How many live in flats?

[Raggamuffin]

So far, this self-build isn't looking affordable.

I wonder how many here live in flats, and how you find it affects noise sensitivity etc?

Ed

 

[unperson]

Lived in flats till 47, yes there's noise but in houses you get screaming kids and other people's driveways and yard parties and barking dogs. I used to sleep with earplugs in flats. Flats with concrete floors seemed very noisy to me, the concrete is a conductor. Never had any hassles with neighbours though, it was mostly renters and without balconies, so once you close the door, you have privacy, out of sight is out of mind - no creepy neighbour peering at you over the fence, no encroachment etc. Winter sun is important so aspect matters.

 

[Richelle-H]

This is a perspective of someone in the USA.

I live in a Condo, which I believe is something like a flat. A condo is an apartment that you own or rent [here in the USA].

Thing is with those is that noise is something that is always present in one form or another. If there is an apartment/flat above you, there will be noise of some sort and you learn to live with it to some extent for they are usually limited in time. The big problem for me is the unpredictability of those brief annoyances.

I guess it all boils down to your own personal tolerance for noise. Mine is quite low, but I have always lived in something approximating a flat; where you have neighbors above or below and on one or the other sides of your chosen abode.

I lived with my parents until I was in my mid twenties, and since I moved out I have only lived in what could be classified as an apartment or flat. Sometimes the noise is annoying and sometimes you do not notice. The bothersome thing about that is you never find out which it is going to be when you are looking for a place. Sometimes it does not show up until a neighbor moves out and someone else moves in.

At any rate, you will have moments where you want to scream, but they usually come and go somewhat quickly. This allows you to learn how to release that in some way. At least that is how I perceive things, so take this for nothing more than one person's experience.

Good luck in your hunt.

 

[Raggamuffin]

Thanks for all the replies. I think I'd like a ground floor apartment. Easier to move furniture in, minimises a bit of noise potentially as there's no downstairs neighbours etc.

I had a reply from one of the wood home places. Their smallest and cheapest house would come in over £125,000 over what I could afford. Kinda painful to admit I'd have to wait until later in life to do this as it's not affordable.

Then again, I can't knock a flat before I've tried it. Mortgage would be cheap, location would make commuting easier. One thing I've noticed since moving back with my folks is that I'm socialising a bit more, but having to be pro-active in doing so. Having my own place would be no different. If I don't put in the effort, then how could I expect results?

Ed

 

[Suzette]

@Raggamuffin, I am sorry your house idea hasn't worked out yet. Don't give up on the idea entirely.
I read an article last week about a 20 something year old woman who, unknowingly, moved into a 55 and older apartment building. Maybe that option is available to you too?

 

[Raggamuffin]

I thought 55+ was an age restriction for residents? Top floor would be nice for the view, but not for a fear of another Greenfell style scenario. One reason I'll never live anywhere with gas central heating. Might as well live in a house with a WW2 bomb in my mind.

Ed

 

[Gerontius]

Live on the third floor in a flat. Why do you think I put a thread up about moving into a converted bus and building a motor home?

You want to live on the top floor for privacy/security reasons as well.

You'll hear everything. Get in the habit of replying "Nice one" when the neighbor farts in the bath tub. Every drunken lowlife who wanders down the street cursing at the sky might as well be a personal guest of yours. It is considered rude to bang on the wall while the neighbors are banging a hooker.

Every radio & television in the house will become suddenly very, very obvious to you & you'll begin to hate them for it.

Living in an apartment in a nice neighborhood would perhaps be nice but if you live in a bad neighborhood, don't.

 

[Suzette]

I thought 55+ was an age restriction for residents? Top floor would be nice for the view, but not for a fear of another Greenfell style scenario. One reason I'll never live anywhere with gas central heating. Might as well live in a house with a WW2 bomb in my mind.

Ed

Yes, generally there are age restrictions. But I think it may depend on how long a flat remains vacant. It wouldn't hurt to inquire with management and explain your sensory issues and how you might be an ideal fit for the community despite your age.

 

[watersprite]

I used to live in a duplex. That way we got the benefits of the landlord taking care of maintenence.
And there was just a little noise, decent privacy & the benefits of having a tiny yard to sit in, have a few potted herbs & flowers, whatever.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

I Live in a house, always have even as a child, took awhile to figure out what flat was .

 

[Judge]

Noise from your neighbors is always a factor. The one that can make or break your time in any one particular complex. Though in the case of being in the other hemisphere, I suppose it's always possible to move into a much older "brownstone" type building with sturdier floors and ceilings than what is offered with apartments built in the last 20 years.

One thing I learned as a consequence was that having someone above you is always likely to be more problematic than someone below you. I've been fortunate for a number of years to have a very quiet tenant directly below me. Though the tradeoff is that he is an outdoor smoker, and this forces me to keep my windows closed much of the time, especially in the summer heat. The turnover of the unit next door has always had a variety of noisy and quiet tenants. The one presently there seems as quiet as the one below me.

This is all good, though I know that at any time a lease is up that it's a crapshoot as to whether I have noisy or quiet neighbors. So I enjoy the silence while I can.

In the last apartment I lived in the noise below and aside me was awful. Paper-thin walls allowed way too much sound to intrude, plus there wasn't adequate light. Used to refer to it as "Dracula's Crypt". Prior to that I lived in my own condo which was nice and quiet...but expensive. Plus I wanted to leave the area permanently.

And before that I lived on a brand new fourth-floor apartment that overlooked many other apartment complexes. Was almost like the Hitchcock film "Rear Window", with a whole lot of strange things happening with some very strange neighbors. Very weird, but quite quiet. I never heard anyone below or aside my unit.

 

[Suzette]

I Live in a house, always have even as a child, took awhile to figure out what flat was .

British - Flat
Americsn - Apartment
Spanish - Despartmientos
Dutch - Appartement

 

[Varzar]

House, here:

Used to live in an apartment in the city, would never go back.

I'm doing most of the construction work myself (like the racking and mounting for all those solar panels), so it's still a work in progress.
What sort of self-build were you thinking of @Raggamuffin?

 

[Progster]

I've lived in flats, with mixed experiences.

Some flats I've been in were very quiet. One was on the 10th floor overlooking a yard and not a street, on a corner, no one above me and the neighbour to one side mostly absent or very quiet.

But another flat I lived in for a short while was very noisy, an old apartment block with poor insulation and little soundproofing. Too much noise from neighbours, from dogs on balconies, the music school directly opposite, from the street, from the guy above the music school who did his fitness workout with music full blast and window open. It was awful. Also, people smoking below on their balcony created a problem.

High up on the top floor is better, as a lot of the neighbour noise comes from footfall above... especially if you get a family with kids, or someone who wears high heels. Also, less noise from the street. Facing a courtyard if possible, rather than a street. Also, newer blocks typically have better soundproofing and insulation.

 

[Magna]

Is a flat the same thing as an "apartment" in the U.S. or is it slightly different?

 

[Progster]

Is a flat the same thing as an "apartment" in the U.S. or is it slightly different?

I think it's the same thing.

 

[Raggamuffin]

What sort of self-build were you thinking of @Raggamuffin?

It'd be relying on a company to do the build as I have no training or experience in such matters.

A flat is the only thing that'd be affordable at this point. There's occasionally a terrace house available at the upper end of my price budget.

Our last house was 1930's and noise from neighbours was bad. We rented a new build semi-detached before then and it had much better soundproofing.

I guess if I do go for a flat, I need to look for a newer one, as others have said. No way of predicting how neighbours will be though.

Ed

 

[Varzar]

It'd be relying on a company to do the build as I have no training or experience in such matters.

A flat is the only thing that'd be affordable at this point. There's occasionally a terrace house available at the upper end of my price budget.

Our last house was 1930's and noise from neighbours was bad. We rented a new build semi-detached before then and it had much better soundproofing.

I guess if I do go for a flat, I need to look for a newer one, as others have said. No way of predicting how neighbours will be though.

Ed

I understand.
When we were in an apartment in the city, it was all concrete between the units (it was a 30+ y/o building, I don't think they build them that way anymore). But it was pretty quiet from neighbour noise, that's for sure.
The only time we got noise was when our upstairs neighbours put in hard flooring, and I swear they must've had containers of marbles perched precariously throughout their apartment and would regularly knock them on the floor. That's what it sounded like anyhow.. lol

 

[unperson]

It'd be relying on a company to do the build as I have no training or experience in such matters.

A flat is the only thing that'd be affordable at this point. There's occasionally a terrace house available at the upper end of my price budget.

Our last house was 1930's and noise from neighbours was bad. We rented a new build semi-detached before then and it had much better soundproofing.

I guess if I do go for a flat, I need to look for a newer one, as others have said. No way of predicting how neighbours will be though.

Ed

There's units/villas (small block, small yard, sometimes with common wall in between), townhouses (2 story, like row houses) and sometimes big old houses get divided into flats. I wouldn't rule anything out, but renting can be fine too - on some levels I'd rather rent but smoking got banned in rental properties here some time ago, which forced me to move hell and highwater (take a redundancy and move long distance interstate) to own.

My sister reckons you can and should knock on the neighbours door and ask them about the area/building, after all if you live there, you're gonna meet them. Also with houses or ground floor stuff, it's a good idea to hang around on Friday night to check the noise level and also at peak hour. Agents typically show properties at quieter times which can give a false impression.

It's worth putting the address of any prospective purchase into a search box, cos sometimes there's reviews, one place I was interested in, the reviews of the area said they bought a house and when they arrived to move in, the windows had been stolen!

 

[Raggamuffin]

I'd considered asking neighbours when I did some viewings. I've seen a few old offices converted into flats too. I know that I could always get some sort of soundproofing installed if needs be.

In a way, I found the distant noise of neighbours somewhat comforting, especially when I was going to bed. I guess it all depends on the sort of sounds you hear. In our last house one neighbour played bass heavy music. His living room and sound system was only about 4 metres from ours, so it really would shake stuff.

I too enjoy bass heavy music, but I always reduce it on my subwoofer, because I think it's obnoxious to blast it out when people you don't know are nearby - especially neighbours.

Ed