Thoughts on new-build townhouses in general?

jimbo6977

TripleH said:

We live in one. Have a lounge /Kitchen and an office on middle floor, 3 bedrooms and bathroom on top floor. Garage shower room and utility room on ground floor.

It's a pain for me in that I have to answer the door as I'm on the middle floor but it works for us.

This is the type I'd consider - garage, utility and garden room on the ground floor, with essentially a regular 3 bedroom house plonked on top. Unfortunately this layout is rarer than the alternatives. 

dodo1990

Currently living in one. Really like the master suite on top floor, but generally the house is top heavy with bedrooms and not much living space. Really depends on your lifestyle and what you need, but we would trade a bedroom or two for bigger kitchen and living room. Found it more difficult to sell because of these issues especially after lockdown and people spending more time at home. 

andyf1980

We have just sold ours. 

It was great with just the two of us but not so practical with an upstairs lounge and a toddler. Gone for the opposite now and bought a bungalow 😭

hazyjo

Loved my ten year old townhouse. Was over 4 floors! Kept me fit lol. Sold as split with husband. Layout was:

Kitchen diner / cloakroom / dining room

Large lounge
Bed 4 / study

Bed 2 / Bed 3 / bathroom

Master bedroom / en suite

Only thing I would've wanted would be a loo on level 1. But maybe 4 loos would've been a bit much anyway, especially when it came to cleaning!

Had always wanted to live in a townhouse. Would definitely buy one again. Obviously not for everyone!

Back in a 2-3 bed 2 storey house now. Would love to convert the loft.

Chris_English

ash4040 said:

As the title says really. Been looking at a few options and houses down in London and found a townhouse that fits the budget. Not sure if the consensus on townhouses are that they are good homes or not?

Background info: It will me my first house and will be my home to live in.

Any advise will help  

It depends. I’m in a London townhouse which apparently won the house builders “house of the year” award when it was built, and it’s built exactly as a Georgian one would be.
I also looked at one before we bought here that I swear could have been built from papier mâché and balsa (the big development near City Airport.)

Issues there included the “lawn” being turf laid on about 3cm of foam rubber and windows unable to open as the recess they were in were taller than the ceiling height.

Edited to add…

Ours is five stories, and although it gives plenty of space I’d prefer the next house to be a more normal two story layout.

RelievedSheff

dodo1990 said:

Currently living in one. Really like the master suite on top floor, but generally the house is top heavy with bedrooms and not much living space. Really depends on your lifestyle and what you need, but we would trade a bedroom or two for bigger kitchen and living room. Found it more difficult to sell because of these issues especially after lockdown and people spending more time at home. 

When we bought our 3 bed detached new build we could have bought a 3 bed 3 storey semi detached new build town house for the same price. 

We looked at both but even though the town house had more square footage and larger bedrooms we felt the house was top heavy. Not enough living space for the bedrooms. It was 3 proper double bedrooms so potentially a 6 person house but the living accommodation didn't really feel big enough for that.

meeemee

We had one really flexible living as had a lounge on ground and middle floor so sold as four but could easily of been a five if fireplace was taken out of middle floor. All floors had toilets, only downside was small garden but they are good value for money especially for younger families so always be buyers for selling on.

seven-day-weekend

My house in Spain, although an old house, had a 'townhouse' layout.  The ground floor had a  large kitchen with room for a table,  and  cloakroom.  The middle floor had a lounge-diner, bedroom and shower room.  The top floor had two bedrooms and access to the roof terrace.

I actually liked the kitchen being downstairs on its own.  If you so chose, you could just close the door on all the mess and do it at your leisure (for example, if entertaining).  We used the bedroom on the middle floor to sleep in and one of the upstairs rooms as a study; the other as a guest bedroom.

If anyone knocked the door when we were on the top floor, we just shoved our head over the railings of the roof terrace .  

robatwork

zagubov said:

Soundproofing seemed weak. You could hear your next door neighbours blinking or changing their mind.

An actual lol so take my thanks.

Rosa_Damascena

OP - post a linky so we may assess the ergonomics?

An ex lived in a newish-build townhouse, it was spacious enough but not my cup of tea. I remember being told about the hassle people have had with big furniture and townhouses and having to take out a window to get a large bed out of the top floor?