Detached vs Semi detached

[Finsburyman]

Hi all, We are about to purchase a new house to the south of London and I am really struggle with our two choices. I think we would purchase one of the two properties for sure. Both houses require alot of work / modernisation and we plan to extend both in the same way with side and rear extension. Both have an existing garage that I plan to convert to a side extension.

Detached house - 1930s, 3 beds two large reception larger rooms, smaller garden at 80 feet, Price £550k

Semi detached - 1930s, 3 beds, one long but narrower joint reception, smaller rooms, larger garden at 150 feet. Larger plot in general. Slightly nicer road. Price £520k.

We are really torn about which one to go for as they are both near stations, outstanding schools. Is it worth going for a smaller plot but detached house?

Which one would you go for?

Just moved in to a semi detach and we barely hear our neighbours...apart from when our attached neighbour had a party (covid party ) we heard the loud, thumping music. At that point I realised the perks of having an detached.

If you can afford a detach, go for it.

We moved recently from detached to semi, but actually the detached neighbours were more annoying (constantly barking dog) than new ones (bit of late night DIY).

We recently moved to a 1930s semi and can honestly say that we never hear the neighbours, and apparently they never hear us, despite having 2 very loud little boys! Solidly built house though. Guess it's the luck of the draw.

Now you have mentioned the garden orientation definitely detached

That is the one reason I would consider moving from our current house - hate north facing
Westerly means sun in the day and evening

Yup that's the problem with semi's - it's pure luck as to whether you have quiet neighbours or not.

I'm a fan of being in control of my own life & would never move back to a semi unless I had no choice.

Have a look at the satellite view of both plots on Google maps and compare what is around you.

You have floor plans, but add the Gardens onto that and figure out where you would sit and where the sun would shine.

FWIW i have just had permission to chop down a tree and another near us has just been heavily pollards.

Personally I wouldn't choose to live near a petrol station, especially if it was open 24/7 (too many car doors slamming and engines starting late at night).

If you need to commute, being able to walk to a station really simplifies life.

I recently moved from a 2 bedroom mid terrace property to a 3 bed detached property. It feels kinda weird having no direct neighbours and no more neighbours hammering on walls etc. I would pick detached everytime.

Detached.

We've just moved into our very first detached house. It is amazing! You don't realise how noises from neighbours grate you until you don't have them anymore!

Definitely go for the detached

Detached everytime. I hate others noise. Moved to a detached house nearly 20 years ago, best thing ever.

Will your renovations require party wall agreements? That can be a pain in semi's and terraces.

Can't quote OP a you quoted me: That's interesting to note. Is your detached has good space with your neighbours though? The detached one we are looking at barely has any gaps with our neighbours.

Yes we have a car port width between houses but I don't think that's really the issue - as a pp said, noise carries through party walls. My friend's detached house is literally built adjoining the neighbour's wall -but they still won't hear each other as it' not a shared wall.

I live in a detached Edwardian but very close to neighbours because they extended before us. It was very difficult to do an extension because the house is basically squeezed between the neighbouring properties and.not much space at all.for a side extension without losing the side passage. We found away to have a double storey side and rear extension but we were limited in what we could do because of the proximity of the other houses.
A semi with a large plot is.easy to extend on the side unless your non detached neighbour has got there first! Having said that, the fact the semi has a NE facing garden would.sway me.towards the other house

Detached, it also has bigger rooms.

Detached every time. Moved from Victorian semi to detached 10 years ago....best decision ever.

100% detached without a doubt. It will be really hard for your children if you have tricky neighbours and feel like you have to tell them to be quiet all the time when theyre just being kids. We moved to a detached and letting the kids jump and run and laugh without every worrying that we're upsetting the neighbours is completely liberating. Best decision we ever made.

Detached
There is a pair of what we're very nice semis on our road

One of the semi was purchased as a development opportunity, several years ago who has then gone bankrupt
The semi has been left with half a roof for several years
Absolute nightmare for the attached property

Our attached neighbour sadly died on New Year's Day. It's STILL Vacant and according to the executor the will has been challenged. It will be almost impossible for us to sell for the foreseeable future

DETACHED!! If you can

Detached with west facing garden.
Unless you live on an acre plus you'll hear noise in the garden.
PIL live on almost an acre but you can hear children in the garden next door if they're playing and you're sitting outside.
It's the shared wall and noise travelling inside the house that would bother me.

Detached. You can pick your house but you can't pick your neighbours!

Another vote for detached here - we've quite a gap to our neighbours on one side, but the neighbour on the other side is one paving slab width away from us. Other than her gate that's attached to our wall we hear absolutely nothing from her and she doesn't hear anything from us. I've lived in flats, terraces and semi's and this is my first detached house. It's fair to say I'll never go back!

@SvriderI am sorry to hear about your neighbour! But I am surprised that you now cannot sell your own house?

Finsbury
We're not looking to sell thank goodness
If we were, we are attached to a house that has been empty for one year, and looks it
The roof where the two houses join needs attention. We have done what we can from our side, but have no acces to the rear
Same with the guttering, which pours to our side when it rains
The drains flood to our side (rain water not sewerage thank goodness)

The trees are over hanging, and now at a size where they need professionals. Again we have done what we can, but have no access to the rear

There's a fox living in the roots (not overly relevant) but gives you an indication of the general state of the garden

It's a weird set up because he was the only near neighbor, so a bit isolated and vulnerable when we're not at home
I honestly wouldn't buy our house, ATM

I am very impressed that you managed to find a 3 bed detached for £550k in London!

Also joining the chorus to get the west facing detached, as long as all other fundamentals are good!

We've lived in a terrace and are now in a semi. We have always been lucky with our neighbours, but nothing beats not having to share a wall!

I’ve lived in semi, detached and terrace ( 20 years ) and never had a problem with noise , it’s never bothered me about others building work, music in garden , kids etc as long as it’s not noise every day / night. I used to live next door to a teacher and she was always complaining about what neighbours did. Some people only have to fart in the garden and neighbours complain 😀.

It all depends on how sensitive to noise you are.

Detached every time. We've lived terraced, semi and now detached and it's far better.

Pretty much like for like house, the detached will sell for more. The semis around here that are the same size as ours and with a bigger drive are a minimum minimum £35k less than the detached ones.