Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5

Original poster

Are detached houses really worth THAT much more

112 replies

EatMeALotOfPeaches · 10/07/2020 22:13

I live on the end of a terrace of three houses, and my home is worth £220k. I really want to move to a detached house because my neighbours annoy me and I'm sick of living on top of other people. Sorry if that sounds snobby

I've been looking at detached houses and to get the same square footage as I have now, in the same area, I'd be looking at 300k+! I can't justify spending that much more unless it would gain me more internal space as well. Please either convince me to embrace my terraced existence or tell me why living in a detached house is worth so much more £££!

OP posts:

Shelby30 · 11/07/2020 08:15

Oh and I'll add that I live in a detached house and love it. Don't have to worry about the kids screaming or making a racket. Also don't have to listen to a neighbour. I cld hear my old neighbour go up and down the stairs from my living room. Oh and the one that used to play piano all the time 😡 she was a music teacher and gave lessons from her house.

I'm only next to one garden as my house is first on the street so it is really good.
As much as I love it I would not pay £80K for the privilege! Your only attached to one neighbour, are they just a bad neighbour.

isitorisntit · 11/07/2020 08:16

After 12+ years of a Victorian semi and ssshing anyone in my hall (we could hear the neighbours as if they were in the same room as us), we bought a detached. The change in us is unreal. So much more chilled. The garden is less private but we are working on that with zones and planting. Honestly, it's so much better.

Lardlizard · 11/07/2020 08:16

Because you will stain have neighbours

Lardlizard · 11/07/2020 08:16

Still

ivykaty44 · 11/07/2020 08:17

It’s not about square footage it’s about not sharing a party wall & noise

BusinessGoose · 11/07/2020 08:17

I live in an end of terrace in quite an old house. It has very thick stone walls. I have never once heard a sound from my neighbours house. Though, it's a different story in the garden where I feel like I live with them.
If possible ook at old cottagey style properties that are on a terrace, it might make a difference or it could just be mine!

ooooohbetty · 11/07/2020 08:27

If you don't want to hear your neighbours the extra is worth it.

Nomorepies · 11/07/2020 08:31

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ on the poster's request.

Milly90 · 11/07/2020 08:31

I think it is worth it. Basic economics being that more people want one so the price is always increased due to desirability.
We sold out semi on a main road which shook with the lorries rumbling past and neighbours constantly arguing and a string of people coming and going slamming the door.... we paid 100k more for our detached on a quiet cul de sac and the difference between buying house 1 and house 2 was 5 years so prices hadnt gone up by that much but its the value you put on peace!

Also i am so much more relaxed. I (used to) host more parties etc because before i was terrified of annoying the neighbours. Not that they cared a bit back

Handsnotwands · 11/07/2020 08:33

There’s detached and detached though. I wouldn’t spend £80k to have a 2m gap between the houses

IsAnybodyListening · 11/07/2020 08:36

They aren't worth it for me. We live in a Victorian terrace, absolutely no noise issues either side. House worth circa 200k. Friend a couple of years ago 'upgraded' a she called it to a detached new build in our village for 350k or thereabouts.

The biggest bedroom in her house, is the same size as our smallest for example, so for me space wise, absolutely not worth it for what would essentially be us tripling mortgage re-payments.

NewHouseNewMe · 11/07/2020 08:39

Where I live in London/Herts border area, the best semi (4+ bedrooms, several reception rooms etc.) is capped at 1.3M. The cheapest comparable detached (4+ beds) with any sized garden starts at 1.8M and rises fast.
There is definitely a premium for detached even when all other aspects are equal and I'd say that premium is more pronounced in cities.

Raella50 · 11/07/2020 08:39

We have lived in detached and semis and I’ve never noticed a difference in noise?! Perhaps we’ve been blessed with neighbours. It’s never even crossed my mind to be honest. Maybe this is more of an issue in certain style buildings too? Where we live now, it’s a 140 year old semi and the neighbours have theirs as a second home so they’re very rarely there. It’s empty 90% of the year. I don’t hear them in the house when they are there.

SockYarn · 11/07/2020 08:46

I have a detached house. But I have 4 different gardens attached to mine. No different than a terrace or semi.

Eh? Gardens are irrelevant, the benefit of detached is about not sharing a wall with someone, not hearing them hoovering, or knowing when their washing machine is on, or hearing them shouting at the kids.

Agree also that it depends on the age of a house - we were in an end of terrace new build town house and it was fine because the neighbours were very quiet. But the walls were thin. We also rented a semi-detached 1960s build which was much more sturdy and we hearrd hardly anything.

We're now in a 1960s detached. there's at least 15 feet between us and one neghbour, more to the neighbour on the other side and never hear anything.

Peace and quiet is important to a lot of people and they feel it's worth paying for.

huuunderickssss · 11/07/2020 08:49

Yes x a million!...the thought of sharing walls and stuff does not appeal at all ..and yes I know I'm very lucky that I've never had to.

MartinJD1976 · 11/07/2020 08:51

The issue i have with some detached houses is they are basically a meter away from next door, so while you don't share a party wall, you can probably still hear noise from next door. I don't mind semi-detached places, but then we've been blessed with great neighbours.

Raella50 · 11/07/2020 08:53

I’m just thinking about this and where I grew up, no one lived in semis! They were ALL detached. There was a lovely little area in the middle of the village with “cottages”, they were all individually names, stone and tiny!! I remember rt them havi nag lovely front gardens and really wantin to live in one. I supposed they were terraces really. Everywhere else near us were big detached houses. Now I live in a city and detached houses are unusual round here, they just aren’t here. There are the odd few now I’m really thinking about it but they really aren’t barely much further away from the next house than a semi (a metre or two) and are the same size. The really sought after houses here are the massive gorgeous Georgian town houses with black and white tiled steps at the front and high ceilings. I would prefer a detached to one of those now honestly I prefer our house/ area now. It just depends where you are in the country - it’s all about location!

KetoWinnie · 11/07/2020 08:55

@DustyMaiden

The reasons you want one are why it’s worth more.

Exactly. Im mid terrace and the neighbours on the rooms adjoining side. I might crack one day and kill them so the doors stop slammimg!!

I think semi detached houses that are halls adjoining, the problem isnt so bad. I rarely hear the neighbours on that side.

DryIce · 11/07/2020 08:57

I've always lived in terraced houses in the UK, so I don't know any different. I do live in london though, so the detached price would probably be £1m more around here, if there were any!

Raella50 · 11/07/2020 08:57

Sorry I meant I wouldn’t prefer a detached to one of those Georgian town houses!!! Apologies for all the typos my phone keeps “correctly” me

Treacletoots · 11/07/2020 08:57

We recently sold our 200year old terraced for a new build detached.

Getting a detached wasn't on the wish list, we just wanted and extra bedroom, garden and somewhere to put the cars. It turns out however that we love it. I can sing and dance with DD, hoover whenever I want and the dog can bark at everyone and it's all fine.

The old house, we could hear every single word on our neighbours TV, and we had 4 neighbours within 10M as it was wrapped around a central courtyard. That didn't bother us too much as we are just as noisy, and when house hunting we didn't care as long as it ticked the other boxes whether it was a terraced or detached.

So, yes it is worth more, you can't buy your neighbours. You could end up with us and that's the reason you pay so much more, not just square footage.

KetoWinnie · 11/07/2020 08:58

@MartinJD1976

What bothers me is the noise i can feel.

When my neighbours pound around their house, i can feel (very slight) reverberations in my house.

When they open and then slam shut their back door 15 times between 22.00 and 0100, I feel a jolt if I am lying in bed.

AddressLabel · 11/07/2020 08:59

@BusinessGoose

I live in an end of terrace in quite an old house. It has very thick stone walls. I have never once heard a sound from my neighbours house. Though, it's a different story in the garden where I feel like I live with them. If possible ook at old cottagey style properties that are on a terrace, it might make a difference or it could just be mine!

My house is an 1800’s corner terrace with thick Walls. Unfortunately neighbours on both sides have dug out their open fireplaces to put in a multi fuel burner. One of them has put a boiler against the party wall, In doing so I can now Hear both sets of neighbours and the noise travels up the chimney into the bedrooms. 😢

Giggorata · 11/07/2020 09:02

I think they're worth it. I suspect that we were the neighbours from hell when the DC were at home and we were younger...

Didicat · 11/07/2020 09:06

I currently live in an end of terrace house, the noise from next door when the old man lived there never bothered me. Equally he was profoundly deaf so I could use my house as I wanted as he couldn’t hear anything if he turned off his hearing aids to save on batteries.

We are moving to a detached in the country, as I want space around me. I feel really claustrophobic without sight lines. Most modern estates I feel like the houses are so close to the roads and the roads are not wide enough, give me the heebee jeebees.

I’d rather live in a attached house with space around me than in a detached new estate any day of the week.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5