Posted 1st Jan 2017
Is there anything wrong or negative with End Terrace houses?
Why is thre big variations between End Terrace houses vs Mid Terrances?
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Why is thre big variations between End Terrace houses vs Mid Terrances?
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sorted byYou only have the chance of 1 noisy neighbour attached to you.
You can have wires, pipes, extractor flues etc. On the side rather than expensive roof exits.
Negatives- you have an exposed wall so your heat will escape much much quicker than have a heated sheltered wall.
Security may be impeded as public could have access to the side
Mid terrace neighbours could have a right of access across your garden, meaning you can't have a locked gate and anyone could walk across anytime night or day!!!
You might have all the services distributed from your garden.
But as said before, an end terrace is more desirable than a mid but the main thing you should consider is LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION.
The best house down a **** street, will always be less desirable than a **** house down a good street
Personally I would rather have a dry warm house but each to their own
End terrace, fewer neighbours, which may mean reduced noise issues. May get a side gate or easier property access, which has positives and negatives. Higher heating costs. Extra light if side windows feature.
Mid-terrace, hopefully, heating on both sides, so house stays warmer naturally. Increase in neighbours may increase noise. Is there a central alley or rear alley for bin access etc.
Lived in both, had the extra space over the alley in the mid-terrace so big front bedroom.
I live in a terraced with rear garden and on street parking. Houses on opposite side are semidetached with front and back gardens and are 30k more expensive.
It is okay if you live in a good area with decent people but if you live in a not so desirable area (and terraced houses tend to be cheaper and so not always attract the best people) then you may find problems living so close to someone.
Also terraced houses often have shared loft space. You also find that if one house in a terrace gets mice then everyone does eventually.
End terraces give you more privacy and only give you one neighbour to worry about
Well they shouldn't be shared. After the great fire of London, lofts should have brick partissions. To avoid the spread of fire.
Also for security purposes, you don't want strangers access to your property!
End terrace is only more private IF your neighbours don't have a right of way across your garden
Could you please expand on IF your neighbours don't have a right of way across your garden?
How do I know this/find this information on Zoopla?
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Rights of way are not something that estate agents want you to know about because its not a selling point, so they're unlikely to mention it on Zoopla or Rightmove. Its a question you have to ask, though your solicitor should pick it up during the conveyancing process and explain it to you, thats been my experience anyway.
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In this situation your E.P.C. should give you clues as what insulation measures you need to tackle first.Myself i'd say measure loft insulation and double that up.Double Glazing?Cavity wall? Old houses dont have cavities (ours is 1830!)and might benefit from internal or external insulation Internal is cheaper.
Id go for an end terrace everytime you have a a better access BUT watch that your neighbours don't have an "easement with or without barrows" big stumbling block with us.Ended up selling house at auction to raise deposit to buy next doors which owned right of way which was not obvious....
Omg is it really that bad??? How much wear your heating bills before and after?
I saw a really good house but it's end of Terrance
That is not because your an end terrace house though, must be something else, presumably the heating system is not the best?
There is no way an end terrace house should be cold just because it is a house at the end. It has to be some other issue such an inefficient wall insulation, or the heating system, all of which can be addressed. Detached houses have to deal with these things and even more exposure.
If your looking towards the longer term future you might want to consider things like potential roof space for solar panels with a property to.
EDIT: PS if your looking to buy then it is easy to obtain the home property report. Not sure what it is called in England? But that sort of thing is free to access and should contain all sorts of info like running costs for fuel, an EPC and the like.
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Hi it was 1994 so long time ago. I cannot remember the price but honestly the house was freezing.
So true.:D
I would definately prefer end of terrace to terraced, everything else being equal.
Will the insurance be higher compared to a normal middle Terrance
I forgot to answer your question about semi actually. Semi detached will be more expensive than end of terrace, everything else being equal, being of its perceived kudos status, and it will often have off street parking.
Buildings insurance is based on cost of rebuild and damage risks. An end of terrace is unlikely to be significantly more expensive than a terraced property, everything else being equal. There may be additional risk that your wall being exposed may get damaged but buildings insurance is often quite cheap, unless you have an adverse risk property, that it shouldnt be a serious worry in your pros and cons.
But if you are end Terrance, do you not benefit from bigger space , e.g create a driveway
They also only assume the cavity wall is insulated if built after 1982 but if it's an empty house or was built in the 80's who can you ask??
Right of access..... the agent might know but it's pretty simple to work it out. How does your neighbour get into their rear garden?? Do you have a side gate on opposite fences?? Ask the owner!
Damp walls.... well every wall gets wet when it rains! I think the point to look at here is, is the wall a high expose wall (faces directly towards driving rain) or is it shaded from the sun so never gets any solar heating. That coupled by close proximity of trees or another property, prevents the bricks from drying out. Now if that wall has a narrow cavity, which has been filled, you could end up with a damp bridge.
Look, every house has problems, it's finding out how to fix or manage the problems that matters.
Some very good advise here.
1) view the house on the worst weather day you can. If the property feels, looks fine when it's -6, pouring with rain, dark and damp outside, then in the summer it will be bliss.
2) park up at different times of the day and just watch what it's like. Might seem like a lovely quiet road until 8:30am when it becomes a rat run for commuters. Then at 9pm the local boy races turn it into Silverstone.
3) use Zoopla & right move to see what the property sold for previously, or similar properties. Look at the property old photos. If the seller says it has a new kitchen or bathroom but the same kitchen & bathroom are in the old pics from when they bought it 5 years ago.... then they are liers!!! And probably done nothing to the property, so bear in mind everything is at least 5 years old.
4) use your head, a little bit of heart but mostly head. 1st viewing will always be heart, it should be, if you don't love it, then don't ever use your head! But 2nd viewing use your head, if you can't, take an impartial friend. ALWAYS go back for a 2nd viewing. Even if it's the next day. The vendor will be more relaxed and prob open up more.
5) NEVER TRUST THE AGENT!!!! The agent is working for the seller, they are the client who pays them, not you! Remember that!!! You are just £100 bonus to them, so will tell you anything to get you to loose your head and let your heart take control!
6) there will always be another property..... don't get into a bidding war, there might not even be another interested party, the agent just wants you to pay more so they get a bigger bonus.
7) bribe the agent, if your clever. So we all know negs live for the added bonus, so make yourself attractive. Get a mortgage quote from their "independent" advisor, who will bung them £50 for your details. Get a solicitors quote, that's another £150. How about a survey, oh another £100 thank you very much! So now your a £300 bonus buyer & they don't want you to go elsewhere!
Now, when you make an offer that neg isn't going to push you to go higher and higher to get an extra £10 or sell to another buyer who isn't using their mortgage, surveyor, solicitor etc.. they want you bolted down & a lovely bonus
End terrace properties aren't always the best. In fact they could be the worst in the row!
Builders aren't stupid, they need to sell houses and they know people will always choose an end terrace over a mid so if they play on that fact.
The plot might be smaller or a funny shape. Could have the rear garden cut short to make an alleyway of the other houses. Be next to a car park or row of garages. Furthest away from the car park. Fronts into another property or footpath etc.
Might be next to a substation or sewage storage.
Just because it's an end terrace doesn't always make it more valuable or better but if you had 2 totally identical houses, the end terrace would sell before the mid.
Exactly!!! I was being worried about this "end terrace being cold".
Surely there are dozens of detached houses and plus newer houses would have been built with better materials.
This might be a stupid question and probably is:
Since its a End terrace house: Could I not build ANOTHER WALL /double wall at the end of the terrace? Is there anything stopping me doing that?
building another wall next to the main end of terrrance house wall?
I really don't think the attachment of another property determines if it's going to be warm and dry. That's down to the heating system, ventilation and if it's raining outside
My problem isn't that it needs a lot of heating but, rather, it gets too hot after the sun goes down, summer and winter!
Something to do with energy (heat) retaining designs that were quite new in the 80s. (As a relatively new idea, they didn't get it quite right.) When you combine a small property --- built as a "retirement bungalow" --- with early energy-saving design, you'll have problems getting the usual single central heating thermostat to cope with getting appropriate temperatures in each room. The bungalow's roof and Loftspace is designed to gather heat during the day, then release it throughout the evening and night. It works: just a little too well.
I was told that the solution is to fit each radiator with its own thermostat and to keep all doors closed. This saves costs as well as providing individual environmental control according to what you want in each room. Also, in smaller properties, you need air circulation; I'm recommended to fit slow fan type radiators along with independent thermoststs. (Modern caravans have this. It's called "blown air heating", which stops you getting 'cold spots', which can lead to condensation/damp, as well as preventing all of the heat rising: which means it's hot when you stand up, but cold around your feet.)
I've also found it a good idea to fit a seperate "radiant heat" fire in the living room. (Just a freestanding coal effect electric or gas fire: the hot electric bar or glowing gas thingumy type which generates radiant heat.) Like any real fire, it's the heart of the home and makes it "feel" warmer, whereas central heating might give a higher overall ambient temperature, it never feels as nice on a cold winter's day.
My point (as others have said) is that you shouldn't just judge a property "as is", but get expert advice on heating and climate control. It won't just save you money in the long run, but identifying heating faults is a good bargaining tool, and the seller won't know that his difficult to heat 80s house can be turned around into something really comfortable.
You should also check the rules on erecting your own TV ariel or Satellite Dish. In some terraced developments, there's a communal ariel and you may find restrictions on fitting your own. As my bungalow is end-of-terrace, with the ariel cable having to run through everyone else's loft before it reaches me , my TV reception is appallingly bad. I've had to go for an expensive Dickie Branston Telephone, Broadband and Cable TV package to get any reception. Satellite reception is non-existent, and buying each item from separate suppliers is even more expensive. So that's another item for your checklist.
Neighbours' access rights have been mentioned. Check how they get their wheelie bin out from where it's stored in the back: through their house or your garden? You may also find tradespeople, such as window cleaners, assume they have a right of way: I warned our window cleaner that my back garden is an archery range, and that he trespasses at his own risk! Before that, I'd often find him and his assistant staring back at me through my own living room window.
Doing a "stakeout" of your possible new home, visiting at various times including evenings and weekends is a very good suggestion. I did this and rejected two properties as a result. It also gives you an opportunity to chat with potential neighbours. You might feel embarrassed at knocking on doors, but they'll be as keen to check out their potential new neighbour as you are to size them up. Remember, you're making a big commitment to join a community; it's a decision you'll (quite literally) have to live with. In my case, I rejected one property because it was let on short term lease. New neighbours every 6 months + noisy weekend renovation work between each new tenancy. No thanks.
One last thing to investigate is the potential for converting a bungalow's loft space into extra living space. A lot of 80s bungalows used a cheap framing, with a relatively flat profile to support the roof, which makes conversions more difficult and expensive. You'll also have to consider where you can fit an access stairway. Loft ladders become a pain after a while: you need a proper stair, even if it is the pull down type. Also check for any local residents' association or builder's rules, which may restrict what external changes are permitted, like changing the roofline to fit windows or adding a conservatory; such rules are quite common on 1980s developments, and the people who enforce then (the residents' association) are often power-crazed zealots who just love telling you what you can't do!
Hope this helps, Rick.
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