Is it really worth buying detached over semi detached?

sjlou

detached if you can afford it. you can never control who moves in next door.
My first childhood home was a semi and we moved due to the noise from the neighbours. unfortunately the 2 grown up children in the house next door had severe disabilities and made a lots of noise through the night. they even had to have windows reinforced as they had thrown furniture through then a number of times. their parents were nearly deaf, so it didn't bother them at all.

In fact the biggest problem with a lot of of the traditional 1950s semis in our area are the party driveways that lead to garages at the back of the properties. now those can cause all sorts of problems with neighbours blocking each other in etc.

Miss_$

Detatched every time!! And not a new house if you can help it they are made so cheaply!!

Dukesy

Having grown up in a very much detached house (set in three acres of garden and surrounded by fields), I am VERY noise sensitive. Our last and our current house have both been semi detached, but have also both been stone cottages, with three to four foot thick walls. In most areas of these houses, therefore, there was no noise disruption from the neighbours.

However, both have had the same problem which bothers the bits off me. The first house we owned used to be connected to the house next door by a door in our bedroom. We blocked it up to modern building standards and we could hear everything that next door's four kids said or did through it. It was terrible.

In our current house, we have the same problem in the kitchen - again, our house used to be part of next door, and we have a walk in pantry in the kitchen which used to be the doorway through to next door. If the pantry door is left open, you can hear prettymuch everything going on in the room on the other side of the back wall of the pantry which is, again, constructed to modern building standards. Overall, this does not give me much faith in the idea of a modern semi being noise insulated...

sunshinetours

Detached are a premium for a reason. Its the day to day noise like TV, taklking, doors banging, stairs being stomped etc etc that you won;t have any issues with in a detached.

Whether its detached, semi, terraced etc you may still get neighbourhood noise but that isn't specific to the house type.

Look at how many neighbour noise issues you see on this forum alone to see what type of house gets most complaints (clue: it isn't detached!)

Goldiegirl

Our first house was a new build (1981) EOT house, build in a halls adjoining style. Due to the style of the house, the only rooms next to us were the kitchen and bathroom. As a result it was fairly quiet. We only heard them if they were having a row in their kitchen!

We moved to our current house in 1989. Another new build, this time a detached, and we have always loved the freedom from noise, and also the privacy we have.

My parents lived in a Victorian terraced house and never heard a peep from their neighbours.

However, as a first time buyer, can you just find the extra £30000 or whatever to buy detached?

PasturesNew

I know somebody who bought a semi new build from Midas. One day when they had agreed to buy it and were doing a follow-up viewing to see progress, the sales person offered to take them next door to see how that one looked (next door's a completely different size/layout). They went next door to find a workman fitting a kitchen in the adjoining room, with tools and radio on the go - couldn't hear a thing from the empty new build next door they'd just been standing in.

aileth

On another point, my parents live in a Grade 2 terrace house and their next door neighbours constantly have domestics, they can only hear them as next door have all the windows open even in snow, but we are convinced the wife is actually a bat (we've never seen her) as she can apparently hear when someone goes up the stairs (which aren't on their side of the house) and will throw herself against the wall when the boiler starts up early morning!

snow_ball

I live in a victorian terrace and can hear a pin drop from one side but never hear a peep from the other.

Not sure if it's partly because one side have laminate throughout and they are generally quite noisy but I can hear normal conversations without trying!

LandyAndy

PasturesNew wrote: »

I know somebody who bought a semi new build from Midas. One day when they had agreed to buy it and were doing a follow-up viewing to see progress, the sales person offered to take them next door to see how that one looked (next door's a completely different size/layout). They went next door to find a workman fitting a kitchen in the adjoining room, with tools and radio on the go - couldn't hear a thing from the empty new build next door they'd just been standing in.

:rotfl::rotfl:That was a neat trick wasn't it? :rotfl::rotfl:

I wonder how many times he had to stop work each day when prospective purchasers were next door.:cool:

Tancred

Even non-detached houses have rooms where you never hear any noise. A lot depends on the layout of the house and rooms etc. I'm not sure whether it's worth the extra cost of buying detached because you get much less value for money - room size is much less, which is going to be an issue when you have children etc. If you are retired or a childless couple then buying detached makes more sense.