Pros and cons of a first floor maisonette Post Reply

[homehunter]

Hi all

I am currently looking at property in southfields and within our budget on the Grid we can only afford a first (and second floor) maisonette. 

Other than the obvious disadvantage of not appearing too attractive upon entering and no direct access to a garden (some have external stairs / some have no direct access) I wanted to know from anyone out there who chose to buy a maisonette how they felt about it. E.g. layout, change in value of property, noise factor etc. I'd be really grateful for any views both in favour and against buying property of this sort.

Thanks in advance!

[wonkymonkey]

We used to live in a maisonette on the first floor. Although access to the garden was down some stairs I would absolutely always go for the first floor as you then don’t have the noise of someone walking around above you and you don’t have the risk of leaks from upstairs coming through to your property. Loved it being a maisonette rather than a conversion as we had our own front door and it was built as a flat from the outset. If you’re first floor you might also have the loft conversion above or the potential of doing one.

[homehunter]

Thanks! That makes a lot of sense

[boonkoh]

Presume it is a leasehold? In which case there is the freehold vs leasehold disadvantages.

If you have a loft, it is great for storage. Not so great is if you have a leaking roof.

Also first floor maisonettes get more sunlight than ground floor. A big plus in my view.

[erikap02]

Hi there!

After having bought and lived in a firstfloor maisonette my strong advice would be not to buy such a property. Instead choose a freehold house in a close by area such as SW17. You'll get something probably quite small and it may need work but you'll gain a number of other benefits (privacy, more redesign options, projected increase in price). If I could do it all again this is what I would do.

Hope this is useful.