Drawbacks of apartment living.

That sounds lovely jenwren. Its reassuring to hear that places like exist and residents are so happy. Can't ask more really!

I live in an age restricted apartment(55 and over) There are thirty six apartments,built in 1990, with at least three of the original residents. It is so quiet you can hear a pin drop. I am on the ground floor with the stairs one side and the communal laundry on the other. They have film nights, coffee mornings,afternoon tea's, cards, outings. If you are living alone, its the best place to be for being safe. We have beautiful huge gardens with a large fish pond. The library, butchers, post office, doctors(quite a few surgeries) the list is endless all on your doorstep. No maintenance as with a house,lawns to mow, windows to clean, fences, roofs. Building insurance included in your service charge as is water rates. Communal laundry with tumble dryers but we do have a rotary line. There is even an ironing board in the laundry if you prefer to do your ironing in there. My flat is so well insulated my electric bill is unbelievably low. Downsizing for me as a been a god send. My big house without the children made me feel so isolated and lonely. This as been one of my better decisions.

Falconbird I sympathise with you. A neighbour just like that drove me to the edge of a nervous breakdown and so we moved, away from friends and other lovely neighbours, to get away from her. Nothing worse.

I have lived in houses in the past. Semi detached all fine. I lived in a terraced house and when in my bedroom could hear the couple next door arguing in theirs. So I changed my bedroom to the back of the house. Lived in a conversion flat in very large house, on ground floor, absolute nightmare. The young couple above me had a small child who used to run across the floor at 6am every morning and wake me up, I could hear everything, It wasnt their fault just no insulation. They also told me that when I went to view my flat the previous occupant asked them to go out - (so that I wouldnt hear the noise). I lasted 9 months there. I am now in a ground floor flat , 2 storey, and apart from in the past when my neighbour was a DIY fanatic the were quiet, but their son was noisy and when in my bedroom could hear him in his clonking around. The day he left I was soooo happy. And guess what he's come back at the age of 43 . the problem is his bedroom has a wooden floor, and he is very heavy footed, I have complained took me a long time, as once before I complained the mother didnt speak to me for about a year!! I dont like having bad feeling, but now he is back I really am thinking of moving. Plus it is a very selfish act to have wooden flooring about someone, apparently in Housing Association flats they are not allowed to do so. HOUSES FOR ME EVERYTIME.

We were seriously thinking of moving until we decided that firstly the dog would be an issue and secondly I would desperately miss my garden. So we have shelved the idea until we are lucky to live long enoughto be doddery enough to need a flat, with less responsibility.

royandsyl they seem to be able to engage with high rise living noticeably better on the continent than we do here. I visited people in both Germany and in Holland who lived in high rise apartment blocks - many of which were social housing - and they were always clean and well maintained with, in many cases window boxes, or balcony gardens and nice communal spaces. We seem to have a different attitude to living in tower blocks in this country.

I've lived in a 2nd floor flat on a purpose-built private estate for 30 years and loved it. I have been lucky. The only drawback is that there are no lifts which isn't a problem for me yet but as I get old I guess it will be. I didn't think of that when I moved in age 34! Didn't realise I would still be here all these years hence.

I think it's very true that living in a house isn't always wonderful. We lived for 20 years next door to the most critical and annoying neighbours I have ever experienced. The were noise sensitive and we were a quiet family but that didn't stop them from banging on the walls if the kids music was just a bit loud and for a short time.

One day these neighbours put a duvet on the line with the words "Do Not Disturb" in capital letters carefully arranged so that the words were in full view from our garden. Any repair work we had to have done was accompanied by threatening letters from the neighbours if the slightest bit of brick dust landed on their property.

Careful thought is always needed when buying or renting a property but a lot of it is down to luck.

I have lived in a large number of flats and houses during my lifetime, with and without children. As this thread shows, there are many differences in experience. Some terraced and semi detached houses can be just as noisy as some flats and you don't really know how noisy or super critical the neighbours are until you are living there.

Our worst experience was in a lovely solid and beautifully made 5 bedroom, bay windowed house in a Victorian terrace, my favourite of all my homes until we discovered the house next door was let to a bunch of Turkish waiters who came home late and noisy every night after work and partied and gambled all night, every night, and in the day time made obscene gestures to my teenaged daughter every time she left our house. Complaining to their letting agent had no affect whatsoever. However, in that small city we were able to find out the name and phone number of the owner, who we phoned every time we were woken up. She was furious with us, threatened us with the Police, but we persevered and she finally replaced the tenants but it caused us dreadful stress. And that wasn't even a flat!

Some flats are very well made and insulated and as Royandsyl say in the previous message, the Germans are the best but I can only compare with the UK, France and Holland The Germans are the friendliest neighbours. German letting laws are much more weighted towards the tenant than the landlord, which is why flats are so popular there.

Look at the lease carefully, some will state that carpets must be laid in all flats and this does keep the noise down but in my experience can interfere with underfloor heating. Visit the area in different times of the day and evening; chat with an existing tenant if you can. Nothing can replace some serious homework before you sign, except a big dollop of good luck!

We lived in a flat for 4 years in Bavaria, Southern Germany. It was fantastic. 2 bathrooms with 2 wash basins in each. Lovely balcony with lighting to sit out, flower boxes, table & chairs etc. We were on the 2nd floor. There was a room where everybody could hang their washing, a room for skis & bikes. There was an underground car park. A house meister cleaned the stairs & tended the communal gardens. No noise, no lawn mowing on Saturdays. Super neighbors. The cost to rent that flat was £50 per week including t.v. This was 1986 to 1990. Life was bliss. Lovely fiorests close by. The joy was visiting Italy, Austria, France easily by car. The Germans know how to build flats. Easy window cleaning because the Windows just swung inside and out. Come on Britain get with it.

We have a 2 bedroom apartment as a second home which is on the second floor of a new build and overlooks a lovely waterway in an historic city. We really enjoy being there but I certainly couldn't live in it as it just isn't big enough and doesn't have enough cupboard space. What no one so far seems to have mentioned is parking which can be a real problem. We have one allotted space but often find other residents use it - it's really annoying to arrive and find nowhere to park. We have friends and relatives both with apartments and they have the same problem. I spent a few days there a couple of weeks ago and realised the terrible noise coming from the neighbours above is a running machine which one night they were using at 10pm! My son lived in different flats in London and had varying issues with neighbours and noise especially in the last one. Some years ago my husband lived in Switzerland in a beautiful new large ground floor apartment but the lady who lived above him had laminate floors and a zimmer frame - not a good mix. I would echo what else has been said here to make sure that you read the tenancy agreement and try to visit the area and in particular the building if possible at different times of day and evening to try and get an idea of noise, parking, and general ambience of the area. The good things about it are the ease of cleaning, low heating costs and no gardening but great views!

I briefly lived in a 3rd floor flat in Stockholm with a 2 yr old and 6 week old baby. It was huge, immensely practical, lifts always worked and went down to the spacious garage where you could plug your car in during very cold weather. Storage cellar, rubbish shoots and a play area outside for children.

But oh how I missed a garden for my son to play in, and with a new baby it was difficult time wise to get down and let him play outside like he would in our garden at home. a small balcony, but it overlooked the metro so wasn't so keen on leaving the baby out there because of fumes etc.

I spent a lot of time and energy walking to the beach on the lake which was great but bottom line is that I would never live in a flat again. It's the walking out of the door I missed so much. Even when I was first married and working and living in a flat in London I found this a big disadvantage.

If I ever go into a retirement flat it would have to have some outside space and be on the ground floor.

I live in a flat but I am very lucky as it is on the ground floor facing due south with patio doors opening onto my own terrace. We have large grounds with uninterrupted views to woodland across fields with animals and lots of birds and wildlife. Only drawbacks are occasional noise from above, lack of space having been used to a largish house and the 'no pets' rule. Do not think I could live without direct access to the outside world.

When we lived in a rented flat we found it much easier to keep warm whereas in our bungalow it tends to get hot and cold. On the minus side of flat dwelling there is often nowhere to hang washing and sometimes no garden. When we wanted to buy our local authority rented flat, they wanted to levy service charges which were about half the price of the annual rent so it wasn't affordable. So if you're thinking of renting a flat with a view to buy make sure you know what the service charges are.

Flats are usually easier to keep clean than a house but if you have health problems avoid flats with stairs or try to find a flat that comes with a lift.

nannienet it certainly sounds like my OH's fears about noise are well founded. I'm really grateful for all the input on this subject its made me realise he's not making a fuss about nothing..

We don't live in a flat but my Inlaws do. They live on the ground floor. They say they didn't think about the problem of noise from above until now!! On a few occasions when we have been visiting the noise from above does cause they stress! But my Father in Law thinks nothing of going up to them and reminding them about keeping the noise down! They do have to agree not to have trades men in working on Sundays in their Contracts though!

I enjoyed reading all your stories of flat living.. not sure about Maggie725 what happened there?

Bookdreamer makes a very valid point about checking out where recycling
bins are. We had one of our holidays spoiled by our hotel room overlooking the glass recycling bin for the pub next door. When the pub closed at night, the pub landlord then put all his empty bottles into the recycling so all we heard was smashing glass around midnight, which always woke us up .

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

My flat is quite nice, but not much storage room. There is a management committee, but getting them to answer my phone calls and emails is a nightmare. Have been to Citizens Advice about them twice. Last year I thought about moving, but some of the places I looked at were awful, so I decided to stay here, and make it warmer. It's handy for buses and not noisy because it is tucked away behind a few more flats which are on the main road.

My flat is quite nice, but not much storage room. There is a management committee, but getting them to answer my phone calls and emails is a nightmare. Have been to Citizens Advice about them twice. Last year I thought about moving, but some of the places I looked at were awful, so I decided to stay here, and make it warmer. It's handy for buses and not noisy because it is tucked away behind a few more flats which are on the main road.