your-flat

Why buy a Flat

Today more and more people are living in flats rather than houses. At one time, flat living was relatively rare but in England and Wales at least, more flats than houses have been built since 2003, and over 100,000 new flats are now being built each year.

In January 2006 flats made up 57% of all new housing built in the UK, compared to only 24% of detached houses.

Over 72 per cent of all properties bought in London are now flats, and in 2004, 40 percent of all homes built by Barratt, Britain's biggest housebuilder, were flats. This is more than twice as many as ten years previously.

Flats can be safer, warmer, cleaner, easier and cheaper to run and also friendlier than houses. They are ideal for single people, young couples, busy workers, older people downsizing, or in fact anybody who does not want the fuss and bother of looking after an entire house.

Buying a flat to live in or to let is different from buying and living in a house. For example, apartments are sold leasehold rather than freehold which means buying a length of tenure rather then the property itself. This can have serious implications when the freeholder suddenly hikes up the service charges or lands tenants with a six figure sum for exterior decoration.