Distance between houses.

[Mutunus]

We're looking at purchasing a detached house, but there's a potential problem in that the space between it and next door is only about 6" - probably enough room to get a broom in there. How much of a concern is this regarding for instance wall repairs or guttering. Would you buy it?

Personally I hate houses like this. It's really stretching the definition of 'Detached', but I guess the noise transmission will still be minimal :D

I probably would still buy it, assuming nothing better is available in the area, but I'd have the wall looked at for possible future repairs first, & the offer would reflect that it only really ticks the detached box on a technicality - if it's priced 30% above all the other similar sized terraces/semi's in the street then forget it.

Yes, no party wall means much better sound proofing but that is the most ridiculous gap I think I've seen!

We applied for planning permission recently and I’m pretty sure we had to allow something like 1.1metres gap.

I wouldn’t. What if the brickwork needed attention?

People near us who put up a major, two storey extension within about that distance of next door (leaving no room for access and ignoring the neighbour’s objections) were later ordered by the court to take the whole thing down - plus pay all the costs of the neighbour who’d taken them to court over it.

They were told that if they didn’t pay up promptly, a lien would be put on the property so that the money would be taken when it was sold.

They sold up PDQ.

When he was young, a neighbour's cat got stuck between my dad's house and the next, in a tiny space like this. Apparently cats can't walk backwards, and there was a bit of a to-do to get it out.

I wouldn't buy it. What if you needed to access that wall? If you're questioning it, so will your future buyers.

I would avoid if I could. No access for repairs. Shite gets stuck down it. I lived in a rented property with a small gap where a Russian vine took root unseen and spread out under the roof tiles. All the tiles were taken off and it was removed, it was injected with plant killer once a year but couldn't be reached to kill it properly.

I did actually have a cat that walked backwards occasionally

For me the issue would be anything that could climb the brickwork plant wise that can do all sorts of damage to the mortar and would be difficult to control with any sort of weedkiller if it was right in the middle.

Also any damp as rain could get between the properties but it may struggle to dry out.

It appears as though the owners have had an offer, but we said we're not interested anyway due to the wall gap. Shame really, in my mind I'd already converted the garage into a studio
Many thanks for for the replies.

@ClaudiaWankleman

How did the cat get out?