Flat vs House

Telecaster said:
Don't assume old terrace/semi with solid walls means good insulation, like I mentioned above, my old victorian semi with solid walls was a nightmare, I could hear what they were watching on TV and all sorts of stuff, toilets flushing, bedroom stuff, kettle boiling the whole lot.
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Agreed my dad's house (semi) is about 120 years old and when sat in the kitchen you can hear muffled conversations from next door.
 
Depends on the type of flat for me. An upstairs flat/downstairs flat configuration is fine as they usually come with a garden too, at least round here anyway. Some nice ex-local authority ones with just a bit of ground rent and thats it. But blocks of flats with every imaginable fee under the sun (especially with new developments) to milk you dry, then no.
 
I've just moved out of a flat, spent a year there. I had no issues with noise from neighbours at all. I was in a block of fifty flats but I was Flat 1, and was in one corner, however there was another block of flats next door so I was pretty surrounded. I could however hear all the water stuff going on, presumably because I was ground floor, all three floors above me I guess their waste water came down through my pipes? And I was right by the stairs and the front door. Could only hear that in the bedroom though. It was a proper purpose built block so I guess soundproofing was just done well.

What I did miss, and why I will never live in a block of flats again if I can help it, is my own outside space. I had nothing at all. Even just doing something like painting something, cleaning my pushbike (or washing my car for that matter) was either a huge pain, or just not possible. I've got various hobbies that are kind of messy - I didn't realise they were messy until I lived in a flat and suddenly had to do everything in my living room!

I'd only want to live in a flat in future if it had a garden. Just things like being able to open the back windows and not hear tons of road noise, or even leave the upstairs windows open and go out without worrying. All my windows were onto quite a busy road and I couldn't leave them open and go out, and it was very noisy with them open so the flat was either loud or stuffy in summer.
 
A neighbour across the road from us has a new 'Alsatian' which is approx 8 months old. It barks at Anything!
 
1950s semi here, sound insolation is terrible. It's OK if you have considerate neighbours but you cannot count on it. When we moved in 3 years ago no issues, the widow next door was quiet. Fast forward to now, she has a new boyfriend who she likes to shout at. They have also decided to rewire and re-decorate the entire house.

However, saying that, the price of a detached round here is hilarious.
 
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