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Property/DIY

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Original poster

Buying a Terraced House

72 replies

HavePatience · 09/05/2011 09:47

We are considering buying a mid terraced house. It provides much more space for our budget/what we can afford as compared with an end of terrace or semi detached on the market at present.

Can anyone tell me of any pros/cons to buying a terraced property? Some people have said it's fine, others say they would never do it.
Anyone living in a terraced house and happy with it? Or unhappy with it? All thoughts and opinions welcome. :) TIA

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bibbitybobbityhat · 13/06/2011 19:39

Lots of interesting stuff here.

Northernlurker · 13/06/2011 19:40

A bit surprised you haven't noticed the heating tbh. If it's about 3-5 grand cheaper than similar properties then no it doesn't have CH.

Fancy linking to the details? That should tell you what heating there is.

bibbitybobbityhat · 13/06/2011 19:40

Heh heh! Just realised this thread is the old one I linked to .

Original poster

HavePatience · 13/06/2011 19:43

We met neighbours to one side when we visited. They are a couple with no children who have been there for over 10 years. I don't know about the other side. They said that they don't hear anything. It was built around 1930, I think. They seem really nice.

If a neighbour smokes, how does it get into your house? I despise cigarette smoke and DS most likely has asthma (too young to diagnose, but all are pretty certain).

Whoknows - they were crap because expensive or didn't work? What's the alternative? Should we just swallow the expense and install central heating once we're in?

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JarethTheGoblinKing · 13/06/2011 19:45

They're crap because they're so inefficient. Take ages to heat a room and cost loads of money in the process. They tend not to have timers either, so you have to just turn it on when you get home.

Original poster

HavePatience · 13/06/2011 19:49

NorthernLurker I know! It was a warm, sunny day, we just assumed every property would have central heating.

The details make no mention of heating at all. I can't link details because it would out me.

We did get it for about £12K lower than what they were asking... there's a lot of scope for change and improvement in it but perfectly livable and nice/clean for the immediate future (we wanted this).

Maybe we'll need to install central heating. Any ideas on cost before I naively google it and get a big shock?
3 bed (but 2 of the bedrooms are small)

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Original poster

HavePatience · 13/06/2011 19:50

bibbity

jareth - any ideas for an alternative before we install CH?

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JarethTheGoblinKing · 13/06/2011 19:53

I think adding CH would be the only option.. would add value as well I expect.

supadupapupascupa · 13/06/2011 19:53

fag smoke came up through the floorboards and gaps in the skirtings. really strong it was too......

Original poster

HavePatience · 13/06/2011 20:05

Our neighbours would be on the other side of the wall... how did it come up through the floorboards? I'll ensure secure skirtings... yuck! Hopefully they don't smoke. If they do, is there no hope?

Ok, we should install CH. If there is a gas fire in the lounge, that means that gas is connected to the property, then, right? I would assume so. There's a hot water tank in a cupboard and it is controlled by an emersion (estate agent wrote that... isn't it immersion??). I have no idea what this all means. What I'm wondering is, if there is alreay gas connected and this water tank, will CH be a bit easier to install? I'm wondering why no one did it before? The owners said it's always been warm... but I can't imagine it is.

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smokinaces · 13/06/2011 20:06

Ex-H's old terrace house had the thinnest walls ever. He could have conversations with his neighbour through the wall at virtually normal volume. Good job it was his best mate

Our old terrace was a lot better. Thick walls - the only noise we heard was when it was completely silent and next door were going at it

Here is a 1920s council house and the walls are fairly shit. I can hear next door and they can hear me if its slightly louder than normal downstairs. Upstairs just talking normal volume can be heard through the walls. Think its the way the chimney breasts went - they have been mostly removed, but dont think they were done very well (we obviously shared chimneys back in the day before CH)

BertieBotts · 14/06/2011 11:27

I think that you basically have two options - go for the cheapest central heating you can, using the existing hot water system, or wait a bit with the fire and electric heaters and save up for a much better, more efficient system with a combi boiler etc. combi boilers are better than immersion heaters because you get hot water on demand rather than having to wait for it to heat up once you've used what's in the tank. They're more eco-friendly too, so cheaper to run. Do your research though - it would be worth starting a new thread to see if anyone has installed new central heating and what they chose :)

On googling, ballpark figure seems to be £3-5,000. So not too bad with your £12,000 leeway.

BertieBotts · 14/06/2011 11:34

How old were the old owners? central heating has only been commonplace since the 80s, really. If they'd lived there for a long time perhaps they just didn't feel a need for it.

Gooseberrybushes · 14/06/2011 11:36

I like a terrace. It feels more secure in the middle of the night.

schroeder · 14/06/2011 11:59

You may also be able to get a grant towards installing central heating

I live in an Edwardian terrace and I love it and would endorse what others have said about the neighbours being crucial. I've been lucky so far with mine although we have some trouble with the ones two doors down shouting and swearing late into the night in good weather.

mumtoaandj · 14/06/2011 12:43

i live in a mid terrace- my main problem is my neighbours house has just been involved in a car explosion and her back bathroom on ground level has been damaged- thus damaging our structural wall too!
its a real pain as insurance claims etc.
walls are paper thin, if your neighbours arent good at mainitaining their house it makes yours look tatty!
rooms are big but separate.
we would love to move to a 3 bed house with a garden

Original poster

HavePatience · 14/06/2011 13:01

Thanks!
Bertie - we don't have 12k we got the place for 12k less than asking price because it's all we could afford.

So there is no hot water on demand? Ugh this gets worse and worse.

There is a nice enclosed back garden with space after the gate for parking foreach house with access down a lane right next to the property where everyone drives through to park cars and bikes. We would never have to bring bikes through the house.
There is also an enclosed spacious private front garden but I can't see that we'd use it much with the private one as well in the back. But a place for wheelie bins..etc I guess. Dh wants to make use of the front garden, too... I wonder if we could extend to the front at all ?

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theyoungvisiter · 14/06/2011 13:06

I think so much depends on teh house. I grew up in a terrace and you could literally hear the neighbours cough.

Now I live in a terrace and it's like being in a detached - you can't hear anything. Just better design and materials I guess (they were both Victorian builds before you ask).

One pro point about a terrace which people haven't mentioned - they are usually cheaper to insure! (Especially if you live in an area prone to subsidence).

In terms of taking things through the house, if you have a front garden it makes a big difference. Space to store bikes and bins without dragging through the house is a real plus.

theyoungvisiter · 14/06/2011 13:11

not having central heating would put me off MUCH more! I've lived in houses and flat without CH and it's a nightmare.

Not so much the cold (though some of them were cold) but more the things like, no thermostat - so the heating would be on regardless of whether it was a sunny day or a freezing one. And having to remember to switch the immersion heater on if you want an extra bath.

Blurgh. But at least that's easily sorted - though not cheap. 3-5k sounds low to me - you can easily pay 5k for just a boiler change in London, let alone installing all the radiators and pipework from scratch. Get quotes before you do anything further.

Original poster

HavePatience · 15/06/2011 20:07

We're going to have to deal with the CH issue. There's nothing else out there that we can afford that is freehold and a house at the moment and our mortgage offer has come through now. We do like the place a lot and have big plans for rearranging and renovating it ourselves (DH did same on our current property and is good at that sort of thing), but the CH is really bothering me still :( I doubt that is something that Dh could do. He can move piping for kitchen and bathroom to next room and upstairs, but I think the heating stuff is more complicated.... not sure, but I would assume so.

I guess we need to hope that for the immediate future, the neighbours both have toasty warm homes!

Thank you everyone, so much for your help on this.

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MissMarjoribanks · 15/06/2011 20:24

I've never lived in a terrace but I can tell you that extensions to the front of terraces are usually refused planning permission unless there has been a clear precedent set elsewhere down the street.

This would exclude a small porch extension, which generally wouldn't require planning permission anyway if it is more than 2m from the pavement, less than 3sqm in floor area and 3m in height.

If you want to extend I would concentrate your efforts on the rear. Loft conversions are popular, particularly in older terraces as there is plenty of space in the roof. Dormer at the back, rooflights at the front.

Original poster

HavePatience · 15/06/2011 20:35

Thanks for that. Maybe a small porch like you say in the front... there is already and extension at the back, it's just not very well utilised at the moment (we will move the kitchen in there). But most of our renovating works will have to do with the existing rooms.... and now getting CH! :)

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