Downsizing from detached to terraced

[downsizing]

We’re in the process of downsizing from a large 5 bed detached house to a mid terrace 1960’s townhouse that will see us become mortgage free.

I’m starting to worry we won’t be able to cope with the change particularly as we have 2 teenage DS’s coming with us.

Looking to see if anyone has positive experiences of a similar move.

Thanks - the fact that I also got shot of my ex probably helps me be positive too to be fair!!

But I really do like it, I just love how cosy it is. We honestly only lived in about half of the detached house anyway, there were whole areas we never used.

We did it 3 years ago - best thing ever. Had a huge detached, sold it and bought a cute tiny end terrace in a town I have always loved (Beverley) and a small terrace in a little village in Spain. I absolutely love it - the bills are so much cheaper and takes me a couple of hours to clean the entire house. We can lock up and leave and tootle off to Spain (covid permitting) in the summer. I got rid of a shed load of stuff and do not miss any of it. Oh, and very very rarely hear the neighbours.

I think like people say it is just luck as to what kind of neighbours you get. And how much you hear will depend on which rooms are next to each other. You will get used to hearing general living noise, it’s only if there’s some extra excessive noise like loud music / shouting matches that it gets annoying!

Hi, I’ve just come across your post. We’re considering moving from a detached bungalow to semi or terrace house. How are you finding the terrace house?

Well it was all a bit of a saga and we didn’t end up in the 1960s terrace, our buyers pulled out on the day of exchange.

We have since sold and are now in a 1990s terrace. It’s taken a bit of adjusting to but so far I’ve barely heard the neighbours through the walls. However having gardens so close to one another and walking out of the front door and pretty much always bumping into a neighbour, as we’re all so close, has taken some adjusting to.

Overall I’m really pleased we did it, especially with the current economic insanity, to be mortgage free feels like a huge privilege and is a massive relief.

Also as other posters said cleaning is so much easier and quicker!

I grew up in detached houses but when I bought, I first bought a semi-detached and now live in a mid terrace. I don’t get the glee over detached houses - you still get to hear the neighbours in the garden, they’re more expensive to heat and most importantly, much easier to burgle. We were broken into countless times in detached houses despite burgler alarms etc.

I know 3 lots of people in detached houses who’ve been hit by armed burglars.

I hardly ever hear the neighbours in my terrace (and they all have screaming babies) and we all get on which helps. I’ve been here a very long time and feel very safe and warm - I still haven’t turned the heating in as the house is registering 19 degrees in the coldest room.

@downsizing congratulation on moving at last, I wish you joy and happiness in your new house.
We bought a semi detached house in the end, we hear our joined neighbour now and then but not very often, all of our neighbours seem nice and we’ve had no noise issues at all in the gardens.
I’m glad we bought a house rather than an apartment as our sons have both moved in, we would have been squashed in an apartment.
I also often think of my old house and how expensive it must be to run/heat, it’s currently back up for sale (for considerably more than they paid for it) as the owners are worried about the business/economic climate.

I've never lived in a detached. I live in London and don't have £1M+ for a house.
Some people are loud, but most are not. I have had occasions when I heard DIY noise, music or kids but most people are quiet. You could live in a detached house and have other noise, such as traffic or trains or being on a flight path.
If you have anti social neighbours, being detached won't make much difference.

We're ( hopefully) about to move from. 4 bed detached rural property to a 3 bed mid terrace ( Edwardian) town house.
I have my fingers crossed for decent neighbours, but will be lining the walls withy many books for extra insulation!
And we are looking forward to not being isolated and in a remote ( and shite!) village.
Coffee houses! Shops! Events! Live music! Bring it on.

What a nightmare, that happened when I bought my first property, it was so stressful.

Our move would be to reduce our mortgage and monthly outgoings as everything is so expensive. We would like to be able to do nice things and take a yearly holiday and not just survive to pay the bills.

The cleaning would definitely be easier as would the outside maintenance. I find gardening and general upkeep of 2 gardens (front & back) and a large drive to the side such a chore and would rather be spending time off work with our daughter.

Happy to hear that you found somewhere else and you’re glad you moved. It’s good to hear that you’re happy as it makes me more confident that we’re making the right decision :)

Stumbled across this post as we are in the process of a kinda sideways move but from a link detached to a mid terraced house. Noise is one thing I’ve worried about.
I’ve always disliked our 60’s house, definitely lacks character and the 3rd bedroom is just a box room. Only having 1 bathroom for 4 of us including 2 teens has needing a good planning rota. We have a huge garden at the moment but a neighbour that smokes week and a dog that barks when we use the garden and not to mention. The dog shit smell as they leave it on their patio. Plus I won’t miss trying to keep the garden tidy.

moving to a modern townhouse which gives us 4 bedrooms (3 are large doubles) plus extra bathrooms

will we regret moving? Maybe but moving allows us to pay off all our debts (we will still have a mortgage). We couldn’t justify the extra £60k we would have needed for a detached house.

hoping the pros outweigh the cons

I’ve always lived in either mid terraces or one semi but that was a maisonette with a downstairs neighbour. That’s three different houses and never had any issues with noise etc. I actually prefer it and a Victorian terrace is my ideal.

We're in our terrace now and have been here 12 days! So far the only thing I can hear is if a door is slammed. It's actually really quiet.

Good to hear that others haven’t heard too much noise in terraced houses. Fingers crossed we will be lucky with neighbors etc

I have always lived in terraced houses and never has anything bothered me. Once 2 houses ago daughter used to play the piano , bit loud but other than that nothing bothered me. & The piano music was nice. Also v cosy as two walls adjoining so quite warm . I know many won't contemplate other than a detached house and a drive & a garage - but I love terraced houses. Have bought 4 over the years and all were nice, Living in one now.

Good luck @RM2013 we’re very happy we made the move so far, especially given the cost of living crisis. Bills are worrying enough now, I can’t imagine how stressed we’d be in our old house.

@downsizing thats great to hear. Our energy bills are so expensive as the insulation in our current house is poor with huge windows so really hoping we feel a lot warmer in our new terraced house 🏡

It must depend on the house. We live in a terrace (ex LA) and all we hear is the washing machine from one side (and I suspect that’s cos they’ve extended the kitchen into the garage) despite 5 people living there and occasionally some noise from the bathroom on the other (if they’re talking in there). Never the TV or plugs or anything.

Oh I didn’t realise it was an old thread!!

We’ve lived in a 1920’s terrace for a few years now and the main sound that travels is the neighbors going upstairs as these older houses are creaky. I’m sure they can hear us as well. We sometimes hear the vacuum cleaner, but no TV or washing machine sounds.

A few weeks ago, DS (14) set up a punchbag in the basement, however, and my neighbor did text asking whether everything was OK as they’ve could hear thumping!

This was early evening so DS is now under instructions to only use it right after school and as the neighbors are normally out then. They’re fine with the sound for a few minutes, just not when they’re relaxing in the evening. 😂

Glad your move eventually worked out, OP!

I moved from a terraced to a detached many years ago because I didn't like noise, I'm quite sensitive to it.
I did something I thought I'd never do and earlier this year I downsized to a flat.

There is a lot of noise but somehow it's not bothering me because I'm earning a lot of interest on the money differential, I'm enjoying something which can be easily heated and I've got lots of free time not concerning myself with maintenance.

I just use earplugs at night and put my headphones on if somethings bothering me and it goes away.

We moved from a detached to a 3 bed semi. So far so good, but we have quiet neighbours and we rarely hear the children. We may well be the noisy neighbours.
Much smaller garden which we like. Not as keen on the smaller kitchen and lack of utility room though.

It may well be the case that most people live in terraces, but that doesn't mean it's something we should all aspire to. It certainly will be a shock to someone who has got used to a detached.

I loved my terrace house, which I lived in when the was single. It had views out over the fields and was cheap to heat, quick to clean and I didn't have to spend 5 minutes hunting for everyone to tell them meals were ready. There were children next door but they were happy kids, mostly laughter and playing sounds which I didn't mind a bit. It wasn't practical for a family but I still miss it after I sold it 15 years ago!