Why are houses in the UK built like this?

[crazygirl0237]

I live in a semi detached and my soundproofing is terrible I can hear my neighbours cough

All the houses in my street are built where living rooms etc are next to each other and the front doors are on the outside.

Why are they not built the other way around it makes no sense!

Rant over

No answers but have often wondered the same 🤔

I think it's because it's cheaper to build when they share a chimney. Agree it's ridiculous though.

mine is the other way round but it is an edwardian semi not a new build .
I totally agree it makes sense though my hallway is dark as a result as there are no windows on the outside wall.

Because developers probably only think of profit not the practicality of living there.

Has anyone installed soundproofing and does it work

We were house hunting earlier this year. We spent much of the time wondering about bizarre design choices! What made an architect or builder think this would be a good idea?! Why is this like that? Why have they put that there?! I would love to know their thinking!

I was thinking of paying for a company to fit soundproofing to the wall but would hope it would work

A friend lives in a terrace house and had noisy neighbours on one side.

Soundproofing the party wall upstairs was so effective that she had the downstairs done, too.

I imagine the logic is because it's warmer in the adjoined rooms. Doesn't stop it being frustrating though.

Are you talking about new builds?
We live in a Victorian semi and rarely hear our neighbours.

We are in an Edwardian semi halls adjoining house so the rooms are on the exterior side and you only hear noise from the hallways. Much better!

We live in a 1930s semi and never hear our neighbours!

Same - we saw a gorgeous house that had been renovated and extended, massive brand-new open plan kitchen/living room, bifold doors etc - and washing machine and tumble drier in a shitty lean-to shed down the end of the garden! Why wouldn’t you put it in the new kitchen? Who wants to walk across the lawn every time you need to do some laundry?

Saw another one where the fridge, freezer, washing machine and tumble dryer were all in the garage - again, who designs a new kitchen and thinks “I know, I’ll put all the appliances in a separate, cold, dark building on the other side of the patio”?

Madness.

Ours is open plan downstairs, and all we can hear is our neighbours thundering up and down their stairs (teen boys - like a herd of elephants in hobnailed boots).

Here, in the Midlands, we have a variation of the 'semi-detached' house

Each pair of houses are effectively built 'back to back', with front and back gardens effectively by the sides of the houses, the front doors not visible from the pavement, the back doors at the side of the houses and every room adjoining the neighbour

That must be hellish

ETA - the kangaroo GIF was a mistake

I think a lot of times they In the days of open fires they built living rooms adjoining so that they could share a chimney stack.

I think the same on an almost weekly basis, when I indulge myself by having a mooch on Rightmove or Zoopla.

Having the actual living quarters away from your one adjoined neighbour is so obviously the sensible way round.

I thought it was because on the outside the doors are further apart and they think people are so daft they'll prioritise appearance of privacy over actual privacy. When we were house hunting this was one of the deal breakers so I spent far too much time looking at door positions!

i don't know, i would not like the front doors to be so near each other.
always seeing comings and goings, excuse for nosy neighbour questions etc.
there is more privacy with front doors two rooms apart.

We live in a 4 bed with extension semi and it's the first house we have lived in that doesn't have rooms attached to neighbours. But we don't have a landing or downstairs hall window. We don't hear our neighbours at all and they have baby twins plus three other children. Our living room window also looks onto our side garden because of this. Which is brilliant for my chihuahua to have nothing to bark at!

This annoys me too. English standard 3 bedroom houses are stupid. What's the point of the 3rd bedroom always being tiny.

front doors are on the outside.

I don't get this. Where else can a front door be?

@CharlotteBog

OP means the outer side of the house, I.e not the attached side

It took me a few minutes to figure it out.

I think they mean the hallway (and therefore the front door) and stairs tend to be on an exterior wall, whereas the living room is always on an adjoining wall.

I am mid-terrace.

I'm sitting on my sofa, which faces the front of the house.
My stairs lead from the lounge and are on my right. On the other side of the wall is my neighbours lounge.
To my left is the wall of the house; on the other side is my other neighbours stairs i.e. the houses are the same.
They have individualised them by some having bay windows and different roofs.