Flat or apartment? The difference is immaterial

In the third of a series of regular articles, estate agent Trevor Cooper takes a closer look at Guernsey property. This week, flats and/or apartments.

'They're not flats, they're apartments,' or so I was soundly corrected by a developer proudly showing me round his new building.

There is a perception that apartments are superior to flats, at least in name if not in stature, but at what point in that argument should a flat become an apartment? The word flat derives from the Old Norse 'flatr', dating back to the 14th century, and the Oxford English Dictionary defines apartment as of 17th century origin from appartare 'to separate', not that my developer friend concerned himself with any of that.

It was not possible to buy the freehold of an individual flat in Guernsey until the introduction of the Real Property (Reform) (Guernsey) Law, 1987, which allowed for 'flying freeholds', also known as horizontal conveyancing. Every property owner previously possessed the land and anything on it, whatever lay below the surface and the air space above. That still applies except for flats, where buyers own a horizontal slice of a building.

The boundaries of a flat have an added dimension as they are not only the walls but also the floor and the ceiling, be it sloping, angled or level. A flat owns the joists supporting its floor and the ceiling attached to the roof structure or the floor joists of the flat above. The building's foundations and the roof structure are owned equally or in shares by all the flats, as are the communal halls and landings. These are sometimes vested in a registered company formed solely to own and manage common parts serving a multitude of flats on large developments, with each flat owner possessing one share in the management company.

Some early sales gave ownership of the foundations to the ground floor flat and ownership of the roof structure to the top flat, especially when a two-storey house was divided horizontally into upper and lower levels. The cost of any work to the foundations or roof structure should be shared in such cases, but it is essential to check on these divisions when buying a flat.

Flat owners within the same building are reliant upon and responsible to each other and the Flying Freehold law, as the 1987 law is commonly known, is necessarily strict about obligations towards maintaining support and protection. These obligations are known as 'charged covenants' and allow claims to be made against any owner who contravenes the multi-page schedule attached or referred to in the title deeds of every flat sold in Guernsey.

Charged covenants take precedence over any other possible claim against a property, even bank borrowing, much to the concern of mortgage lenders.

This risk, as mortgage providers see it, is offset by the cautious among them offering a lower loan to value ratio.

In other words, buyers of flats may only be able to borrow less than they might if buying a house and, consequently, have to contribute more of their own money when buying a flat.

This is an anomaly for many first-time buyers who look at flats as a cheaper alternative to a house, but are offered less of a mortgage, which reduces the amount they can afford to spend.

Guernsey has seen massive expansion in the development of flats since the introduction of the Flying Freehold law.

The Environment Department is keen to grant planning approval for flats because it is charged with ensuring a definite number of additional residential units every year, whilst preserving as much undeveloped land in Guernsey as possible. Builders like flats because it maximises the market potential of a development site.

There is a ready market for flats and the standard of building generally is good, save occasional aberrations with plumbing and leaking roofs.

My chief complaint, however, is with the size of some of the smaller boxes, or rather, the lack of storage or space for cupboards provided in them.

Small rooms are fine unless you have to sit next to your ironing board and vacuum cleaner because there is nowhere to store them.

A two- or three-bedroom flat should be that without having to use one of the bedrooms as a storeroom.

Some flats combine kitchen and living room without sufficient space for even a small dining table and chairs.

This is where large, period houses converted into flats can have the advantage over newly purpose-built units, although these conversions can have inferior levels of sound insulation, energy efficiency and accessibility.

But let me not generalise, there are plenty of house conversions and purpose-built flats that tick all the right boxes, and plenty more to come.

Work will soon begin to build a dozen or so flats on the site of the former Salerie Inn. The designs I have seen, albeit not the final plans, show more than a respectful nod towards the traditional houses alongside and the tall, narrow building that was also razed is to be replicated within the scheme.

An arched driveway will lead through the centre of the new building to a large car park in what was a quarry behind, shared with the offices built on the former Bucktrout's warehouse site along Glategny Esplanade. The exit for the car park is onto Well Road, alongside the terrace of new houses also forming part of this multi sectioned development.

The redevelopment of the former Vauxlaurens Brewery has commenced and, scheduled for completion in August, is Clifton Heights, a development of 14 flats including an open market penthouse located not in Clifton – as one might expect – but in Les Canichers.

The site was largely open land previously and is next door to the row of elegant Regency houses called Clifton Terrace at the northern end of Les Canichers.

Reason enough to name its neighbour Clifton Heights, if it were not for there being an alternative and better known Clifton elsewhere in St Peter Port.

Priced from £410,000 up to £540,000 for the top floor, three-bedroom local market flat, perhaps it is not surprising that they are called apartments in the Clifton Heights brochure.

I am not fussed either way and neither should buyers be influenced by whether what they want to buy is branded as a flat or an apartment.