Would you buy a semi if you can afford detached?

[Maybemabel526]

We have been trying to buy a house for a while now and struggling to find a place with not much on the market until last week. We can afford a detached house in our budget. That said we viewed a “wing” of an Edwardian home yesterday - read: semi-detached. It’s slightly smaller than we want (therefore cheaper) but felt very homey with lovely old features. And the garden is AMAZING and big. But…it’s semi-detached with a section of flying freehold.

Opinions please? Poll below!

(For anyone from last thread the modern one we tried to buy the sellers haven’t found a onward property so are waiting for that so it’s not an option currently)

I have lived in semi detached houses my whole life. The only one where noise was an issue was a new build - noise was unbearable. Could hear next door peeing, having sex, their TV, their sneezes. It was grim. I had to sell up or go insane.

The house I am in now is about thirty years old - bigger, sturdier. I very occasionally hear the teenage boys run down the stairs - but only if I am in the hall and it’s very very quiet in my house.

the only real noise I get is from the teenage girl behind practicing her violin with the windows open. She is getting better at least 😂

Yes @Ved similarly here this garden is a major selling point, much better than we’ve seen on detached houses. The plot is twice the width of the house, shame we can’t just pick up the house and move it to the middle of the plot!!

We did. We chose it as it was a better location in the same village for our DD to walk to school. Absolutely no regrets. Never hear our neighbour and the houses are joined along the dining room and bathroom which probably helps. Interesting there is a detached next door and we hear them more as they use their garden more often

I should have said that our semi is like this - our cottage is double width (was built as two, 200 years ago but converted to one in 1965) - whilst our attached neighbour's cottage is narrow but deeper. So looking from above they form a sort of 'L' shape, although ours has a small 60s extension the other - unattached - side. His staircase must be somewhere along the other side of our garden wall, which is another plus point!

Therefore the - windowless - side wall of their cottage forms the (double height) wall on one side of our garden. It's an old pebble/flint wall so a really attractive backdrop for plants. His - tiny - garden only shares around 8' of fence with ours.

Behind us there's a single storey converted chapel - used as a holiday let - that butts up against our rear fence. Their garden doesn't adjoining our property at all.

On our unattached side there's a wide path giving access to our driveway and that of a couple of other neighbours whose houses are beyond the chapel.

No neighbours can see into our garden so it feels incredibly private. We've had much larger detached houses with less outdoor privacy and lots of new builds - often squeezed into their plots like so many sardines - wouldn't be this private either.

Imo, the bigger issue with the house the OP is considering is the flying freehold.

We were in this position - a detached or a mid terrace (relatively new build). We absolutely loved the terrace - the views, the feel of it. Don’t regret it for a second, but we do have lovely neighbours.

@Maybemabel526As it has a wide plot, could you extend so more of the house is away from the adjoining house? You could create something lovely and retain its features too. I think that prospect would make me buy it!

I find it absolutely mad that my friends in a huge semi with lovely garden etc are moving just because they can afford a detached so think they should get this as the next step. I’m in a London flat and their current home is my total dream home (but worth less than my flat!)

Exactly this. ^ I know a few people with a new build detached house, and they are just 3-4 feet away from the 2 houses either side, they have a 10 to 12 foot long front garden with a small lawn, and 1 parking space if they are lucky! Some have nothing hardly at the front, just a small tarmacked area - with the front door 6 feet from the public footpath... nowhere to park their car, and they nearly all have a small back garden, no more than 15 feet long.

No chance to ever extend as there's no room, and you can still hear noise from next door, (and further down,) as the whole row of 8 detached houses share one big foundation. You're pretty much on top of each other, and the quality of the build is so basic, that you can hear the music from the house 3 houses down when they are playing it in the garden - even when you are in your house. Most have no garage.

Conversely, one of my DC has a 3-bed end terraced 1860s Victorian house with a cellar and 3 floors, and you hear nothing, ever, from the neighbours. Small-ish front garden (10 feet from the gate to the front door,) but huge, long, back garden (120 feet long,) with big mature trees in the bottom half, and really exquisite interiors like original 1800s Corbel ladies, ornate cornicing, bay windows, large hallway with original Victorian tiling on the floor, decorative ceiling roses, and 4 cast-iron fireplaces. (One in the lounge, one in the dining room, and one each in the large and medium bedrooms.)

Each of the houses in the row of 33 has 2 parking spaces each in a private car park at the back of the row... The spaces are included in the deeds of the house, and you need a passkey to get in through the gate. Just as well, as the town, is 13-15 minutes walk away, and the train station is 10 minutes walk away, so all and sundry would be using the car park!

I would also never swap this for a generic new build detached. It cost more than some new build detached too, but my DC was never buying a new build and always had their heart set on a Victorian property.

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Linked detached could share foundations but proper detached do not. There’s no way an owner would know there’s shared foundations and the walls all need foundations so the concept of sharing is odd. You don’t share a wall unless it’s a link detached!

No. In a semi it's so dependent on neighbours. In our previous house which was a semi, our first attached neighbours were really great, but they moved and the new ones were the neighbours from hell. We bought a detached and I wouldn't go back if I could possibly avoid it.

Edit: Both houses were period I don't like modern either.

Honestly, I'd never buy a semi in your shoes. I've lived in every type of house and could hear neighbour noise in every attached house. I now live in detached and it's bliss, especially considering NDN have a noisy barking dog (which is annoying enough in the garden, but that's another story).

Next house I move to will be neighbourless 😂

We live in a semi now, detached is going to be on the must have list for the next house.
Our neighbours aren’t even that bad really it’s just that I don’t want to hear next door forever - also aware that if they moved out we could end up with someone way worse and it could be a complete nightmare!

I suppose it is an old house with thick walls so probably not the same issue with noise as modern houses. Also consider the neighbours, if they do not have children you may not even hear them.

I live in a semi. Looked at several detached houses, but the one we bought was on the biggest plot (200m back to front) with parking for 5 cars, lush mature garden that’s not overlooked due to trees, a big garage etc and a lovely extension that makes the master bedroom ‘detached’ as 3 external walls. If we couldn’t got all this and in a detached then I’d have gone for it. Luckily we have lovely neighbours.

Personally having lived in terrace, semi and now detached, if I could afford it, I would stay detached. We had many years hearing very little neighbour noise, couples and families. then one of our elderly neighbours sold up and we the noisiest anti social people possible move in, Had about 3 years of hell, not being able to enjoy home or garden and in a constant state of anxiety. Moving to a detached house saved my sanity. So in short, if not well sound proofed or garden overlooked, I would proceed with caution if a long term purchase. The peace you have now may not last forever.

no

I think most people who are used to detached prefer them and will pay more.

Both DH and I grew up in detached houses.

We have lived for 20yrs, and are selling, a huge semi with 4 double bedrooms (2 with kingsized beds in) 3 reception rooms downstairs and 3 bathrooms (incl double ensuite). We can’t hear the neighbours we are attached to and they have 3 boys under 7.

Next door (the other side) is a tiny detached 3 bed (bed 2 is a single and 3 is a box room), 1 reception room, 1 bathroom. Theirs has sold for £40k more than ours is in for as the buyer wanted detached.

@GrandmasCat It’s completely wrong to think Edwardian houses have thick dividing walls! They just don’t. Edwardian builders built to a price too! They are probably single brick as was the norm for the era. Cottages in some areas might have thick stone walls but the acoustic properties in Edwardian houses are not necessarily better than a modern house. Edwardian houses are usually prettier!

We viewed a semi this week, having lived in a detached house for the last 20 years. We didn’t go for it for various reasons. The majority of rooms weren’t attached so I think from a noise perspective that wouldn’t have been too much of an issue. I’m more concerned about my teenage boys disturbing neighbours.

But I refute the idea that older semis or terraced houses all have thick walls. The first house I owned was an 1850s cottage and I could literally hear my neighbour’s teaspoon in his cup of tea. That is the reason I have chosen detached for the last 20 years!

We’ve asked for a second viewing and will try to pay a lot more attention to next door and how it links before deciding what to do. Thank you all!

I've owned an 1890's semi once. It was one long horror of complaining from the neighbour that they could hear my alarm clock, refusal to contribute to the repair of the shared roof valley that was letting in water and then threats and intimidation.

Never again!

I’d love an end terrace house. Is there more chance of break ins though or am I worrying unnecessarily?

For the record, I have an Edwardian house, the walls of my house are 12 inches thick, I can’t hear my next door neighbours (or my family if downstairs or in another room unless they are shouting but then, I can also hear the neighbours across the road if they were particularly loud (no domestic building is totally insulated against sound).

I suppose it depends on the quality of the construction AND the neighbours, which applies to buildings of any period.

I’ve lived in quite a few different properties of differing types and various periods/ ages. The best by far is what I have now which is a modern detached house.

I live in a two hundred year old cottage with thick walls but I can still hear my neighbours 🤷🏻‍♀️I love my house but my quality of life does somewhat depend on how courteous my neighbours are noise wise.