Replacing a large, single-family home with several smaller apartments allows for more people to occupy well-positioned property in cities, places that would otherwise be priced out of their reach.
This means better access for many more people to the services and amenities that cities offer. Having less to take care of also equates to spending less.
“This rings especially true for apartments, for which utility costs are lower. Building insurance and maintenance costs, also much lower than for single family homes, are covered by levies.
“Apartment buildings typically have caretakers on site to handle all those nuisance maintenance tasks that erode our weekends.”
Other advantages of apartment living include better security; communal amenities and sense of community and the ability to live a lock-up-andgo lifestyle, Van Greunen says.