any reason to consider 2 bedroom flat over 1 bed house?

tiger135

I have close to 200k to put down and want a small mortgage as possible. I am single, dont want a lodger, very minimal. 
Here are a few examples of what I can buy:
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/139140293
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/141843707
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/141073685
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/135520688
any thoughts welcome, two houses and two flats there, all in decent locations .
thanks for any thoughts.

MatyMoo

My first property was a one bedroom starter home & I would always say stretch to a two bed if you can.

it’s difficult to have a friend stay over with a one bed, it’s always useful to have somewhere to work from home, craft, etc & the additional storage is useful as I found it difficult to get in the loft. 

pinkshoes

The second house is much more expensive, needs work doing and is smaller than the first one!

With flats you need to consider leasehold costs, how old the building is, how it's heated, what work will potentially need doing in the future, how many flats will share the cost etc...

Reading vs Wallingford vs Basingstoke. This is quite a big area you're covering! You could get a 2 bed house in Didcot for a similar price. 

Having a second room is handy even if you don't want a lodger. Mates staying over. Home office. Home gym etc...

user1977

One bed houses are a bit...unusual, so I think the market is smaller i.e. you may have more difficulty getting rid of it. Also those cluster houses seem quite dark / stuffy with windows only on one side.

tiger135

I've had leasehold before and was extra hassle as I had to extend the lease at quite a cost. I also had a neighbour above who complained if the tv or radio was slightly high. The small garden was also overlooked by his upstairs window. I could also hear every time he flushed his toilet. There was also a leak from above which covered by insurance but was still inconvenient. 
I know all leaseholds arent the same but it put me off a bit, and as I dont take up a lot of space I was leaning towards the one bed house idea .

MFWannabe

Would be house 1 for me 
Always freehold house over flat 
No3 you’ve posted before, awful looking area with that big mast outside 

MultiFuelBurner

Property number 1 for me if I was single and my first purchase.

Has a bit of a garden as well to make your own and being freehold no surprises from management fees.

Emily_Joy

You can get two bed freehold house in Reading for under £270K. Haven't checked other places.  

zagubov

House 4 is smaller than house 1. A substantial area is useless stairwell. I'm not a fan of leasehold but a second bedroom is a godsend. It kind of futureproofs you.
Guest room, storage space, games room, home office, nursery/child's bedroom, pandemic isolation room (hey do you think it couldn't happen again?) - it could have loads of uses.
Even a lodger (I know you don't want one, but if the situation arises where you need the money). 
For me, that might trump the shortcomings of the flats.

NameUnavailable

One bed houses lose a lot of useable space due to the staircase. They are usually on estates and will probably be liable to annual estate management fees and covenants. They often don't have private gardens either which is surely one of the main benefits of a house over a flat.

Flats can be problematic - ground rent/AST issues, lease length and service charges. You can negate some of that by looking for a shared freehold flat with a 900+ year lease and peppercorn ground rent.

Ultimately, if buying a home to live in, you need to decide where you want to be, the area, convenience, your lifestyle etc.

I chose a 1 bed flat over a 2 bed house because the flat is in an area I never thought I'd be able to move to.

tiger135

Thanks I do kinda like house 1. I like the area and garden plus parking.  I guess you should look for things that cant be changed. Ideally I dont think I want carpet downstairs, any ideas on cost to change to a hard wood style floor?