Dormer House, is it a good buy?

[Cakeisbest]

I'm considering buying a 3 bedroom house where the upstairs first floor bedrooms and bathroom are all dormer windows. This is a house style, not a converted bungalow, there is a 50/50 mix on the estate of this dormer style semi detached house alongside more standard style semi's, so they were all erected by the estate builder back in the 70's. I'm concerned that the bedrooms and bathroom will be cold in winter and hot in summer as the window area and part of the room of the projects into the elements with a flat roof. Does anyone live in one like this that can give me any helpful advice or opinions?

We lived in one.
Very draughty, as in I was lying in bed and could feel a breeze on my face draughty.
We removed the cladding off the dormer, insulated and had new cladding. Still a bit cold but not quite so draughty.
We could also hear everything that went on in our neighbours house. I’m talking putting cutlery in the kitchen drawer -even though there was a dining room between it and our adjoining wall- the hair dryer, sex, even peeing in the toilet some days.
They could undoubtedly hear us too but we were a LOT quieter than they were!

Good point on the noise too, thanks. With this house, the dormers are joined to next door, so there is kinda one long dormer across the front, and the back, of the two houses of the semi-detached, so we'd hear everything. Hmmm. Keep looking, methinks.

We lived in a dormer which sounds similar, built in 1972. We loved it and it certainly wasn’t cold. But the only downside was that the flat roof leaked twice and insurance wouldn’t cover it as they classed it as wear and tear. That was almost 30 years ago though so materials used on repairs to flat roofs may have improved.

We currently live in what sounds like the exact same style house as this and have no problems! It is warmer upstairs in summer and cooler in the winter but we haven’t encountered anything like the PP.

Brought up in one. I live in one now-never noticed any issues with noise or anything else

We also live in one. It’s not draughty or noisy at all. In fact we don’t hear a peep from the neighbours.
The upstairs can get quite warm in summer but I think that’s the same in most well insulated houses, friends non dormers are the same.
The flat roofs do need replacing every 20 years or so.
We’re really happy with it, if you like everything else I wouldn’t be put off. There are a lot of these types of houses where I live and they are well built good sized houses unlike all the new builds

Lived in one in the 70s. It was either cold or boiling. Nothing in between in those rooms. The flat roof leaked - had to go to night school to learn what to do to fix/bodge it.
it was detached so can’t comment on noise.
with modern upgrades - insulation etc they would be lovely as very bright and spacious.

@Cakeisbest We moved into our 70s dormer house nearly two years ago and yes, it’s cold this time of year and stuffy when it’s been sunny! However, we have had all the windows and external doors replaced, which has regulated it a little. Bought some Save and Seal tape to stop the draughts from the eaves and also an electric heater to warm specific rooms when we need it. We can hear the neighbours in our living room when they have the tv on really loud (one is hard of hearing) but otherwise wouldn’t say I have noticed any noise from them. We are in the process of putting up thermal curtains and buying big rugs as all the floors are wooden. Due to the layout of the house we have a sofa in the open dining room downstairs and we are contemplating replacing it with a sofa bed and sleeping downstairs in the summer! It’s been an expensive eyeopener but we love the house!

My grandad had one and it was great!
We've Converted a bungalow which has 3 upstairs bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and that's fine too, I think though as it was only done 4 years ago, it's modern insulation etc

My last house was like this and it's put me off ever buying another one. Lack of insulation and noise 😩

we've only got one room that has a dormer window but my god is it cold. in the winter it drops to 10c. the heat just disappears as soon as the rad is turned off. wouldn't do it again

Our first house was a semi dormer 70s house. It was warm enough, good house, big windows, decent room sizes and garden.
Our current house is a detached 70s dormer, same good points as above but this one is colder, particularly upstairs needed lots more insulation in the eaves. It's reaching 50yrs old so needed a lot of replacing, electrics/ plumbing/ the roof needs looking at etc. But this house is very solid and can't hear through the brick internal walls.

My grandparents lived in one. Both upstairs bedrooms had dormer windows. I loved it. Very snug and cozy and never too warm in summer (but was in the north overlooking the sea..).

It will be absolutely Baltic cold in the winter / or cost a fortune to heat because they were not built with any insulation in the top floor.

The cost of sorting the insulation in the top floor is well over £50k. Plus the upheaval, and if you can find someone competent to do it.

So bear that in mind if you want to buy it.

Also bear in mind that the vendors probably know how cold / expensive to run it is which is why they are selling. I do this type of insulation work and I’m watching the property market and there’s a lot of this stuff coming on.

Often I turn up to do a quote on these houses and the owners are walking around in a their outdoor clothes and the heating is off.