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Original poster

Would you move back to a terrace/semi vs a detached

76 replies

Louieee · 04/07/2021 14:18

I absolutely appreciate the space our detatched house provides but thinking of downsizing back to a semi/terrace in a more expensive locale for other reasons.

DH thinks ive forgotten all the cons of terrace/semis and we'd go crazy if we went back to something similar to our previous Victorian terrace especially now we WFH more and chances of
future lockdown/isolation (family of 4 in a 3 double bedrooms 1 box room about 1500 sq ft and 40 ft mostly patio garden). I think it's far more easily maintained and we had the same size dining table, furniture, things... but much less privacy in terms of noise (I could hear the neighbour's kids all the time and sure they could do ours). But a street of terrace was also more community minded, I missed that.

What do you think?

OP posts:

Livingintheclouds · 04/07/2021 14:33

I'm moving from a large detached to a terrace in much more expensive area. I'm hoping noise won't be bad - I don't think either neighbour has young kids, though I don't mind that noise, and my kids are teens. But I'm used to detached where I can play my music loud etc. But can't afford detached in the new area so just have to get used to it.

SquashMinusIsShit · 04/07/2021 14:44

I couldn't face going back to a semi/terrace after detached, we had a nightmare noisy neighbour in our old terrace house & it put me off for life. Even the normal neighbour noise from the semi next door was annoying.
We live on a street of detached houses & are adequately community minded, much more so than our previous houses (but that could be due to the layout/type of area of the old houses)

Original poster

Louieee · 04/07/2021 21:20

Yes noise is usually the big one isn't it.

You are right community-mindedness depends on various things... we are on a main through road and it so happens there is less community than I'd like, maybe relative to a residential street of detatched houses with only 1 school nearby for example.

@Livingintheclouds did anything help you to accept the move mentally ?

OP posts:

user1471538283 · 04/07/2021 21:56

Nothing would possess me to live in a terrace again and I'd rather not have a semi. But then I think my experience was unusual.

readytosell · 04/07/2021 21:58

Not a chance. I'm stuck in a chain trying to move, but I'd rather stay put than compromise on anything other than detached. Never going back.

MakkaPakkas · 04/07/2021 22:06

I live in a Victorian terrace. It's not that bad but I'd prefer a detached house. The cons are; noise (our neighbors are fine but I can hear one side coughing the other.side has a happy dog, can't tell who's front door is being knocked on, we're aware they can hear us etc...), Parking (there's only street parking, cars frequently get nicked damaged etc), access to garden is through the house (it would be nice to have side access and keep the bins round the side rather than in the little bit of front garden we have.
We do live in a convenient area though.

MakkaPakkas · 04/07/2021 22:06

Yappy dog, not happy dog

Howshouldibehave · 04/07/2021 22:07

for other reasons

The only reason would be that I couldn’t afford the detached house any more!

Greenhillfaraway · 04/07/2021 22:09

I would avoid moving back to a terrace (or semi although I’ve never lived in one) if at all humanly possible.

olidora63 · 04/07/2021 22:15

We moved from our detached house to a semi a few years ago. The semi is a four bedroom Edwardian three floor house . Absolutely love living in a friendly,community minded road . I realise now that it was actually really lonely for me living at our previous house where the neighbours all kept themselves to themselves and felt quite isolated. I do miss the off road parking though.
Our neighbours are all lovely and there really are not any noise issues…we are the owners of a doggie that screams at the post man every morning 😂

jackstini · 04/07/2021 22:29

Not a chance

We are lucky enough to have lovely neighbours and a fantastic community though. Great street/field parties, socialise with neighbours, even holidayed with some.
We're in a culdesac which makes that easier - kids don't ever want to move!

DH has ears like a bat and think he would not cope with shared walls re the noise

Micemakingclothes · 04/07/2021 22:37

I would have to be desperate for housing to put up with the noise again. It’s one thing if you are in your 20s and have no kids,

CroydianSlip · 04/07/2021 22:37

I think I would find it very difficult to ever go back to a terrace or semi.

Our last house was a terrace and the dc were frequently kept up by the teens/martial disharmony on one side, and woken up by the early morning riser and old fashioned cistern on the other.

Lockdown has made me crave outdoor space that isn't overlooked as I have realised how much noise my DH can make if underexercised! I'd move somewhere more spaced out but not less!

LockedFarAway · 04/07/2021 23:20

I’ve lived in a semi or flat all my life and HATE hearing the neighbours. If I lived in a detached property wild horses wouldn't drag me back.

Sum2021 · 05/07/2021 03:22

Grew up in detached and now in semi. Give me detached anyday, the privacy is like no other. Your space is your space and you dont need to worry about others - watch TV, hoover, have parties whatever you want. With semi you have to be more considerate and can still hear their everyday life. Detached anyday imo

AlfiesMama85 · 05/07/2021 04:00

I lived in a terraced house for 28 years and moved to a semi (couldn’t afford a detached) in the hope of eliminating some of the neighbour noise that had made my life a living hell for years.

I have now sold my semi (after seven years) as, again, I cannot deal with my noisy neighbour. I am going to have to move to rented for now as I don’t want to buy again until I can afford a detached (preferably in the middle of nowhere!) I hate my neighbour for doing this to me but know I’ll go insane if I stay here much longer!

My absolute dream is being able to live in a detached house so quite honestly, if you did not like the noise previously - I would genuinely recommend you stay as you are as you could very well end up regretting it.

CobraChicken · 05/07/2021 04:21

I would never choose to live in a semi-detached or terraced house again. Obviously, if it was necessary for some reason then that's different, but if there was any option to avoid it, I would. We did have the neighbours from hell in the last semi we lived in, so that's clearly going to have had a major impact on my view of living in attached houses.

DaisyWaldron · 05/07/2021 05:04

I can't imagine living in a detached house. I've always lived near the centre of whichever city I've been in, and that generally means a terrace or a huge multi million pound mansion. My in-laws have a detached suburban new build, and I definitely prefer my terrace. My mum lives in a very isolated house in the middle of a forest, and while she appreciates the privacy, I find it lonely and a bit frightening to be so far from other people. I find the sounds of people going about their daily lives around me soothing. The walls are thick, so I don't hear a lot from next door. I do have some annoyingly noisy neighbours, but they are from much further down the street, so a detached house wouldn't make any difference to me.

CrazyCatsAndKittens · 05/07/2021 05:24

It depends on your kids. Mine are really noisy so I hated living in a flat, then semi-detached house.

I agree that you might get great neighbors but you might get shitty neighbors, plus parking nightmares. I think you are a bit mad to be honest.

Roselilly36 · 05/07/2021 07:41

I have lived in detached properties for nearly 20 years, I am so used to that now, I couldn’t go back.

BarkingUpTheWrongRoseBush · 05/07/2021 08:30

Went from terraced to semi detached.

Moved due to parking and neighbour’s noise…new neighbours on one side were hot tub noisy. But mostly to get a garden rather than back yard. We looked at terraces with big gardens and weren’t put off by them being terraces.

Either our neighbour now is very quiet or the walls are very thick, but never hear him. It was weird at first not having cheek by jowl neighbours, used to it now.

Next move will be for bigger garden and view…..so will probably mean semi or terrace again. I’d like a detached but it’s not top of the list of wants.

Tatum1234 · 05/07/2021 08:32

No never.

SwimBaby · 05/07/2021 09:13

I would, I fancy a townhouse next and then maybe an apartment with a balcony after that.
I’ve had detached houses for the last 23 years.

namechange90832 · 05/07/2021 09:41

I think I'm still in the honeymoon period having only been in my detached less than a year but I can't imagine ever being attached. We will need to downsize eventually I imagine and I think remaining detached will be high up there if we can manage it. It's neighbour noise that I'm mostly worried about, and plot size/situation not wanting to feel encroached on (although I know some semis can manage this ok).

DaphneduM · 05/07/2021 10:18

Started off in a modern terrace, no noise issues at all. Then a semi - two consecutive sets of noisy neighbours - awful. Then - detached - absolutely great. Change of circumstances dictated back to a semi - but the attached neighbours were my elderly parents! Then another semi - no noise issues, but a horrible neighbour dispute. We're now living in a detached house - bliss! We have lovely neighbours too. But a lot of people wouldn't have chosen it as it's on a road!!!!! I wouldn't choose to go back to a semi, but sometimes life intervenes. Never say never.

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