Tired of living in a block of apartments and want to move to a suburban housing estate? Consider buying a terraced or semi-detached house – check out the differences.
A terraced house is a great option for people who don’t want to live in a block of flats, but want to live in close proximity to other people. They care about a few words exchanged at the fence. A neighbor who will take a look at the property in their absence. The company of peers for their children.
The advantages of having a good neighbor can be multiplied for a long time. The other side of the coin is the possibility of running into an unsympathetic neighbor. So the proximity of other people can be both an advantage and a disadvantage.
A terraced house means a piece of your own garden. Usually it is not a large area, but it gives you the possibility to put out a table and drink coffee outside on a warm day or set up a sandpit for a child. These are undoubted advantages of living in your own house.
Terraced houses often have a garage in the body of the building or at least a driveway where we can park a car. So there is no more searching for a free parking place.
Terraced house can generate lower heating costs than a detached or semi-detached house. If our segment is located in the middle of the building, it is additionally “heated” by the neighbors.
Terraced house is usually built by a developer – so you move into a building that is finished consistently (identical facade, identical fences, etc.). Terraced houses are often built in suburban housing estates. The developer usually builds many such houses in close proximity and the result is a housing estate where a lot of people live. Such a density of residents attracts investors and encourages them to provide adequate infrastructure. Therefore, there are public transport, local stores, kindergarten, etc.
A disadvantage of terraced houses are certainly windows facing only two sides – in case of unfavorable positioning of the house, there may be a need to light some rooms.
Semi-detached house is a good solution for people who care about a larger plot of land but do not want or cannot afford a detached house. A semi-detached house is a building that consists of two adjacent houses. They are often their mirror image and touch each other with one wall. Construction of a semi-detached house is often decided by two families who are related or friends with each other.
The advantage of a semi-detached house is lower cost of construction in comparison to a detached house. In order to build a semi-detached house, we need a smaller plot of land than the sum of plot areas needed to build two single-family houses.
Living in a semi-detached house gives more privacy than living in a row house. At the same time we have a close neighbor, which, as we have already mentioned, can be both an advantage and a disadvantage.
Carrying out certain renovations can prove problematic – painting the elevation or roof maintenance involves agreeing on the scope of works with the neighbor if we want to maintain the cohesion of the houses.
There is no clear answer to this question. Each of us has different priorities and therefore based on their own needs they should choose the best solution for themselves.
main photo: pixabay.com/ArtisticOperations
