Small House or Large Flat?

[C.A.R.]

So the whole 'moving out thing' is becoming stressful as time is ticking by and we still haven't viewed any properties which we would really want to move to.

There is a place which recently vanished off the market which has now reappeared and we're going to view it in 90 minutes!

Thing is I'm in a dilemma, I need to weigh up in my head some pro's and con's but I can't talk to the girlfriend as she is now over her due date and this really stresses her out.

So...

Place number 1 Pro's and Con's
+ It's 4 miles closer to work, avoiding town center traffic (circa 10-15 minutes a day)
- It's a ground-floor flat, looks 'pokey' in some of the pictures but has a large open-plan kitchen/living room
+ It's recently been refurbished
+ It's £65 PCM / £780 a year cheaper

Place number 2...
+ It's a proper, end-of-terrace house (nobody lives above you)
- It's small
+ It's got a front and rear garden, place number 1 has a communal garden
- It's £65 PCM more expensive (effectively an additional months' rent over the course of a year)
+ It's a newer building than place number 1
- It's further away, but only around the corner from where we currently live

So there it is.

Is a garden - place for having BBQs, somewhere for our baby girl to sit and enjoy in the summer - worth that much more over and above a similar property with no garden all on one level?

We have people living above us at present and it only really becomes a problem at night when you wanna sleep and they aren't in bed yet. I guess this could be a more sensitive situation when there's a baby in the house though?

[Just Sean]

Small house with garden mate... Dunno whats gonna be in the communal garden... glass etc... you'd never forgive yaself if the lil'un hurt herself...

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And its only an extra fiver a month...

[Dum-Dum]

House any day of the week, the garden is invaluable for BBQs, the nipper and spraying car parts.

Also theres a reason the people in the bottom flat have moved out, could it be due to the noise from upstaris.

However dont let newer fool you as theres a point in the late 70s through to the late 80s ish where materials got thinner with no regulation so in some places you really can hear the neighbors, this happened up untill some building regs were added regarding the transmission of noise between dwellings (or some shit like that) and im f*cked if i can remember the dates.

[Niall]

yup house with garden. When you little one grows up a bit and starts crawling around, will be good to just chuck him out in the garden without fear of a welsh bloke coming and taking him which could happen in a communal garden

[RadiationBeta]

I live in a top Floor Large Flat. I love it! Nice area but no real garden area. I would say with you having a little un due you should probably go for the house but Flats are good as well!

[HDIkyle]

If you can afford a house go for it. Always better than a flat. Noise is'nt really an issue with kids tbh unless there smashing tho the ceiling so could consider the flat but a house is just better

[C.A.R.]

Pretty one-sided at the moment with the poll!

This summer was horrid, we couldn't afford a holiday so we were stuck inside the flat at weekends unless we went out somewhere = money spent.

But then if we moved to this other place the £65 a month would be 'extra' money, that we wouldn't other wise have, and £780 buys a pretty good holiday for a small family.

Aaaaargh!

[samass]

house dude, any day of the week id have a house over a flat. garden space is win, can tinker with car related winnery (read: junk it up like a pikey camp) plus bbqs come summer are awesome. and it means you dont have to house train the kid, just open the back door!

[Ed Doe]

House fo sho bud I've lived in a flat with Mazz for 6months before buying the house, the difference is night and day. It was very cramped in the flat, and even though the communal garden was nice, I still didn't tend to spend much time out there by comparison to my house now. Just something about having your own space...

[Dum-Dum]

£780 buys a pretty good holiday for a small family.

It dosent though does it, it buys a weeks accommodation somewhere and maybe the food, the throw in petrol, suveniours, not earning any money for a week, things you break and days out for 3 every day for 7 days and you can happily double that.

Dont think about holidays with the nipper cos theyer never gonna remember it. My mum was telling me how theyd regularly move Christmas by up to a week when I was young so that we could have it together when dad wasnt at work and I never noticed. I think the kid will appreciate being able to go out and eat worms and get muddy every day of the week in a safe private garden rather than a holiday where your only gonna do boring adult stuff like look at museums and monuments and shit anyway.


I suppose if you are that bothered about holidays just set your sights a little lower, camping in a really cheap field maybe.


Oh and you wont notice £65 a month (about £15 a week) extra once thats added into the budget, thats not even a pack of fags and a half crate of fosters or a curry for 2 these days

[MrsMidnight]

House any day! After living in a flat with Danny for 2-3 years I can honestly say I will NEVER live in a flat again. Hated it! Had to fight for parking, didn't like how the post was set out, no space for storage, no garden, cramped when you'd furnished the rooms, found open plan annoying as instead of having set areas everything kinda became 'one' if you like, could hear all the neighbours day and night, had arguments and they key'd the headlight of the car yet landlord did nothing about it... I could go on for reasons not to live in a flat if you like??

The extra money will deffo be worth it for a house!

[THE_Liam]

House FTW, flats are shite!

[puglove]

Got to be a house specialy with the youngun on the way

[gti-6]

go for the garden as it makes a big difference for the little one/ones and privacy is a big thing so option 2.

[burnmw]

Hmm, I have to disagree (although I've never lived in a flat...). £65pcm could be the difference between having the heating on and staying warm over winter (at a time when the gf will be inside all the time, and won't be moving around a lot so will get cold quicker) and being sat in a cold house. Granted it will have a garden, but it's winter and it's not going to be nice judging by the "summer" we've had.

So, grab the flat, it's cheaper and closer to work. Save the time and money.

This gives you 6 months (or even 12 depending on your contract length) to find something more suitable.

EDIT: If you were looking for somewhere to buy then I'd say the house, but this is a short term solution, so treat it like one. The little one won't be in the garden for the next 6 months unsupervised, and the noise from the baby will negate any noise from people living upstairs!

[Poodle]

You'll appreciate the privacy of having your own garden in the summer, trust me. There's nothing worse than a garden that everyone dumps their fag butts in and half the grass has been dug up by f*cking cats... For some unknown reason the walls in flats always seem to be thinner, as you suggest a baby will only intensify this problem, on both sides of the fence as it were. Then there's the parking and the communal entrance that inevitably stinks of piss, not to mention the inordinately high bills thanks to no-one else in the building being capable of turning their taps/heating/tv off during the day... Knowing you, the whole experience will drive you up the wall. Maybe i had a couple of bad examples or am just a snob, but, relatively speaking, we were in some of the nicest flats in the area and i don't have unusually high requirements.

[Kezzieboy]

Most importantly, dunno how nobody has mentioned this...does the house have a drive for car tinkering purposes?

[Toms306]

Definitely house with garden!

My Dad and step mum have just bought and moved into a reasonable sized flat with a balcony, I dont like it at all, and thats where he's chosen to spend the next ~40 years of his life. If I had the oppertunity, I'd move into a flat now on my own for cheapness....but no other reason, so with a wife and kid, house every time if you can afford it.

[C.A.R.]

Well we looked at the flat yesterday.

What. A. Shit. Hole.

Won't be paying good money to live there. Unfortunately the photo's in the advert were from a refurb some 2 years ago, so it now looks like crap.

Still trying to get an appointment to view this house. Frustratingly it's right around the corner, we have even been to have a look at it from outside. Just need that damn appointment!

[Toms306]

Is it currently occupied? Just knock on the door and ask to look round.

[burnmw]

Definitely house with garden!

My Dad and step mum have just bought and moved into a reasonable sized flat with a balcony, I dont like it at all, and thats where he's chosen to spend the next ~40 years of his life. If I had the oppertunity, I'd move into a flat now on my own for cheapness....but no other reason, so with a wife and kid, house every time if you can afford it.

But they aren't looking for somewhere to spend the next 40years, just the next 6-12months!

Is it currently occupied? Just knock on the door and ask to look round.

But I totally agree with this

[Will_306_hdi]

Id say small house we live in a flat with no personal garden. As i have a two year daughter
and a new baby due in april we are looking at buy a house with a garden.

Small house ftw

[WiNgNuTz]

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I thought when i saw the thread title that it was an old thread!

What was the outcome of this anyway CAR?

[bingham123456]

Small house every time. If you've got kids you want the garden that's the argument winner every time. When we moved the choice woz a 3bed flat or a 2bed house (there are 6 of us 4kids me n the missus) and the house won for the simple fact it has a garden (and a massive field on the back for the kids).

house every time mate that's just my view.

[Poodle]

*facedesk*

[C.A.R.]

Ended up in a small house in the end. Costs a fortune in rent though and the government have cut the child tax credit back cos I'm earning just over the threshold, so we may have to move again before long!!