Apartment living etiquette

Pretty Nancy - we don't have a lease at all. The flat is ours outright. This is in Scotland.

Living anywhere, flat, terraced house, whatever, can be a joy or misery.

Hell is other people...

lived in first floor apartment for five years the most annoying things were people having their TV or music up loud, slamming doors, telling visitors they could park anywhere in the car park regardless that it was allocated parking,a management company that ignored requests to speak to occupents who you have already tried to speak to about their loud tv.

A friend of mine lives in an apartment complex with security gates. She has a real problem with residents giving out the number willy nilly to relatives, friends etc so they can let themselves in and use the communal bin sheds to dispose of their rubbish.

Having lived in a prefabricated house adapted into 2 flats, with upstairs neighbours who even the police said could have won a neighbour from hell competition........I’ve ended up in a 1 x bed bungalow. It’s not soundproofed but actually is. The only sound from my adjoining neighbour is a click, when she switches her radio on at 10:10 to 10:20 each evening. A click from a wall switch!!!!
No complaints there I can tell you! Incidentally, the next tenants to follow me in to the prefabricated house flat. ....... ended up being arrested for attacking the noisy upstairs neighbour who was then himself arrested for drug offences.

a friend lives in a local authority sheltered flat,secure front door,
laundry room,common room, subsidised utility bills, trips out etc, sure there are some problems,with some of the residents,usually mental health related,but on the whole a nice place to live.When i return home to my home which is cold, needs constant upkeep,i often wish i could swap places!

Aveline

*Pretty Nancy* - we don't have a lease at all. The flat is ours outright. This is in Scotland.

I understand that, I am in England and a lot of people here seem to think that 'share of freehold' means they either don't have a lease or, can ignore the terms of their lease!

The only time I lived in a flat I always knew when my upstairs neighbour put the washing machine on.

It seems it wasn't installed properly and you could hear it 'walking' across the floor!

We had a problem with rubbish in the communal garden but that was more because people using the footpath alongside it threw their rubbish over into the garden!

Even though it was a conversion, it was a lovely, peaceful and friendly place with only the two issues above.

I love my apartment. I like the security. I like the mix of old and young and different nationalities. Residents are respectful and compliant with the rules eg no smoking on balconies or in communal areas, dogs must be leashed in communal areas All the suites are sound proofed and all have hard wood flooring throughout. Several owners have a dog but I don't hear barking, We have a good management company. I have 2 parking spaces in the underground car park and no one has ever parked their cars there. No problems with people leaving stuff lying about in hallways or the lobby. No problems with bins. The only annoyance was from an owner who did not pick up after his dog in the garden. The management company emailed him to advise him accordingly. The owner did not comply so he was fined .He picks up after his dog now!

BlueBelle

What’s the difference between a flat or an apartment?
Is it the same? So is it a generational name we always called them flats or is it just a posh name for a flat ?

Some people evidently think that ‘apartment’ sounds swankier.

I’m still amused to remember some TV news item, where something untoward had happened in a small block of flats. The journalist right outside asked a young woman who’d just exited, whether she lived in one of the flats.

‘It’s not a flat - it’s an apartment!’ She was very put out!

You are very lucky Cocoons. My aunt and uncle live in an apartment complex like that. Everyone sticks to the rules, and there's a generally neighbourly atmosphere. It's quite an old apartment block and, since they moved in twenty years ago, most of the residents have remained the same bar a couple of sad deaths.

That should have read Coco Pops which must auto correct stubbornly refuses to recognise.

I live on the top floor of a large block and have mostly been happy here for 8 years. I had lovely neighbours until a year ago when a young couple moved in next door.

The man smokes cannabis and the smell is so bad I could smell it in my flat, indeed other residents could smell it throughout the block. I knocked on his door and told him it was a problem. He smiled and apologised - and carried right on doing it.

So I reported him to the management company. The company told the landlord, who informed them that it was supposed to be a no-smoking flat.

It stopped for a while but it has started again, however it is not so obvious and therefore not such a problem as before. They have got better at disguising it. At least they are mostly quiet.

I wish they would move but then you have to wonder, the next occupants might be worse.