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

[Louieee]

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?

I feared these answers, but knew they were coming. I may have to move myself, my three children, and my elderly mum, from our (ugly as sin but v v quiet) semi-detached but rural home, into a terrace or semi about 25 miles away. My greatest fear is noisy, antisocial twat neighbours, and having my mum's twilight years being made miserable.

@89redballoons

It depends what you like, but I love my terrace.

We have friendly neighbours: retired couple with dog on one side, family with young adult kids who quite often have friends round for drinks in their garden on the other. So we do get noise but I actually quite like it - it makes the place feel friendly, cosy and safe to me. I'm quite an extraverted person and have always lived in cities. I appreciate some people will disagree and that's fine for them too.

Ours is a postwar, ex-council house and the walls are not paper thin - you can't hear actual conversations through the walls or toilets flushing etc.

We have a lane at the back with off street parking and access to our back garden, so that is one of the major disadvantages to some terraces that we don't have to deal with. It's cheap to heat too, and is one of the cheaper houses in our lovely area.

I grew up in a detached house but genuinely prefer where I live now.

That sounds more like being in a good neighbourhood rather than whether you're terraced or detached.

No. NO.FUCKING.WAY.

People are expected to put up with seriously anti-social noise in the UK.

If I had a detached I'd stay in it as long as possible.

No...I've done the terrace thing and the noise is what actually made us move.

Now in a semi. I'd love a detached but dont have a million quid to spare.

I live in a terrace because it's cheaper. I've been very lucky with neighbours. I love it. All the rooms are a decent size. My child has a large double room. We have a large garden. I'd live in another terrace in the same circumstances.

Finding some of the comments on this post a bit snobby actually.

I'm end of terrace. I grew up in a detached home but literally couldn't tell you the difference in terms of noise. We literally NEVER hear the neighbours and (as I asked them ahortly after bringing a newborn home) they say they can never hear us. Maybe we are lucky, I don't know. We are looking to upsize now and might get a detached but I really would mind if not - for me, a far bigger compromise would be garden and house size, and street noise.

Absolutely not. I would never move back to a house attached to anyone else.

Noise from neighbours drove me insane and I would never want to go through that again!

For context, I grew up in a terraced house in London and never noticed noise from neighbours but when I moved out to my first house, the neighbours just didn't give a shit and played loud heavy metal music constantly along with using their gardens as skips for pissy mattresses and other rubbish.

Ah thank you everyone. I guess the overwhelming majority agrees with my DH about not going back to non detatched if there is a choice.

Street parking for terraces is another downside I forgot about. Had my side mirror clipped and had to lug like kids bicycles etc from door to car, and no garage.

Could be nice to move to flat or terrace in retirement I suppose.

No one's mentioned security. I get such a great feeling of security from living in a terrace. I can go away for weeks and not worry that I'm going to be broken into. If I lived in a detached, I'd be freaking out all the time I was away.

Terraces are a lot warmer than end of terraced/detached. Fewer outside walls to lose heat.

I think the answers here prove that it's not just a detached versus terraced matter. It's the neighbourhood and neighbours that make the difference. It's possible to have brilliant neighbours with no noise in a terrace and just as possible to have noisy nightmare neighbours in a detached. But, the real issue is down to probability/risk etc. You may be lucky with your choice of terraced house or, more likely, you won't be.

I live end of terrace (1960's) and we can hear someone sneeze really loudly next door and their dog crying if they go out. We can't hear their tv or their conversations and they're generally pretty quiet. Does make me whether that means we're the noisy neighbours

Is it really likely that people will be "unlucky" with terraces? Of the houses I've lived in, all have been terraces or semi-detached, and one, in a student area, had a neighbour who played loud music while having sex. The other 9 have been lovely, some big and expensive, some smaller and cheaper, but none that I would regard as worse than a similarly built detached house.

I'm currently in a 1930s end terrace where I can hear the neighbours if they are in their garden (which would also be the case for a detached house) or (faintly) if they are shouting/cheering, or the toddler is laughing.

Terraces are a lot warmer than end of terraced/detached. Fewer outside walls to lose heat.

Certainly not my experience going from a drafty Victorian terrace to a new build insulated detached!

Yes - and not all terraces have bad parking. My end of terrace has a large driveway which comfortably fits 3 cars, as well as a decent front garden. It's a really good plot overall, and the street is a quiet one with the houses all set well back. It depends on a whole lot of things.

I was spoilt living in a 4 bed detached, large garden, not overlooked and plenty of space between properties.
Following divorce I moved in to a semi, where 3 years on I am only getting used to the intrusive sound of neighbours. Gardens are small, so that has been something to tolerate, never peaceful.
As far as living next door to older neighbours with no children living at home..it is the constant stream of noisy grandchildren who all but live there is what I am having to put up with.
If only I could afford a detached again...

No way and what if you fall out with neighbours?
Bad enough in detached but semi or terrace !!

We did. Was a good decision for us.

It depends, lots of detached house are only a few metres apart so not much different to a semi. If there is lots of space between the houses then definitely detached. Most new build detached are so close together it makes no difference.

@NWmother maybe in terms of gardens but never heard neighbours through the walls of a new build detached...that would have to be a whole other level of noise...

@BrieAndChilli

no-one CHOOSES to live attached to someone else, in an ideal world of course everyone would love to live in a detached house with lots of garden around so you couldn't see/hear neighbors!! BUT in reality cost/location/being near family or school or work/needing a particular type of house means that being attached is the compromise that needs to be made. So I don't really think your question has any point because of course no-one would choose to go back to being attached if they didnt have to

Really?

@Nohomemadecandles what made it a good decision for you and would you do anything different if budget wasn't an issue?

I grew up I detached. Then lived in a flat and terraced houses in my twenties. I now live in a detached and love it that I don't have to worry so much about noise (although pretty quiet anyway). Contemplating a semi in posh area. I'm not sure paying out £200k more for the privilege would be worth it.

[quote Louieee]@Nohomemadecandles what made it a good decision for you and would you do anything different if budget wasn't an issue?[/quote]
The rooms are bigger than the newer builds. We got more house for the same money in a nicer area. We're semi rural and I love the feel of the house. High ceilings, big fireplaces but cosy. Warm too. Feels safe at night. Cheap to run.