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)

@GrandmasCatEdwardian solid walls are typically 1 brick deep or laid side by side making most walls no more than 10 ins. They don’t have cavities so have no insulation or sound proofing. These houses typically have shallow foundations too. They are often lovely houses but they are not built to modern standards in some important ways so no buyer should assume “thick walls” because they could be 100 mm!!!

Our current house is detached. The internal walls may as well be cardboard in terms of how poor the internal noise insulation is. It's really annoying. You can hear everything between rooms.

In contrast, our last house was a Victorian semi. The halls were adjoining which is obviously good for minimising noise. But even with that we never had any issues with noise. Never once heard the neighbours, and the internal sound insulation was soooo much better than in our current detached house.

I don’t know but I can put my hand on my heart and swear that the noise we hear is NOTHING compared to what we heard in paper thin walls in new builds. 🙂

Ultimately, it is not about wall thickness but about how noisy your neighbours are. That’s what makes all the difference.

If it's priced about the same then I assume some people at least must be willing to buy a semi instead of a detached given the option! In some places a - think fancy regency - terrace is definitely as desirable as a detached I think all that matters is how you feel about it.

@GrandmasCatNot all new builds have “thin” walls. That’s just not true. They may well have sound insulation and much better heat retaining insulation in the cavities. No cavity, no insulation. Obviously cheap new build is not going to have the best sound insulating properties but it’s perfectly possible to have very decent sound insulation on a new build.

No, I wouldn't. But that's because my DH would make us tiptoe round, horrified at the idea that we might upset the neighbours. He really hates inconveniencing anyone and that extends to us annoying people too. I can only assume that he judges other people to the same standard he holds us to, so I suspect neighbours in a semi would also really piss him off. Our DDs wouldn't be able to do their music practice without him fussing. If you aren't like that, then go for it.

"Edwardian" so can one assume reasonable thickness of wall OR should one assume it was never intended to be split into separate wings so soundproofing is not implicit to the build?

flying freehold adds even more doubt regarding floor/ceiling soundproofing.

that said millions of people live in semis and soon get used to it. The little things can make a huge difference, eg: is the shared wall back to back living spaces or back to back bedrooms or even better, hallways?

hearing next door's "activity" can rather depend on what that "activity" is !!!!

I’m a musician; I could never live in a semi now! My parents live in a 1930s semi and you can hear every noise from next door (and no doubt next door can hear every noise from my parents 🤣)

After living happily in mostly terraces all my life my last experience in a 1930s semi put off forever. The walls were quite thin but the neighbour was an animal. I'm now detached and it's blissful.