Would you ever buy a semi after living in a detached- can you hear neighbours?

[LooksForGlasses]

As above.

Do you get noise?

In time I may move and one of the choices would be a Victorian terraced house - a semi.

I like older houses but have always lived in modern houses, first a semi (with a very elderly man next door) and then detached houses.

I would be older by then in my 70s (moving closer to family) and very quiet!

I can't stand noise now and noisy neighbours would send me crazy.

I've only just moved into a detached house for the first time in my life....ironically my own teenager is the loudest person on the street so I'm not noticing any peace and quiet. In my experience Victorian terraces aren't too bad for noise. Yes you can hear a bit through the walls but modern new builds are much worse. Obviously, it can depend on your neighbours but it's never been an issue for me (moved for parking issues rather than noise). Flats with people above is a whole different issue though, never want to live in one of those again.

Pays your penny and takes your choice.
Older houses might be more expensive to heat and repair? High ceilings means warm air rises and your feet freeze?
You will never know until you live in an older house how noisy the neighbours might be.

Theres older houses and older houses so it’ll all go back to the builder all those years ago and how well the adjoining communal walls were built.

Would I buy older in preference to detached? No, I wouldn’t.

Never.

My first semi was a Victorian terrace. We could watch our tv with the sound off. Drove me crazy. We spent ££££’s trying to soundproof but it was useless. The houses shared joists so it came through there, not just the plaster.
We then moved to a 1970’s semi, after asking if you could hear neighbours-they lied.
Tbf the first people we lived next door to us there were really quiet. When new neighbours moved in it was awful. I couldn’t go to sleep until they turned their tv off at midnight. It made me seriously ill. I still tense up when I hear loud noise outside my lovely quiet detached house now, and I’ve lived here several years. Awful experience. Never again.

I'm in a 160 year old end terrace of three houses. The only time I hear a tiny bit of noise is in my dining room when it's totally quiet and I can hear neighbour's vacuum cleaner. The noise travels through the chimney space. The walls in my house are solid stone and 6 inches thick.
Love my older house!

We recently downsized from a large modern detached to a 1970s semi detached bungalow. We were worried about the noise but literally never hear any sound from next door at all.
I’m sure they hear us as we have been renovating our bungalow. Professionals so time limited and daytime weekdays.
Our survey indicated sound proofing on the lounge wall.
When we lived in a Victorian terrace we could hear neighbours going up and downstairs, rows and some plate throwing accompanied by a sad song played continuously when our neighbours were divorcing!
The worst noises were renovations when neighbours were doing work themselves so it was for months and often til late at night ( we had young children then)
So I suppose the answer is it’s a gamble re noise. Also for future proofing stairs tend to be steep in a Victorian terrace. Maybe don’t rule out bungalows flats and apartments ( though maybe noise would be an issue)

My first house was a mid terrace and coming as I did from a rambling detached house I had no idea how easily my noise would transfer through the paper thin walls. Ever since then I've been in detached houses but I'm also contemplating my future downsizing needs. Don't think I could cope with anything less than a semi or end terrace. (I'm much quieter and more considerate than I was in my 20s!)

We've recently moved from a 1900s terrace to a 1980s semi and we can here the neighbours more in the semi than we could in the terrace.

Moved from a large detached house with a huge garden and couldn’t hear anything.

Moved to a semi bungalow couldn’t hear anything.

moved to a modern semi 3 storey house and nope can’t hear anything

No. Only if I couldn't afford anything else. I'd have a tiny detached if circumstances dictate.

I lived in detached houses for years and eventually moved to a semi detached bungalow. I honestly haven't heard any noise from my neighbours. The front doors aren't on the same street which means I don't hear them going in or out. Being a bungalow, means there's no noise going up or down stairs.

I live in a Victorian terrace and our walls are solid stone and 60cms thick in places! I only hear my neighbours if they're doing DIY which isn't that often.
Victorian houses do require quite a bit of upkeep, but they are so worth it for the quality and room sizes.

I grew up in a halls-adjoining Victorian semi and after various moves now live in a 60s detached.

I wouldn't go back to a terrace (house before this, hellish neighbours) or a flat but I would consider a semi if, and only if, it was halls adjoining with at least one bedroom, and one living space not touching the other side, as it were.

I wouldn’t. We live in a terraced house at present and my dream is to move to a detached house. The day to day noise doesn’t bother us particularly but it’s the relentless building/renovation works on both sides that are massively disruptive and we have no control over.

I think it completely depends on your neighbours.
I live in a terrace and I never hear my neighbours as they're very quiet, to the point I often think they're away on holiday when they're not. But I had issues with door slamming neighbours in a previous terrace.
I would think carefully about maintenance issues with any property if you're talking about your 70's. Houses with gardens will always be more upkeep than a modern flat. And stairs might not be a good idea in case of mobility issues as you age. I say that as my parents health and mobility rapidly declined in their 70's. Thankfully they had moved to a flat in their 60's.

It depends largely on the neighbours tbh - we get a lot of garden noise, less noise from indoors.

This is my experience — also end house of a three-house terrace, and the only place I can hear my neighbours is in the room with the chimney spaces adjacent. Only in our case it’s his Wagner records…

After an extremely noisy neighbour (e.g. Very loud music after midnight for hours) in a Victorian terrace would never go back to being attached.
My mum lives in a semi and luckily her neighbours are quiet but you still get some noise.
I think a lot depends on which rooms are attached,my mum's house has stairs, garage & kitchen attached whereas if bedrooms and sitting rooms are attached it would be worse. Growing up I could hear the neighbour's son's radio alarm clock through my bedroom wall

I now live detached and I would never go back to a semi or terraced. Incomparable for me. Just knowing no noise can come through the walls from next door makes my life better, let alone not actually hearing it (anticipation can be as bad as the noise itself). I am ND though and extremely noise sensitive.

We moved from a terraced to a detached. The terraced was a Victorian well built one and no noise inside (well until, the lad next door started renovating but he was good about times and even that wasn’t that bad). But we moved because of noise outside. The noise from the neighbours the other side got so bad it was difficult to use our outside space at the back. I’d turned the back yard into a little garden, nice seats, got the sun till late, lots of plants. New neighbours got a hot tub and a bar, and used them, with friends, loudly. Also had kids who screamed outside all day in the holidays and weekends, it echoed round the walls.

I know people in less well built terraced who can hear their neighbours go up and down the stairs…

we moved to a 1900s semi detached, it’s built like a bunker, we never hear the neighbours inside and he couldn’t hear our renovation work. We never hear the neighbours outside either as there’s not the same echo, it’s hedges and also they are just less noisy..

it’s colder as you don’t get the same protection from being mid terrace.

Wed have liked detached but was out of our price range.

My last three houses

First was a 1980's built semi and I honestly thought we didn't have anyone living nextdoor as they were so quiet.

Second was a 1980's built detached. Neighbour noise was awful. All detached houses around us , all with kids running around noisily in the gardens and teenagers playing loud music all the time.

Current house is a 1930's semi. It's very quiet and I don't hear a peep from the neighbours.

I think it mainly depends on your neighbours.

Thanks all.

It's going to be a detached based on this.

I was brought up in a 1960s semi with adjoining lounges and kitchens and we could hear the neighbours, but at the time they were quiet ones.

My sister bought a modern terraced house and moved after 18 months because she could hear the neighbours peeing in their loo.

I will never again live in a terrace or a semi.

Despite having so many happy, quiet years in terraces throughout my adult life, with my favourite house my neighbour moved and I had students move in. The noise meant I moved to a 1930s end terrace which was worse. The attached side was a cokehead and she would scream all night several times a week. The other side had a hot tub and played loud music and shouted 10 hours a day, every day. It nearly broke my health. I then moved into a modern apartment and despite being surrounded by more people it was quieter.

I'm in a detached bungalow and it's bliss. I often hear nothing at all. My anxiety still goes through bad periods.

I bought a terraced house after living in a detached!

We can’t hear the neighbours through the walls. At all. No talking, no televisions, no vacuum cleaners, nothing. It’s a new build with very good insulation.

We can occasionally hear as they come and go past our front window/door - there is a walkway immediately in front of the houses, between the houses and the communal car park. There are seven houses in the row and they can be accessed from either end so it only ends up being residents of two houses that walk past, so it’s not often enough or noisy enough to matter.

It’s the trade-off for moving to a more urban, densely populated area than where we previously lived.

Sadly I think we might actually be the noisiest people here! Sorry neighbours.

Halls adjoining Victorian semi, I only ever hear the neighbours when I’m in the hall/stairwell, and even if she’s shouting up to the kids, it’s pretty faint. Can hear hoover too. But can’t hear them from any of our living spaces. Non issue for us.

I have done it! I lived in a Victorian detached for nearly 20 years and ended up buying a halls adjoining semi detached built in 1919.

Despite really thick outer walls the wall between the houses is one brick thick (or thin!) which was obvious when we went into the loft after we'd bought it. The first night we were here we could hear the neighbours TV with crystal clarity and I could have cried.

Luckily the neighbour is incredibly quiet! He watches the TV in his sitting room maybe once a fortnight for a couple of hours. He mainly lives on the other side of the house. But if we had 'normal' neighbours it would drive me insane.