End of terrace vs semi-detached

Newbie007 · 18-05-2018 6:44am #1

Quick question what is the difference between an end-of terraced house and semi-detached house? Currently we are looking to buy a new house and other than price I can't see a huge difference between the two. The price could be nearly 10grand in the difference between the two. In one estate the end of terrace was bigger and cheaper. Any thoughts why?

Victor · 18-05-2018 6:53am

Snobbery. Semi-detached sounds 'better', so much so that many people with end of terrace properties will call them semi-detached.

Other than that, there will be natural variation from house to house and estate to estate.

With 19th century houses especially, ensure the party wall extends to the roof, not just the ceiling.

With 19th and 20th century houses (but probably not modern houses), be aware that there may be shared drainage at the read of terrace houses, joining the street at the end of terrace. Councils / Irish Water are likely to disclaim problems with these sections of drains.

ted1 · 18-05-2018 7:11am

Newbie007 wrote: »

Quick question what is the difference between an end-of terraced house and semi-detached house? Currently we are looking to buy a new house and other than price I can't see a huge difference between the two. The price could be nearly 10grand in the difference between the two. In one estate the end of terrace was bigger and cheaper. Any thoughts why?

The price difference could be due to a number of reasons.
Better condition
Better decoration
Better location in estate
Better orientation
Better garden
Bigger house
Better scope for extending
And so on.

fret_wimp2 · 18-05-2018 7:58am

Access to back garden. Some terraces don't have a lane way along the back of the house, so no back gate into the garden. This means everything has to come in the front door. Fine for the odd bicycle but can be awkward for bigger items or if trying to do landscaping etc.

Cyrus · 18-05-2018 8:16am

fret_wimp2 wrote: »

Access to back garden. Some terraces don't have a lane way along the back of the house, so no back gate into the garden. This means everything has to come in the front door. Fine for the odd bicycle but can be awkward for bigger items or if trying to do landscaping etc.

if you have an end of terrace its pretty unlikely you wont have access to the back of your house from the side

Cyrus · 18-05-2018 8:17am

Newbie007 wrote: »

Quick question what is the difference between an end-of terraced house and semi-detached house? Currently we are looking to buy a new house and other than price I can't see a huge difference between the two. The price could be nearly 10grand in the difference between the two. In one estate the end of terrace was bigger and cheaper. Any thoughts why?

if its in a new build estate i cant see the disadvantage assuming all else is equal,

i was looking at a new estate a while back and the semi d's and detached houses were identical in size layout etc, even the garden on the detached was only bigger by the size of the extra side passage, cost differential between the two? 275k, bear in mind the semi d was 975k :P

rameire · 18-05-2018 8:58am

I had an end of terrace house only up to recently.
its a semi D in reality.
as mentioned above the draining shores will usually be at the end of the terrace.
the other issue I found but got used to was noise and vibration from houses on the terrace.
if you have a terrace of 6 or 8 houses you are all on the same concrete pad and any hammering or knocking will transfer to all the houses on that block.
if you are just a semi D you only have to worry about your next door neighbour.

D3V!L · 18-05-2018 9:06am

I live in the end of terrace and one of the neighbours who thankfully moved out was trouble. She would slam her door every time she came in or out. Three doors down and my house would shake.

When I eventally buy I want a Semi-D. Less likely to have that problem.

awec · 18-05-2018 9:08am

We bought an end terrace, the same development had a few semi detached too. They are the exact same house in every way.

REFLINE1 · 18-05-2018 9:26am

recently bought an end of terrace (row of 3) house. Identical to a Semi-D. We could have bought a semi-d but the orientation etc was better for the EOT.

Particularly with new builds there should be no difference.

The Mulk · 18-05-2018 9:44am

Just be careful where the bins are kept, especially your neighbours, my mam is end of terrace and keeps the bins out the back. Her neighbours are mid terrace and have their bins out the front, right beside the dividing wall.
My mam is overrun with fruit flies in the summer from the brown bin!!
There can be an awful smell too

LirW · 18-05-2018 9:51am

You might not have access to the back of the house but in my case there's a passage at the side that doesn't belong to my plot and there's a right of way in the very back of my garden to access the oil tanks. Now thankfully it works out well but if you're having troublesome neighbours it might be a pain.
My plot is almost double the size of the terraced units and I have a huge lean-to shed.

In reality though I don't really see much of a difference if you now have a end of terrace or a semi-D.

GingerLily · 18-05-2018 10:09am

The difference isn't worth 10 grand, semi is slightly better then EOT but not 10k

Newbie007 · 18-05-2018 10:35am

To be honest the end of terrace looked a better house slightly bigger like that it's a row of these and the semis are beside it no difference other than price

Kintarō Hattori · 18-05-2018 10:39am

Interestingly I live in an EOT and our houses are built in blocks of two so you don't get any of the sound/vibration issues from the other houses that users have mentioned here.

jon1981 · 18-05-2018 12:12pm

One thing to keep in mind if there is another house beside the end of terrace, if your neighbour puts in for planning they can potentially extend to the side making your end of terrace a terraced house. Happened to neighbours of ours.

Askthe EA · 18-05-2018 3:44pm

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

Interestingly I live in an EOT and our houses are built in blocks of two so you don't get any of the sound/vibration issues from the other houses that users have mentioned here.

A block of two terraced houses? So, semi detached then?

awec · 18-05-2018 4:01pm

jon1981 wrote: »

One thing to keep in mind if there is another house beside the end of terrace, if your neighbour puts in for planning they can potentially extend to the side making your end of terrace a terraced house. Happened to neighbours of ours.

This seems incredibly unlikely. I don't understand how it is possible unless your neighbours agreed to it.

GingerLily · 18-05-2018 4:06pm

awec wrote: »

jon1981 wrote: »

One thing to keep in mind if there is another house beside the end of terrace, if your neighbour puts in for planning they can potentially extend to the side making your end of terrace a terraced house. Happened to neighbours of ours.

This seems incredibly unlikely. I don't understand how it is possible unless your neighbours agreed to it.

It would be the same for a Semi detached if it could happen

REFLINE1 · 18-05-2018 4:25pm

jon1981 wrote: »

One thing to keep in mind if there is another house beside the end of terrace, if your neighbour puts in for planning they can potentially extend to the side making your end of terrace a terraced house. Happened to neighbours of ours.

This couldn't happen as the side entrance to your property is part of your plot, they couldn't build on that and join your houses together!

MayoSalmon · 18-05-2018 4:31pm

Victor wrote:

Snobbery. Semi-detached sounds 'better', so much so that many people with end of terrace properties will call them semi-detached.

Semi detached have back of garden access and end of terrace in the vast majority cases don't. Garden access does sound a lot better if you ask me.

GingerLily · 18-05-2018 4:35pm

MayoSalmon wrote: »

Victor wrote:

Snobbery. Semi-detached sounds 'better', so much so that many people with end of terrace properties will call them semi-detached.

Semi detached have back of garden access and end of terrace in the vast majority cases don't. Garden access does sound a lot better if you ask me.

Really? I've never seen an EOT without access to the garden. I own an EOT myself.

Cyrus · 18-05-2018 4:40pm

GingerLily wrote: »

Really? I've never seen an EOT without access to the garden. I own an EOT myself.

i havent either

unless its a feature of old end of terrace?

listermint · 18-05-2018 4:42pm

EOD, Semi ?

Detached for the Win OP, get on that train :P

Stoner · 18-05-2018 4:49pm

Newbie007 wrote:

Quick question what is the difference between an end-of terraced house and semi-detached house? Currently we are looking to buy a new house and other than price I can't see a huge difference between the two. The price could be nearly 10grand in the difference between the two. In one estate the end of terrace was bigger and cheaper. Any thoughts why?

I covered this in geography years ago.

The house you are attached to in a semidetached situation is also semidetached.
When you have an end of terrace House , the other house you are attached to is med terrace

You've a pair of semidetached houses

There could be a line of 8 terraced houses, with an end of terrace House at each end and 6 mid terraced in between them.

18-05-2018 5:08pm

jon1981 wrote: »

One thing to keep in mind if there is another house beside the end of terrace, if your neighbour puts in for planning they can potentially extend to the side making your end of terrace a terraced house. Happened to neighbours of ours.

You must have worded that wrongly?

The only way an end of Terrace can become a terrace, is if the neighbour extends their house onto the other side of the OPs house.

The neighbour can extend sideways half a mile down the road, but the OP is still end terrace as he's on the end of the row.

The difference between end terrace and Semi D is that a terrace consists of more than two houses.

Two joined houses = both Semi D.

Three houses = 1 terrace, 2 end terrace

Four Houses = 2 terrace, 2 end terrace.

You can never have more than 2 end terraces on a terrace of houses ('end' means that your house is 'book ending' the terrace).

End terrace is effectively a Semi D where I live (I live in an end terrace - a row of 4 houses). Noise will come down to your build quality. Ours is ex-council, built in the 80s, and minimal noise comes through (helps that my next door neighbour isn't an assh*le).

Someone described above about hearing the door bang of their neighbour 3 doors down, or the noise of hammering etc. going through the terrace. I must admit this is not my experience, personally.

Having to worry about where your neighbour leaves their bins etc. comes down to your neighbour, not your house. Although if you're scoping out a house to live in, definitely spend a bit of time hanging around the place at different times to feel the place out.

I'd always opt for end terrace over a terraced house, but end terrace VS semi D is much of a muchness to me. Pretty much the same thing.

(I do find newer houses to be very poor with sound proofing though, so i'd definitely judge sound proofing on a house-by-house basis).

Kintarō Hattori · 18-05-2018 6:00pm

Askthe EA wrote: »

A block of two terraced houses? So, semi detached then?

Not quite. There are 8 houses on the terrace but there are two 'joined together' and then there's an 'offset' if you like to the next ones. They definitely couldn't be described as semi-detached.

batistuta9 · 18-05-2018 6:05pm

Teens are more likely to hang around the end houses or alleyways, could be that.

Cyrus · 18-05-2018 6:25pm

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

Not quite. There are 8 houses on the terrace but there are two 'joined together' and then there's an 'offset' if you like to the next ones. They definitely couldn't be described as semi-detached.

Ours are like that 4 houses joined but two are one level and next two are lower

awec · 18-05-2018 6:39pm

batistuta9 wrote: »

Teens are more likely to hang around the end houses or alleyways, could be that.

This is a problem with a particular area, not the house itself.

18-05-2018 7:22pm

batistuta9 wrote: »

Teens are more likely to hang around the end houses or alleyways, could be that.

It's the first thing I always think of when I hear "end of terrace". Depending on the area, there might be a green site next to the side of the EOT house- so kids congregating in the summer months, sitting on your front wall, playing football against your side wall.
It's not an absolute that there will be trouble or annoyance with an EOT house but chances are increased in certain areas.

End of terrace vs semi-detached

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