Sound from neighbours in semi-detached and terraced houses

[Kosmin]

How do these compare to detached houses, in your experience?

Worse!

Terraced house - could hear the neighbours having sex. Could hear their TV too and their fire alarm.

Detached house - can only hear them in the garden or if they are having a party.

I live in a 1950s semi and hardly ever hear our neighbours. I wouldn’t pay extra for a detached house.

Always go detached if you can afford it.

Depends on when it was built. Mine is quite new and has excellent soundproofing. If you want to live where I live you have to be attached as it's very high density housing - location location location!

Loved in terraced and now a semi. Heard a lot in the terrace but now tend to only hear the neighbours in the hallway if we are in the hallway but they are fairly quiet. Recently I do hear sneezing for example as we are both working from home in a joined room .

I lived in a very solid 1950s semi but could still hear the tv and piano from next door. When I moved one of my top requirements was that the living accommodation wasn't on a party wall - thankfully I found an extended end terrace, and my living room and bedroom are in the extension, so it's absolutely quiet. Not that my neighbour is noisy, but you never know what will happen in the future!

I don't think there are any set rules. It really depends on the build and the plot. It stands to reason you'll hear no internal noise in a detached house but still have neighbouring gardens. For me :
1960s flat - could hear the elderly man in flat below snoring.
2000 new build semi & 1960s semi - couldn't hear a peep despite children & dogs next door
1900s end terrace - could hear them going upstairs and their landline
1930s semi - can hear if they shout really loudly (e.g. celebrating goal watching sport) but nothing otherwise.

It wouldn't be enough for me to want a detached house. The only reason I'd buy a detached is for a bigger garden.

Am in a 350 year old terraced cottage. Can't hear a thing either side, the walls are probably a solid 3 feet of granite.

Victorian terrace conversion we lived in in london - could hear everything up and down but nothing side to side.

Terraced cottage in Jericho, Oxford that I stayed in once - felt like the neighbours were sitting on my lap watching telly. Apparently the walls were only one brick thick, they were built that cheaply.

Basically it's down to luck as to how noisy your neighbours are. You may roll the dice and never hear them, you may be kept awake for eternity listening to snoring. Always go detached if you can.

1930s semi. Barely ever hear anything - occasionally if they're really screaming at a video game or football match. Previous houses have all been Victorian terraces or 1920/30 semi and I never remember any issues. 1960s flat was awful - we could hear the upstairs neighbours very easily.

It really depends on the house, I've been in houses where you can hear the neighbour's sneeze and next door's phone ring and ones where you hear virtually nothing. It also depends on the detached house, if it's in a housing estate with other houses nearby you can end up with similar levels of noise to a semi, whereas a one off build in the countryside could be eerily quiet.

I feel like my current neighbours are actually in my house they’re so loud. Previous neighbours in the same house I did hear occasionally but nothing like this bunch. Even the neighbours the other side of them who aren’t attached to them can hear them though! I will definitely be looking for detached next time…

We have a semi, built in 1996. We'll it's terraced really & truly but we are joined to one side by a bathroom over a car port only.

We hear drilling, banging etc but not every day sounds of living. No footsteps on the stairs, no snoring, no sex noises.

If I bought a detached it would be for an extra bedroom rather than less noise.

We live in a new build semi and rarely hear our neighbour. Only if they’re doing DIY such as drilling.

My first flat was a Victorian conversion. The people upstairs were a nightmare stomping across the wooden flooring constantly, causing me to vow never to buy another flat again.

My last house was a halls adjoining Edwardian semi. We only heard them if they were drilling (rare), otherwise we never knew if the neighbours were home or not.

Current 1930's semi, living areas attached, we occasionally hear music from next door, but that's it.

I personally wouldn't buy a detached just to get away from neighbours noises, as the premium attached just isn't worth it to me, given the cost of land in London.

From experience of living in a semi detached - if you can afford detached i'd choose that every time.

Currently living next to the neighbours from hell.

I've recently moved from a detached to a terrace. My neighbours on both sides are lovely. One middle aged couple no kids. Since I've been here (3 months) they've been away for two. On the other side expecting couple with toddler, who both work so out of the house from 7.30-6. Occasionally hear the toddler crying, once I heard their TV. I've never heard the middle aged couple, though our halls adjoin so less likely to.
I guess these (Victorian) houses are well built, and my neighbours are not loud.

I lived in a new build terrace for 8 years and never heard the neighbours talking/TV/crying etc. The only thing I heard was DIY occasionally or the hum of a hoover if my own house was silent.

depends. previous house was a victorian terrace and in the entrance area noise travelled through a lot.
other rooms were fine.
later we discovered a badly covered up door through to neighbours. we closed it properly and then hardly heard anything.
plus there was a door in the attic as well

current house is a victorian terrace as well and we hear nothing.

Semi detached properties are very noisy in my experience. I can’t stand internal noise, so found it intolerable. Weirdly I found living in a tenement flat ok, even though I still heard my neighbours. If you can, I would always go for detached, although you are still at the mercy of your neighbours unless you live in the middle of nowhere, miles from anyone (my ideal!)..

I've lived in an end terrace 1940s build and could hear nextdoors dc, wasn't bad though, a mid terrace 1900 build and I could hear everything. I now live in a mid terrace built in 1850 and hear bugger all.

1930’s terrace - only hear DIY and raised voices/baby crying etc. Same in a 1910s terrace.

We’re in London and buying detached is completely beyond the means of an average person so a little bit of neighbour noise is just what you accept.

We (accidentally) moved into a detached house this year and I'm amazed at how relaxing it is. In our previous 1930s semi I was constantly aware of what room the neighbours were in and whether we were disturbing them. Now I can play loud music in the kitchen, the kids can run up and down the stairs and shout- it doesn't matter.
It's much better. But we live in a less expensive area so it wouldn't be in our reach in London.

I had a 50s semi (concrete block) and found the noise travelled along the cavity walls, as well as through floors. We had adjoining hallways but they were like a herd of elephants going down the stairs. My current place is terraced but their kitchens adjoin my house with living accommodation on the far side and I hardly hear them, it's bliss! They aren't noisy generally which helps.