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

Oh! I knew it was just me not getting it, as no one else asked.
Thank you. I can picture it now.

I'll never understand 3 and 4 bed houses with only one loo!

Thankfully, the developers that built this 15 year old cul de sac built the houses opposite of each other, so we never back into each others main bedroom lounge or stairs. I still hear alot and crave a detached on the moon but I am grateful for the peace I do get.

I assume that for the 1930s style semi there was sense in sharing the chimney stack (for cost reasons but also flues on external walls can be more temperamental because of the cold). And also the advent of the car/driveway, so the door was close to where you parked.

So, i grew up in a 1950s house where I could hear coughs, conversation etc. in the semi. The fireplace was the conduit as it was only my bedroom and the living room where this was the case. Later in a Victorian semi, I could only hear neighbours in the kitchen - firmer fireplace area. But just cupboards shutting etc. Now, ancient cottage, semi detached but massive stone walls. Can’t hear much at all accept through windows. Heritage preserved, no double glazing. But we are all quiet

We have an Edwardian semi the front doors are closest to each other and the stairs/hallway/landing are the main adjoining areas, along with the box room upstairs and bathrooms so we hear next to nothing

I think the materials the walls are made of make more difference than the layout of the rooms, to be honest.

We used to live in a modern house where the hallways were attached. It was awful, because the stairs were on the party wall and any time one of the neighbours used them the noise went right through the structure of the wall. Their front door banging was so loud that time and again I thought someone had come into our hallway.

We now live in a 1930s semi with reception rooms on the party wall, and never hear the neighbours.

My house is like the drawing here:

The adjoining wall is about as thick as the pencil line.

I can hear coughing and the bloke talking and the mum yelling,
"Get your fucking uniforms on, its time for fucking school"

🤪🤣

Honestly I often wonder what were the architects thinking when I walk into a new property. Try this one. In my mums flat the toilet is next to the kitchen and if that wasn’t bad enough the front door of the toilet is right opposite the living room! God forbid you need to do a dump when someone is in the living room. They hear it all and will get a nice whiff on your way out too.

Must be construction. I lived in a semi for years and barely heard a thing. However when I moved and house was empty on moving day I could suddenly hear loads so furniture obviously absorbs a lot of sound.

Me and DD to scale... 🤣🤣

@RosyappleA we rent , but once looked at a beautiful 4 bed semi in Teddington on a tree lined road that had a downstairs loo straight off the lounge! Couldn't believe it - whoever thought that was ok!!

Until a few yrs ago I had no idea semis were like this. All the semis I knew including the one I grew up had the stairs adjoining which makes sense to me.

Is it because of windows on the stairs to allow light in?

If your sofa is to scale it would barely fit your DD! But I see you have an induction hob, very nice

It's because people wanted front doors further apart

@RosyappleA the amount of boilers I see over the top of a bed in flats is bizarre. Especially when I see there are so many other places it could have gone.

It's a 1.5seater..

The 1.5 being 1.5 very small 4 year olds. 🤣

My house is like this, it's made much worse by the neighbours having hard flooring. The sound travels in really weird ways.
My brother soundproofed his which has worked but it's very involved to do it properly.

My 1948 (ex) council house has really thick walls with two layers of breeze block. Sturdy as fuck. We hear nothing from next door. Huge garden on 3 sides. Wide grass verge outside and trees.
Post-war building was very good!

Mine's a semi but also a bungalow, the two bedrooms have a shared wall with my next door neighbour, the living room and kitchen are the other side of the hall.

The kitchen is at the front and the living room is at the back with a door to the garden which is the way I think most houses should be built.

The chimney thing makes so much sense! Thank you to those who explained that.

My last house was built like the OP is talking about and it had shared chimneys. My new house isn’t built like this because the houses were all built without fires! I do miss a fire but happily swapped it for the much quieter layout.

I’ve realised by now that if you are not sure why builders have done this and that in a certain way the answer always is: it’s cheaper and quicker. The details don’t matter.

@Gingernaut How different is your life at the Midlands with kangaroos and semi detached houses back to back around.

My friend looked round a house with a toilet in the lounge! As in, a toilet, surrounded by a waist height wall. So you could sit on the loo and eye ball your guests at dinner. The mind boggles!!

I looked round a flat on my dream road, with no bathroom sink - you'd have to clean your teeth etc in the kitchen...

Where I live it's all terraced. Not sure I've even been in a semi more than a few times!

My old house was a 1950s ex Council semi. The entrance hall and kitchen were joined, upstairs it was the bathroom and tiny third bedroom.

It was absolutely solid and I never heard my neighbours.

My grandad worked in construction and always used to say that you should buy ex Council from that era because they were built to last.

Modern builds are appalling in comparison.