Advice about moving to a flat

I have just looked at rightmove, the 42 properties. It seems that the management charge has gone up to £2660 pa. That is a whopping increase and none of the self management company got paid. It might appear to me that they are putting money aside into the sinking fund for big future bills and that is definitely a risk in any building containing flats.

Cocopops. Are you USA? It seems that homes are much bigger over there. In square footage here, the average flat area might be between 600-900 sq feet

I love our one bedrooms apartment in Urmston, Manchester. It was brand new which was especially nice. We downsized to it 10y ago from a large 3 bed semi. I loved my house too (we lived in it for over 30y) but our lifestyle (especially now we are retired) means we had different needs.

Building materials must have improved so much over the years! Our apartment is solid. We are on the top floor of two storeys. I never hear any neighbours. No noise from televisions, toilets or washing machines! We have a small verandah to sit out on - I have a bistro table with two chairs & cushions. The front door opens to wooden decking and the sky. We have a bench set against a wall there. We have 2 lifts.

I absolutely love it! Less space = less work. My time isn’t spent maintaining a property, nor gardening. I like to be out and about seeing family and friends and a flat is conducive to plenty of free time. No tail wagging the dog.

We have a designated parking area accessed by a barrier with fob entry. Decorating and utility bills are minimal. It’s a well insulated property. Again I think that’s due to the quality of the building materials. I rarely need the heating on except for the coldest days in winter!

When we want to come out here to Spain (another small apartment!) we can just lock up and go with impunity. No worries about post collecting in a porch, no cold callers, no pizza/charity bag advert fliers.

You never get Jehovah Witnesses calling, carol singers, Halloween trick or treaters!

We have intercom access and it’s slap bang in the middle of town so I get the lift down and I’m at Costa coffee, Boots, Thornton’s, Sainsbury’s, the library with bars and restaurants on the doorstep too. I love it!

River walk your flat sounds wonderful, id love to swap. I have never got used to a bungalow, bought in haste too as the property we wanted had gone. Hate the loo near living areas and nowhere to go to get away for headspace, hope to move soon. I noticed the management fee for some flats was terrible, I would worry that the price keeps going up year after year, There are no guidelines for this in this country

Must say that so many of the problems stated on here about flats have not been part of my experience over the past six months. Built of very solid Weston stone, there is no noise from each others flats either to the side or above.

I pay just of a hundred pounds a month in maintenance, but that also covers all my water (no water rates for me), AND the maintenance agreement and emergency cover for my central heating, etc.

We have one lift, the repairs - the residents Committee Maintenance group seem to handle any repairs to that without problem. We do have strict rules about nothing being put on exterior walls - keeping the look of the building nice. I really love the fact that I have no worries now about outside drains, trees, roof tiles, gutterings, even exterior painting.

The communal area (lobbies, lift, etc) are cleaned daily and always look lovely and fresh. One lady here does the most wonderful faux flower arrangements, which she changes by the season and they look wonderful in our entrance lobby.

Feel so secure and safe. Exterior doors are never left open - unless workman are using them. We have our own garages on the ground floor, and also a gated visitors car park. Again, locked during the night. The rubbish bins are in a secure large cupboard off a small lobby off the main lobby, the exterior gate to that lobby is left open on the night before the bin men come, but it still leaves the door from that lobby to the main area in the flats shut and locked.

We have entrance phones in our flats for the main front door, and, of course, our own front doors. During the pandemic the cttee has been cleaning down the stair banisters and all exterior door knobs and handles three times a day. They are very helpful and someone is always available for advice and support when needed.

I found it extremely economic during the winter, well insulated, so my central heating costs were well down on my house, and with lots of opening windows (all with security locks preventing them opening too far unless I want to over-ride those), mean it has been lovely and airy in the summer weather. Large sliding patio door to my balcony.

Then public areas were all painted last year, and the garages are due to be painted this year. I had my garage door electrified when I arrived, to make it easier for me. Not permitted to change out the door, but the Residents Cttee worked with the garage door company to help to sort that out for me. Wonderful!

As I said, you do need to do your research carefully - it took me four years to get here. So very , very happy that I did. So far I have found ANY downside of this move.

Franbern you say it took you 4 years. Did you actually view flats during that time before putting your house on the market or was it just areas you were looking at during that time?

No, the delay was really to do with the selling of my house. First year, purchaser did not tell EA the truth, kept me hanging about for six months before I pulled the plug. Took me sometime to recover from that, two years later put house back on market, but EA I used was pretty useless, and again I pulled the plug after three months.

Last year had my third try. House on market at beginning of April, first purchaser pulled out after just two weeks, second one lost their own purchaser after about a month. Third one, got nearly to end, when they got cold feet or something. Final one, went through with it.

During those years I had continued to check all flats in WsM where I wished to move to, both through rightmove and in person when I was visiting my daughter there.

Had actually selected the block I finally moved into right at the beginning, but first flat I viewed was one of the two without garage, so that was no good. During that time, I actually made offers on three different flats, then withdrew them as I realised that they did not meet all my requirements.

Saw this one, originally last April, but did not re-view it until August, when it had actually dropped ten grand in price. I think I have, in person, viewed every purpose built block of flats in this town. I was warned strongly not to consider any flat that was not part of purpose built block. Lot of nice flats in large houses that have been made into four or five flats - but did not actually view any of them.

The Estate Agents here would not accept any offer on any property until you could show that your own property was actually 'under offer'.

Watching because I am in a similarly torn, have been toying with selling up 4 bedroom detached family home in a small town to move into a flat in a city 40 miles away ( I am 57 and husband is 60) We have never lived in a flat and only 2 houses since married 34 yrs ago, So terrified that I make the wrong decision as I suspect deep down husband doesn’t really want to move and keep swinging between settling for what I have and actually taking a leap of faith and going for what I really want ?

would your husband be happy in a flat during lockdown? no garage/workshop to tinker in, no garden to potter in. Why do you really want a flat? I am 12 years older than you and would do around the twist in a flat, my house keeps me mobile. My garage is my workshop, I have a dedicated sewing room which was a bedroom. I suppose it depends what, if any, hobbies you both have, note I said both

craftyone We were originally thinking about buying a small property abroad but the arrival of a small grand daughter put paid to that idea, we are thinking about buying a large touring caravan and siting it near the sea side for most of the year and splitting our time between the flat and the caravan over the summer months (whilst keeping up with our allotment ,the benefit of city living in the not so nice weather is there is always something on ( I love art galleries, the theatre, eating out and generally socialising with friends & family) my husband enjoys these things but is wouldn’t say they were his hobbies but he is happy to join me (he likes to cycle and enjoys wild water swimming neither of which interest me to be honest but it must work we have been together 41 years and married for 34!).
Any flat would need to have a balcony as we have never been without a garden just a small space to have a coffee of a morning (or a wine at night) I just feel although we are relatively fine health wise I want to enjoy the time left to us that doesn’t include the upkeep of this damn house ?

New build or nearly new build houses have hardly any upkeep, generally they have small gardens and a garage and often a tiny room, they call a study. The thing is being confined together 24 hours a day is not good for anyone. Your husband cycles, is he still working?

He cycles so he needs room for a cycle and tools for maintenance. He might want to expand his ideas and do eg wood carving in a group every month, to simply meet other people, they are mostly males

Is your house old and a money pit? If so then yes, do consider selling it but be very careful to choose some property that would suit both of you for potentially a lifetime. You sound very restless pearl, really you need to sit down with your husband and each do your own private pros and cons list and then combine them. This will hopefully open up some honest thoughts. Btw it cost me a huge lot of money to move, even to a new build

One of the residents of these flats has turned their garage into a workshop, very well fitted out. So living in a flat does not automatically stop you having a workshop if you wish.

On another point, the residents committee here does not permit anyone to purchase a flat and then let it out. Purchasers must be able to give assurance they will be living in the flat. Fine - if (as one couple usually does) they are away for much of each year, flat is left empty - but not permitted to have anyone else living there.

Do think this is important, I did view nice flats and then discovered many of them were used as holidays lets - and that often meant some problems.

Yes there are many things to consider - but I would say that I would never, ever go back to living in a house or bungalow again. I feel so much more secure in this flat and when the weather was really nasty last winter I felt a total sense of relief that I had no concerns about fences, roof tiles, gutterings, etc being damaged.

My brother bought a flat several years ago, I was very unsure about it at the time but he's been very happy there.
He chose a property above a shop (very well established). Due to the nature of the shop, there's excellent security, he has a huge lounge, 2 bedrooms etc and a private outside space although access to this is via a staircase.
I think it's the same advice as when buying a house really...research well and don't be rushed.

Stay in your bungalow! It would be a terrible mistake to give it up for a flat.

Many of the problems with noise have already been mentioned which in itself would be enough to put me off.

Also would you want to share a washing line with strangers or even worse, have to dry your washing indoors?

Then there is the problem with maintenance of the building with every flat owner having a different opinion on whether money should be spent or not.

You are at the mercy of other people’s opinions which I would hate.

Unless your garden is huge it wouldn’t be expensive to have a gardener round to cut the grass and generally tidy up. You are only talking about six months of the year.

As someone else said it’s possible to reconfigure the layout of your home and it may not be as expensive as you feared.

Bungalows are in such short supply as they are not being built these days and many which are sold get knocked down to make way for flats!

Hang on to yours!