3 bed Semi-Detached vs 4 bed Dormer Bungalow

[ReginaPhalang]

We are in the process of purchasing a 3 bed 1 bath Semi-Detached house in Reading, which we really liked when viewed. It's right size for us and near good schools. It is a 100 year old property and we are FTBs. After the survey, we got to know several issues that need to be fixed immediately (which are not very really blockers to move in) but we felt like it might be a little difficult to maintain if any issues keep occurring.

While we are thinking about this, we liked another property in the area which is a dormer bungalow. This is a regular bungalow from 1930s which is renovated into a dormer bungalow. This is 4 bed and 2 bath with wet UTF heating downstairs which I really like (not a fan of carpet). But this could cost 110k more than the 1st house. We are hoping survey won't have many issues since it's recently renovated.

Which one would you prefer based on our knowledge/ experience? Are there any disadvantages with dormer bungalows? How is the resale value for dormer bungalow? Please share your thoughts, as we are FTB and unaware of potential disadvantages.

Bungalow over the semi every time for me. That price gap sounds like it is closing a bit anyway if the semi needs work and appliances.
However, definitely budget another few £k for air con upstairs or at least £1k for a couple of portable aircon units.

To answer your question, I would think it a bit odd to go and knock on neighbours doors but I'm sure there are people out there who do it.
If the vendor is there when you are viewing, ask if the neighbours are quiet and see what they say. They might lie, of course, but their response should give you some idea.

Detached every time. I like dormer bungalows as the plots are generally larger and the downstairs is normally much bigger than an equivalent house. However, in this case, most of the bedrooms are downstairs. This would put me off with small children. It wouldn’t if it was just me and DH or if my DC were teens.
could you expand the roof in the future to move all the bedrooms upstairs ? This could be a consideration if it’s a potential forever home.

The amount underfloor heating costs to run will partially depend on what's on top of it.

In our flat, which was a 2009 conversion, there were just floorboards (I guess) and carpets, plus porcelain tiles in the kitchen - it was almost instant and didn't cost a fortune to run.

In our house, we have flagstones, and it takes about five hours until the heat busts through these really thick sandstone flooring tiles and reaches the room, so it costs a fortune to run. Then, when it gets too hot, it takes 48 hours for the room to cool down, which can be very annoying.

You have to be careful with what type of underfloor heating you have and what flooring is above it.

But yeah, water based UFH can be a nightmare if it springs a leak. Really, if you don't want to pulling up flooring, you need electric. But, I guess but don't know, electric is probably more expensive to run.

We haven't met with the neighbours to find out how they are? Is it something that people do while considering buying a property? Is it normal for us to go and meet the potential neighbours, or is it considered rude/ weird?

It is a bit weird, but whenever I view a house that I'm seriously considering in an area, I usually find someone near the house who is walking a dog, cleaning a drive, that sort of thing, and ask them what the area is like.

I've had invaluable information about parts of roads subsiding from these chats.

The problem with knocking on the immediate next door neighbours houses is: THEY could be the problem neighbours!

When you go for second viewings, you should ask whether there have been any neighbour disputes, whether informal (e.g. arguments) or formal - which are usually documented and logged, such as disputes over planning applications, complaints over noise, etc.

You can also use this:

https://www.adt.co.uk/crime-in-my-area

You can zoom in on your potential street to look at crime.

Once, using this, I asked a seller why there were 6 incidents on his road, seemingly the same house within the last 6 months, and after looking baffled for a moment, he told me the next door neighbour but one regularly beat his wife up.

So, obviously, I was never going to move there. But that ADT tool is invaluable. Just be careful not to be scared at the 'crime within 1 mile' figures and zone in more into your road/the roads you are most likely going to need to walk down.

If you like your neighbours great: if you fall out then the sounds of them in their house will eat you alive

So well put!

The dormer bungalow is detached, with 3 rooms(potential bedrooms) downstairs and one bedroom and dressing room upstairs.

Does that mean that if you use two of the downstairs rooms as bedrooms, you would be left with one reception room? I think it depends on how much space you’d have left downstairs - a large sitting/dining room and separate kitchen/breakfast room fine. 1 small living room might feel cramped. How many reception rooms does the semi detached have?

Detached every time if you can afford it. As you pointed out there is little or no loft space but is the downstairs big enough and versatile enough? Eg if you wanted a dining room would that be one of the 3 downstairs bedrooms? Saying a 2 bed, 2 recep bungalow with an extra room in the loft sort of loses the appeal a bit.

I wouldn’t trust you heard nothing during the viewing which is likely to be during the day when least noise or people out, you’d want to hear at morning/night etc and people ask neighbours to be quiet if on good terms during viewings too! Bathrooms, do you want to be sat on the toilet hearing their toilet and thinking they can hear you!?

3 rooms are apart from dining and reception. So it has Kitchen, living , dining, 3 bedrooms on ground floor and one bedroom and one dressing room on first floor

Detached every time, if you can stretch to it. I lived in a chalet style bungalow for many years with the master bedroom/bathroom downstairs and children upstairs but they were 7 and 11 years old. While they were younger we slept in the third room upstairs.

@ReginaPhalang definitely the bungalow then based on the size of the downstairs

I'd go with the bungalow.

We had underfloor heating (electric) in our old bathroom and it was divine. It heated the whole of the upstairs (which was a decent size) and wasn't very expensive to run.

The only problem is if it breaks you'd have to take the floor up to get it fixed but if it's recently renovated you shouldn't have a problem.

It sounds like the £110k isn't going to be much more than what the other house will cost and it's worth it for more bedroom-space, an extra bathroom (especially with kids) and being detached IMO.

Sleeping situation isn't very clear to me atm. Our daughter is only 2 and currently sleeps in the same room as us. But eventually, she'll sleep in her own room. I thought we can all sleep downstairs( but it might be too cold in winter). And in that case, the room upstairs seems like a waste. Me and my husband both work from home occasionally and having extra rooms will help but I'm wondering if the bungalow will be big for us since it's just going to be 3 of us

@ReginaPhalang upstairs could be a home office come guest room and the 4th bedroom could be a playroom/sitting room

I doubt you will find the bungalow too big for your needs as your daughter grows up. We used one room as a playroom and another as a study for me. Downstairs was never cold even though we had warm air heating. The bungalow's main advantage and I can't stress it enough as we moved to a semi afterwards is that it is detached. I may have missed what you wrote about the garden? Our detached bungalow had a much better sized garden than our subsequent semi had and my girls have very fond memories of it.

Detached every time. We are currently mortgage free in a semi detached we have lived happily in for years until recently, when shouty slammy stomping about noisy twats moved in next door. Never heard the previous people. We are taking on a mortgage again to get away from them and I won’t even consider a semi detached

Detached every time, and bungalows are usually on a better size plot than houses - they sell like hot cakes in my area!

From your update, definitely the bungalow. You could all sleep on the ground floor and use upstairs as a dressing room/clothes storage/study. It sounds perfect.

£110,000 extra on your mortgage is a lot. I'd go for the three bedroom semi, especially with both Santander and HSBC pulling their mortgages and talk of further interest rate rises to come, you don't want to stretch yourselves too much. You can always move to a larger house when the economy improves.

I live in a 150sqm detached dormer bungalow 😁. It was converted from a normal bungalow in the 80s, long before we bought it.

I mostly love it, especially our big garden, but the upstairs does get very hot in the summer. More so than in a "normal" house.

@KievLoverTwo How do you see crime info that granular - it's only giving me 'within 1 mile' of the postcode and I can't see a way to narrow it down

Thanks for sharing this link to check crime rate, very useful!

Hidden at the bottom right hand side of the map, barely noticeable, near the yellow man that you normally place on streetview is a plus and minus icon. Or you can take your mouse to the map which will give you a little, clutchy fist icon so you can drag the map around.

It's far easier to do on desktop than a phone.

It's brilliant. If it says 'postcode not recognised', firstly check that you definitely entered the right postcode. If you did and it still says it, there's no reported crime in the area and no past crimes either.

I live in the middle of the countryside, so my postcode is not recognised, and neither was my last house and postcode. There's hardly any one here and nothing ever happens!

I've just checked my postcode with that checker, and it says '0' for all crime within 1 mile of my postcode which is highly inaccurate. Laughable in fact. Car crime alone I could give you a monthly list of, and obviously I will only know a tiny fraction of crimes committed.

However, back to OP.

If I had the money to do so, I would choose detached over semi all day long.
However, it seems odd to be able to afford one house that is £110K more than the other house you are considering. Most people have a budget and then sometimes have a dilemma between 2 similarly priced properties, or one that might be cheaper but needs major work doing to it. It seems strange to be undecided between 2 properties that are ready to move in to, at such different pricing brackets.
It is going to depend on your earnings, job security, whether you want to work full time for many years to come, whether you have other things you'd rather spend that money on etc etc etc. Once you have decided that between you, then your decision will be easier.