Which would be quieter flat or house? (Renting)

chickmug

One of the younger members of my family has enjoyed living with her Mum & Dad, in a detached house, in a very quiet area. But now she is looking to move in with her boyfriend and has asked me advice on the type of place to rent before they buy one day. But she wants to be able to sleep at night and also have reasonable peace during the day she needs to do some work at home.

Her budget will get her 2 bedrooms, flat or house (semi or terrace mid or end).

So do you guys have advice for me on this?

tanith

I would say from my family experience that flats can be very noisy, with music , footsteps , general movement around the building.. no guarantee a house won't have noisy neighbours but at least it only comes from outside not above and below too...
I would always plump for a house over a flat if I could afford, its also going to give them some outside space too ...especially if your family member is used to a quiet life...

[Deleted User]

My experience of flat renting is to go for a top floor one - as no one above to hear foot steps of people walking around etc. (esp. if they have wooden floors - this can be a nightmare).

Other than that it depends on the area and the neighbours, as noisy (and inconsiderate) neighbours in a house or flat will be equally noisy regardless of house/flat. Double glazing can keep out street noise a lot of the time etc

Guitar

All comes down to the neighbours although if it's near a main road that might cause noise too. A house is more likely to be quieter, ideally semi or end simply because you have less people near you. In my flat I used to be kept awake most of the night because of the neighbours' dog above, now most of the flats around me are empty and it's nice and quiet. Except one neighbour who shouts sometimes, not angry shouting...just howling and whooping. I recently had a chance to move to a much cheaper flat but I passed because it wasn't worth risking losing the peaceful nights sleep I have here. Finding somewhere quiet isn't easy.

Before this flat I lived in a house where the neighbours let their kids run riot until the early hours of the morning. This was one of my main reasons for moving.

So where ever she goes check to see if the neighbours have dogs or young children first.

chickmug

Thanks for the replies so far.

Do kids live in flats as well as houses. I thought there may be less chance but perhaps not.

Same as dogs I though there was less chance in a flat but?????

sandiep

Noise tends to travel downwards, so if your getting a flat go as high up as possible (also takes advantage of free heating!!)

bitsandpieces

Houses would tend to be quieter - less people around you to make noise. Some flats can be v quiet though, some houses noisy (recently passed one terrace of houses where there was a drummer and guitarist practising, at a heck of a volume :eek:). Often worth walking past the place at a few different times of day - to see how much noise is around.

There's no way to guarantee a quiet home, though, (short of buying an island!) If you do find a place that's quiet when you move in, no guarantee someone noisy won't move in next door in a month. Just a risk you have to live with.

Do kids live in flats as well as houses. I thought there may be less chance but perhaps not.

Same as dogs I though there was less chance in a flat but?????

Maybe a little less likely, but definitely happens. Some flats may have 'no pets' written into the lease, but this may or may not be enforced (and - if you did choose to have this enforced - making a neighbour give up their beloved pet might not be good for your relationship).

dmg24

I live in an upper floor apartment/ maisonette. It is end of row and my neighbour is pretty quiet. Bliss. The houses in my row are in the middle, so are actually more likely to get noise from neighbours than me. All shows that it really is down to the individual property.

The only noise that we get is from the chav sl*ppers two doors away, but they are midway between me and the houses, so affect both equally!

I find that you only tend to get children in bigger flats, or in areas where housing (of any sort) is very expensive. On my development there is only one apartment with children (who are lovely, and less noisy than the abovenoted chavs).

GrammarGirl

It really depends on how well insulated the flat is. We're on the ground floor of a quite new building and we hear nothing. I really mean it - nothing, no noise from anywhere.

But we have zero mobile phone signal because we're so well insulated!

I've lived in two terraced houses (awful noise from both sides in both houses) and a semi detached (not too bad), but the flat is definitely the quietest. It definitely depends on neighbours, location and how well built the properties are.

Hope your relative finds somewhere suitable.

Jowo_2

I have lived in a noisy Victorian terraced house (could hear the next door neighbour being hen-pecked) and in a ground floor flat that was part of a conversion of a Victorian house (could hear the upstairs neighbour using the toilet, not just flushing it, but actually his stream of pee).

I live between two properties, one a blissfullly quiet Victorian terraced house (must have thick walls and/or great neighbours) and the other a top-floor Victorian flat where I can hear the downstairs toddler whine and the parents shout at him.

I'm with the others that it all depends on construction and I doubt some modern places are very good, some seemingly solid looking and robust places are still quite leaky when it comes to noise.

foxy-roxy

I have lived in 2 flats, 1 top floor and 1 ground floor.
The top floor one i could hear mumbles from downstairs and hear there mobile ringing (and them having erm relations) but nothing major for me to get stressed about.
Ground floor wasn't 2 bad either as they were not particulary noisy, although i could hear footsteps and hoovering.
I now live in a semi detached and i can't have my windows open at night because there is so much coming an going in the street and a very vocal dog, so it really comes down to doing research on the street there goin to move to and pot luck regarding how respectful the neighbours are.
Good Luck