Why does everyone prefer houses over apartments?

0gac3yjefb5sv7

guyfawkes5 wrote: »

There's legitimate day-to-day reasons for preferring apartments or houses, but there does seem to be a weird seam running though Irish people, tilting towards the older crowd, where there's a hostility towards apartments that leans more towards unreasonable expectations of control that even houses don't really have.

I'd agree here. I'd like to know where most people had bad experiences with apartments and also those who've had great experiences. But it's strange more people don't enjoy apartment living in my opinion.

DoozerT6

I think the 'hostility' you mention relates to the fact that there were almost no apartment blocks in ireland up until around 25 years or so ago (apart from council-built, inner-city blocks, which had their problems but were generally fairly roomy and built from brick).

Then we got a bit of money and the building boom started. So really, the average Irish person's experience of apartments are those that flew up in the 90's and later, i.e. small, boxy, no storage, poor soundproofing, inadedequate outside space and parking, not family friendly etc. Our experience thus far hasn't been the same as the American/Continental model, where apartment blocks were built for long-term living and were well thought out.

Maybe, once that style of apartment becomes the norm and is affordable, Irish opinions may change, but really, we're only reacting to what we see around us. We are really the first generation to experience large-scale apartment living, and the quality of life overall isn't really better than before in terms of construction/noise/all the other negatives mentioned..

MadYaker

With work from home becoming the norm I can see a lot less people cramming themselves into sh!tty apartments in Dublin or other urban centres. I’ve been told I’ll be able to wfh for 4 days a week until the end of the year. Delighted.

0gac3yjefb5sv7

MadYaker wrote: »

With work from home becoming the norm I can see a lot less people cramming themselves into sh!tty apartments in Dublin or other urban centres. I’ve been told I’ll be able to wfh for 4 days a week until the end of the year. Delighted.

Where are all these small apartments? What size? Most ones I look at are 80/90sqm which would be slightly larger than a semi d around 70-80sqm.

SEPT 23 1989

Irish apartments are the problem

corks finest

MattS1 wrote: »

Just curious. Overall sentiment on boards seems to have woeful experiences with apartments. Although there are thousands of apartments in Dublin so they must be good for a large amount of the population. Interested to see apartment owners opinions who prefer them to houses.

Noise and lack of garden I reckon

corks finest

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

Irish apartments are the problem

Correct thing walls,lack of parking, Rio off property management etc

NSAman

have lived in apartments in europe the USA and still have one in Dublin and in the US.

I live in a house currently.

Irish apartments are not designed for full time living (in general). There is little storage, the sizes are too small. They are badly ventilated and the outside space (balcony) is either too small or too dangerous to use.

They are designed to be week work/ weekend leave places.

in Europe, apartment living (for me anyway) has seen underground storage bins (for bikes, furniture etc) larger balconies suitable for sitting out in/plants/washing (if hidden behind the wall) a small space that is actually usable.

Management fees were small and everything was cleaned and working properly.

In the States, apartments here (two) had higher fees but also higher facilities, pools, gyms, saunas, door men/security, spotlessly clean but also came with higher responsibilities on tenants. if something went wrong in the buildings, it HAD to be fixed by the on-site maintenance people immediately OR by outside contractors. Storage bins were also provided on one in the basements, parking was available in one, the other did not need a car (right by the subway). Sound proofing was not an issue, you could hear nothing from any apartment beside you or above or beneath you. Never a break in and nothing was ever stolen from me in these apartments.

Dublin... small apartment .. sound proofing good, apart from at the front door from the hallway. No storage, no facilities, clean but not as clean as the foreign buildings. No ventilation either too hot in winter (not complaining) from heating in other apartments or stifling in summer as no A/C. management fees too high for what was provided.

House is more work for maintenance, but I enjoy that.

Dogs allowed in foreign apartments and also in the US, but not in Dublin.

Outside space where I live is idyllic, not in Dublin, plus no park anywhere locally.

Time of life is also a factor. I am older than most, kids now use the apartment in one of the cities here for college. The other is rented.

The Dublin apartment is used by family in Ireland for visitors and/or needing a place in town when visiting for work/nights out etc.

Would I live in an apartment again? probably not. I like the peace of where I am now. The dogs love the freedom. I enjoy pottering around the garden and fixing things and love the privacy

FVP3

One thing I don't get is the supposed privacy of the house. Sure, that is true in a detached house in its own garden, but that's largely rural type living. Lots of urban based people in Ireland live in semi detached houses in large housing estates, which are far from being private in any real sense.

A lot of anti-social behaviour is happens in housing estates as well.

Gardens are nice of course. If I could live in a private house close to where I live, would i? Yes, of course. But it would cost 3 times my apartment. Would I live in the local housing estate? No.

I agree with the points made about storage though.

eviltwin

A garden. Mine is like another room, we use it constantly in good weather. Easier to keep a dog in a house too and a garden comes in handy with kids.

Yellow_Fern

What are people paying for managament charges for apartments and houses? I pay 500 for a three bed house.

FVP3

Yellow_Fern wrote: »

What are people paying for managament charges for apartments and houses? I pay 500 for a three bed house.

Its an extra cost for sure, for me about 1.5K a year.

Antares35

Because people. Nearly had a nervous breakdown last time I lived in an apartment. Constant noise, kids out screaming and banging balls off the window or onto the balcony. Barbeques. Noisy neighbours. A stamp sized patch of grass not a f*ckin tree in sight.

Antares35

Darc19 wrote: »

Go semi rural and you'll never look back

I'm a 30-40 min walk to Kildare Town, I can sunbathe naked (no I don't ) I can hear the birdsong, I can breathe fresh country air and neighbors would go out of their way to help each other.

If I was offered a free house to live in Dublin, I'd refuse it.

Same. We are Dublin but rural. I wouldn't live back in the city. It isnt a snob thing I think you just get used to the peace and quiet. Sunday is our "busy" day as you get a few daytrippers. During the week and largely during the lockdown it has been heaven.

0gac3yjefb5sv7

Antares35 wrote: »

Because people. Nearly had a nervous breakdown last time I lived in an apartment. Constant noise, kids out screaming and banging balls off the window or onto the balcony. Barbeques. Noisy neighbours. A stamp sized patch of grass not a f*ckin tree in sight.

Where was this?

FVP3

Antares35 wrote: »

Because people. Nearly had a nervous breakdown last time I lived in an apartment. Constant noise, kids out screaming and banging balls off the window or onto the balcony. Barbeques. Noisy neighbours.

Very odd. That's exactly the kind of thing you would expect in a housing estate, but not an apartment so much, particularly if you aren't on the ground floor.

BrokenWingz

Diarmuid wrote: »

In Ireland we are unable to build apartments suitable for long term living. The frustrating thing is, it's not that hard. They manage it in many European cities. Just copy their approach. But no, we have to "solve" the problem ourselves with half baked and ultimately wrong solutions. And then wonder why Dublin is a sprawling mess with chronic traffic problems and poor public transport.

I lived for many years in various apartments in Europe. For the most part it was a pleasant experience. You lived close to everything. Storage was solved with a cellar which over 50% of apartment blocks had. (I had multiple bikes I used daily) Yes there were some rules to follow to be good neighbour but not a whole lot different from living in a terrace or semi-d. The lack of a garden for some is a big negative but not all. Running costs for an apartment are lower, as were taxes, but again Ireland goes her own way with this.

Many years ago as a child we lived in apartments in Germany and they were lovely. Plenty of space (we were a family of five at the time) including communal play areas and garden areas. There were rules of course but people actually followed them. I’ve never seen an Irish apartment that could equal any of them.

Ned Led Zeppo

Now if an apartment had a fire,where would that leave you? uh oh?

snoopboggybog

Lived in apartments and semi Detached houses. An absolute nightmare with noise.

If I'm buying anything it has to be a bungalow.

Cobalt17

I think it depends what you’re looking for. City living, apartments are the way to go. Also, with CCTV, security doors etc., I’d feel more secure in an apartment complex than a house.

Although I’ve lived in one of the Georgian houses converted to “flats”, and it’s the worst.

pwurple

Ned Led Zeppo wrote: »

Now if an apartment had a fire,where would that leave you? uh oh?

Out the multiple fire exits.


I like both. Lived in apartments in the US for years, enjoyed it immensely.

I like a house here, because I love gardening.

Antares35

Ella Slimy Jumpsuit wrote: »

Where was this?

Dublin, close to the centre. It was a dream for access to work and college alright but in terms of quality of life it was the pits.

Plumbthedepths

I live in a four bed bungalow on an acre of land 11 miles from my employment. There are cons but the living on top of each other in an apartment cancels out every con I can think of.

M256

Those living in apartments, how do you deal with noise from upstairs?

Dolbhad

I would never buy an apartment due to a management company. Also wouldn’t buy a house that’s in an estate managed by a management company. I’ve seen so many issues with management companies (esp in the recession) that have stopped sales going through over it. A management company may be in order when you buy an apartment but doesn’t mean it will be when you go to sell it.

FVP3

Dolbhad wrote: »

I would never buy an apartment due to a management company. Also wouldn’t buy a house that’s in an estate managed by a management company. I’ve seen so many issues with management companies (esp in the recession) that have stopped sales going through over it. A management company may be in order when you buy an apartment but doesn’t mean it will be when you go to sell it.

YOu need to elaborate on that, are you saying the management company went belly up during the recession?

Plumbthedepths wrote: »

I live in a four bed bungalow on an acre of land 11 miles from my employment. There are cons but the living on top of each other in an apartment cancels out every con I can think of.

The reason why we will never end Irish sprawl and one off housing explained in one sentence.

Dolbhad

FVP3 wrote: »

YOu need to elaborate on that, are you saying the management company went belly up during the recession?
.

For a management company to function you need everyone to pay the management fees, for the company to have a proper sinking fund in place, not be part of any litigation and have the common areas transferred over from the builder.

Some People couldn’t afford mortgages in the recession so management fees were last on list to be paid. Management company then was operating at a loss and didn’t have the money in sinking fund to deal with any big expenses that came along. Hard to justify incur the legal expenses to go after fees owed so usually you would have to wait until apartment is sold.
Other issues have been the commons areas weren’t transferred to the management company by the builder, who has since then gone bust..

How many times do you hear about fire safety defects in apartments or issues with roof leaks and the management company has to pass the bill onto the owners of the management company i.e. owners of the management of company. When you buy the apartment you become a member of management company so you can’t get out of it.

The MUD acts doesn’t have much power to penalise management companies to get their affairs in order and usually the directors are apartment owners. That can be a lot of work for people to make the management company work that they aren’t paid for and also can be beyond their expertise to deal with.

Apartment living privately only really became a thing during boom years so a lot of apartments were built then and not all are of the same quality.

Pretty unfair on normal Joe so who can’t sell the apartment due to issues with management company but not be able to avail of the law to push the management Company to fix the issue.

Yellow_Fern

FVP3 wrote: »

YOu need to elaborate on that, are you saying the management company went belly up during the recession?

Originally Posted by Plumbthedepths View Post
I live in a four bed bungalow on an acre of land 11 miles from my employment. There are cons but the living on top of each other in an apartment cancels out every con I can think of.

The reason why we will never end Irish sprawl and one off housing explained in one sentence.

Very true. It is a pleasant surprise looking at older terrace houses as they can be both urban and have very long quiet gardens at the back, plus the huge advantage that you are in walking ditance to shops and bars.

Plumbthedepths

FVP3 wrote: »

YOu need to elaborate on that, are you saying the management company went belly up during the recession?



The reason why we will never end Irish sprawl and one off housing explained in one sentence.

I've been to many countries throughout Europe, one off houses in the countryside is not unique to Ireland.

BrokenArrows

MattS1 wrote: »

Just curious. Overall sentiment on boards seems to have woeful experiences with apartments. Although there are thousands of apartments in Dublin so they must be good for a large amount of the population. Interested to see apartment owners opinions who prefer them to houses.

Just sold my house and temporarily living in an apartment. My experience from the first few days which directly contrasts owning a house.

1. I can hear my neighbours talking and flushing the toilet.
2. There is another door directly opposite mine which I can hear open and close every time they enter or leave their apartment.
3. Takes me about 5 minutes to get from my apartment to my car.
4. No garden, so need to go to the park
5. And even if you own an apartment you need to pay a service charge every year which is not cheap.