"However, majority of flats on sale are ground floor level and I see some nice ones."

That says it all, ground floor flats are less popular so will take longer to sell.

My concern would be burglary risk, wouldn't leave windows open at night or when out, acting as the drop of point for post and deliveries, more street noise and exposed to noise from communal areas.

TripleH

My wife and I both had a ground floor flat as our first homes.

We only sold them because we had to move away from our respective geographical areas.

Neither of us had issues with safety (the worst I had was I got egged one Halloween).

The noise issue I think is better in a ground floor flat as it can only come from above on other floors it can come from all around you.

Blank11

MultiFuelBurner said:

Can you stretch to buy a house? Even if it's not your desired location.

Scotland based so the seller provides a home report and the market value is included. However in most situations it goes over the home report value. You are only able to get a mortgage max amount based on the home report market value, so any extra you offer over the home report you need to try and get it yourself. 

Even with the less desired location and moving further out I am getting outbid because I can’t over so much over the home report value. 

Blank11

CSI_Yorkshire said:

Should you buy a ground floor flat if your desire is to have all the windows open overnight?  Probably not.

But how often do you actually do that?

That is very true as I have to admit even now living in a house and feeling more safe to open a window at night I don’t do it often even if it is boiling hot. 

I would like to hope I’d be able to at least open the windows during the day when I am in the house. 

Blank11

silvercar said:

"However, majority of flats on sale are ground floor level and I see some nice ones."

That says it all, ground floor flats are less popular so will take longer to sell.

My concern would be burglary risk, wouldn't leave windows open at night or when out, acting as the drop of point for post and deliveries, more street noise and exposed to noise from communal areas.

That is one of my concern with reselling. Currently the market is still hot (and of course no one has a crystal ball to predict the future) but I do worry about the future when I need to sell. 

The flat I am looking at is on a quiet side street so less people walking by. Might be a little strange but since I’d be living alone I’d find it sort of comforting to hear a little external noise. But the burglary risk and feeling safe to open windows during the day when I’m in is my concern. 

bouicca21

I live in a ground floor flat, with direct access to a garden, a small bit of which is mine, the rest communal.  It’s much like living in a bungalow.  The only flat in our block that has been burgled is on the top (2nd) floor.  

I do open a window overnight - it’s a transom so not a security risk.  I have other windows open during the day especially in this weather.  I fitted a burglar alarm when I moved in but that’s not really a reaction to the risk, it’s because I was burgled some 30 years ago (house not a flat) and have never lived without a burglar alarm since.

In terms of noise from other flats I think the risk is much the same as if in a terrace or semi.  It depends partly on the neighbours, and partly on the type of construction.  My block isn’t pretty but it’s solid - mid 1960s brick built.

I would be much more concerned about length of lease, service charges and ground rent.

Blank11

TripleH said:

My wife and I both had a ground floor flat as our first homes.

We only sold them because we had to move away from our respective geographical areas.

Neither of us had issues with safety (the worst I had was I got egged one Halloween).

The noise issue I think is better in a ground floor flat as it can only come from above on other floors it can come from all around you.

Any concerns or how did you make it feel safer to open your windows? 

I agree and one of the things I like about ground floor because it means I can exercise without worrying about the noise nuisance it would cause the neighbours. 

TripleH

Yes, to add in our last flat we owned, someone tried to break in (pry open the front door by the yale lock) but we used the mortice lock as well so it didn't work and that was a top floor flat.

Blank11

Jonboy_1984 said:

Lived in a ground floor flat for 15 years and often had windows wide open overnight in the summer.

Rest of the year we had them latched open so there was fresh air but still secure. You can also get  restrictors fitted so they cannot be easily opened further ( https://www.toolstation.com/era-window-safety-restrictor/p12868) .

We did also have a sliding patio door onto the communal garden and as the sliding panel was inside we could drop a length of timber behind it to keep it a few inches open for airflow.

We are partly lucky, it was a nice area but we did hear of thefts in other parts of the town.

Thanks for the link I’ll definitely look into that. I have been researching online and a lot say restrictors are easy to bypass but surely it would cause a bit more of a struggle and hassle for them to pass (I hope)! 

It is nice to be able to just enter the communal garden without walking the stairs. 

BungalowBel

Bungalows are very popular and they have all their windows on the ground floor......

If you are so worried about it, then don't buy a ground floor flat.