Please help: Detached vs Semi (new-builds)?

[dimap81]

Hi there,
Not sure where else to ask, please advise:

We are a family of 4 (kids 11 and 16 if that matters), wife works in Brighton (hybrid, 1-2 times a week), I work on London/CW (also hybrid 1-2 times per week).

The plan is to live there for 5-7 years, but this is unlikely to be our house till the end of days (so the ability to sell & appreciating value are important considerations).

Narrowed down our options to these 2 in Haywards Heath:

1. Linden Homes: www.lindenhomes.co.uk/developments/west-sussex/fox-hill-haywards-heath/homes/the-chilham-variant

Larger of the 2, better proportions, especially for 3rd bedroom.

IMHO better area: quieter, park right in front of the house, a convenient bus stop & a pub 3 mins away. £465K with all upgrades.

1. David Wilson Homes: www.dwh.co.uk/new-homes/dev002203-wychwood-park-dwh/plot-464-h7818464/

Detached, "proper" own house. Looks much better visually, brighter and sunnier inside. Has a convenient utility room but bedroom 3 is tiny. Commute: extra 10 mins up the hill to get to the same bus stop. Also, the whole development by DWH/Barrat seems slightly more chaotic than a better spaced Linden. £490K with upgrades.

Wife and soul like the looks, me and brain like the space and quiet, but very little between them actually.

What do you think?

I couldn’t be arsed with a ten minute walk to get to a bus stop.
I’d go with the first just to save agro on bedrooms!

It's tough because of the 3rd bedroom. Any way it can be changed to make it slightly bigger and pinch a little space of the master?
I prefer the downstairs layout in the detached, and wouldn't underestimate how useful a utility room is.
With the semi all your downstairs living space is right next to next door, so I would think about how much noise you can hear.
On balance the detached probably sneaks it...but a pub 3 mins nearby is tempting too..

Just seen that the lounge is quite narrow in the detached. The semi does seem more spacious. Can you view them yet?

I’d go with the semi-detached, for the better proportions and closeness of bus stop. However, I would also consider the size and orientation of the gardens and ease of car access/parking as well.

With teenagers, bedroom space is more important than communal space, so I'd pick the first one.

We live in a David Wilson home, they are lovely. They have the type of house that you're looking at on our estate, it is quite small, but I'd always choose detached so you've no worries about noise issues.

@Londongent

Just seen that the lounge is quite narrow in the detached. The semi does seem more spacious. Can you view them yet?

We got to see the Detached one as a show home.

The Semi - we only saw a ready one by one of the owners, not a show home. Makes it less impressive but more realistic :) saw a show home of a different design.

The living rooms are actually very close in size, the detached has an extra window for the living room making it much lighter.

The Semi is larger in all major areas except that it does not have a very useful utility room.

Location

• Semi is on the very edge of quiet development. Entrance to the South, Garden/Kitchen facing the North.
• Detached - right in the middle of a larger development, next to affordable housings and many other plots, entrance facing the South, garden to the East

Is the 16 year old likely to be driving in the next year/18 months? I think parking should always be considered on new build estates but particularly if your house will have three cars but only space for two. Stack parking is a bitch, but they've both got that. Hard to tell from the plans which has the better guest parking (although the second has a visitor spot right outside which you could be lucky enough to grab).

If the semi is larger then I'd go for that personally!

I would never live in a semi again.
Neighbour noise can be hell.

I prefer the detached. Less likely to be neighbour issues, a utility room is really useful and an east facing garden is a nicer orientation. Unless the garden of the semi is really long, the north facing garden will be shady year round, plus the kitchen diner will be darker.

I'd also flag the noise issue in a semi, especially if it's a new build. If neother is quite ticking the box, and the 3rd bedroom is an issue in the detached, I'd keep looking.

I think I'd go with the detached. I'd be concerned about noise in a semi, particularly as it's a new build. I also love a utility room, such a useful space and keeps the washing out of the kitchen which is great. They do both look lovely though.

That 16” makes a difference in width though, in the sitting rooms. 10’4” is decidedly narrow. I’ve lived in similar and it was really restrictive and annoying.

I would go for detached over semi every time purely because of noise issues, etc.
Is your 16 year old likely to be going off to university in a couple of years? Could you say they have bigger bedroom till that point and then swap so that younger one then gets the bigger room? As long as you discuss with them and tell them that is the long term plan.

Linden house is far nicer as is the site layout. The other one may be detached but looks like it's pretty much attached to next door as they are built on top of each other with tiny gardens.

Go for the better area every time if you want to resell.

Detached, no noise no neighbours huge appeal. I will never live in anything but detached again.

Detached for me too but wouldn't want East facing garden as doubt you'll get any sun apart from morning. We have a similar estate being built but the car spaces are tiny and roads are very narrow. When the site it fully up and running with people in, think about the parking on road with everyone else who has more than 2 cars. Good luck in your decision

I may be wrong but I was under the impression that new builds devalued for the first few years after being built and then levelled out in terms of resale value so if you are only planning on being in the house for 5-7 years then you may lose out?

First one.

Detached. I'd rather live in a tiny detached house than a giant semi.

Having lived in multiple ages and types of semis and terraces, as well as flats, I'd never ever live attached to another house unless there was no other option.

Neighbour noise.

Third bedroom too small for a teenager, I'd go for the semi. Though actually I'd probably keep looking.