Detached on busier road or end of terrace somewhere quieter

[morechaimama]

Me and DC post divorce, houses same price, same bedrooms and receptions, garden and parking. Detached will need a bit of updating but nothing significant.

We’re in rural detached now and can’t decide…I prefer the location of the end of terrace but the guaranteed peace inside the detached (and not to have to worry about our noise) is also a big draw.

Thoughts please?

Detached , I’ve lived on a main road and you really just get used to it .

end of terrasse on quieter road 100%.

with young children and cats? NEVER

Detached. With the road, you'll know what you're getting, and even tho

Oops!
Even though it'll be busier than your current road, you'll get used to it and there won't be nasty surprises. The problem with not being detached is that you're at the mercy of your neighbours. You might strike gold and have the nicest neighbours ever, considerate and quiet. Or they might listen to thumping rock music every night. Or you might have wonderful neighbours when you move in then 6 months down the line they sell up and you get the neighbours from hell.

It's the lack of control over people living literally attached to you, and the unpredictability which makes inconsiderate or noisy neighbours one of the most stressful things life can throw at you.

Detached all the way.

Thank you for all the replies, they have helped me to realise that my head says detached and my heart says end-of-terrace...I am going to see them both back-to-back next week, so it will be interesting to see which I want to listen to! Thanks again.

For me it would depend a lot on the design and type of houses. If it's an end of terrace where all or most of the rooms have an adjoining wall, that would put me off a lot more than if many of your rooms are on the outside. And if it's one of those modern detached where it's all packed into an estate with tiny gaps between houses, then that's not so appealing.

But I would expect to get something more for an end-terrace at the same price as a detached. How much better is the location for the terrace?

@morechaimama - just seen your latest response. TBH if your heart says end of terrace, then that is probably the one to go for.

The detached one is quite a bit older but neither are modern, the end of terrace might be 50s or slightly later, and looks sturdily built but the lounge and one main bedroom are on the party wall unfortunately. Location-wise the detached is on a through road in a busy village that is known for its community spirit, whereas the other one is in a hamlet down a short track on what used to be farmland, so not on a road at all.

@morechaimama who has to pay for the maintenance of the short track? Is it council or private owned? What is the parking like? - try to imagine what it would be like on an icy/snowy day. The village might be a better option. Also think of the future. - bus routes etc might be handy!

@Alphabet1spaghetti2 lots of space for parking but you are right, the track (which will almost certainly be owned privately) will be interesting in the winter! Both have bus routes thankfully - although the village has more, the hamlet is much nearer to the nearest town...this is exactly the problem, neither option aces the other, they both have pluses and minuses!

How old are DC? Will both give the same level of independence as they get older?

Busy road is a problem with small DC but less so as they grow. We live on quite busy road, bus and ambulance route, I didn't really like it when we first moved here as it was a big change but now I think it's great that it's so easy for everyone to get places themselves and quickly.
Our garden is away from the road and quite private so we tend to spend winter months in front of the house (double glazed windows and a hedge mean we get very little noise inside the house) and summer months at the back of house with door and windows wide open.

I was in a similar position and went for the detached.

I had the party wall bedroom as a kid and it was hell on Earth when next doors son played his bloody cornet. Nice quiet neighbours can move and noisy ones move in.

Being able to hoover/diy when I want.
The busy road doesn’t bother me at all and it’s only busy during day.

The street community has meant I’ve had immediate help when my car seized up and when my heating pipes started leaking.

Detached had off street parking.

That was some of my reasoning but you have to decide what’s important to you.

Which one has better access to schools, activities for your DC (especially when they want independence)? I’d probably go for the detached as a track for access doesn’t sound the best (especially in winter).

How much research are you able to do?
We did exactly this 25 years ago, chose the detached property on a busy road over the semi or terrace. However our road is not busy all the time, it's quiet in the evenings and noticeably quieter in school holidays. The traffic is mainly at school run times and home from work. If it was an A road with big lorries at all times of day and night it would have been different.

We have no regrets. Other than the big garden which was such a bonus with young children is a struggle to keep up with.

Have we can hear noise in our current property from neighbours (nothing horrendous), but the quiet road is absolutely a no brainer for both of us.

@Alphabet1spaghetti2 in that case it’s detached detached detached!!! You can’t tell who your future neighbours will be, might be quiet, might be noisy.

Some people say detached is better but at the end of the day bad neighbours are bad neighbours. You need a pretty big detached not to hear a garden full of kids screaming constantly from dawn to dusk.

It also depends on the type of the party wall. Some seem to let every bit of noise through. Others are fine and suppress most of the noise. I hardly hear anything from my neighbours. But that is a combination of modern insulation, the fact that the living spaces are not adjacent and we are both pretty quiet.

The house over the back that is detached that seems to be scream central is far more annoying in terms of noise generated and that is miles away.

Unless the road is very busy / main road / A road, I would choose the detached property over an end of terrace

It's such a personal choice but for me, as I have to drive a lot, I prefer to live on a main road which hopefully will be gritted when necessary.

@GasPanic true- but a family who allow kids to scream non stop in the garden are hardly likely to quiet indoors! So all things being equal, I'd say detached is better. It you do have selfish neighbours next to you, better that they're detached than joined on.