Why the hate for End Terrace?

Skeeter

Skeeter

Skeeter

Caporegime
Joined
8 Mar 2007
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Surrey
I don't get it? They are the same as any other house, they just... have another house attached to them. They are no different to a semi detached either? Yet looking at new builds it seems the prices are wildly all over the place depending on how many houses its joined too?

For example, in one new development they had Mid, End and Semi Detached houses all with identical floor plans. The End Terrace was the same price as the Mid Terrace, yet the Semi detached version of the same house was £30,000 more expensive?! It wasn't even like it had anything extra, the End Terrace and Semi Detached were identical. They had a drive down the side and the same size garden. The only difference was the number of other houses inbetween the 'bookends' of the Semi/End Terrace.

Am I missing something? What is so terrible about an End Terrace that it gets a £30,000 discount over an identical semi detached? And its not like they were selling either, in the development we looked at there was only 1 Semi left, while most of the Ends were still available. Are people willing to pay £30,000 extra just because their neighbours don't have any neighbours?

I be confuzled :confused:
 
I think it's some kind of snobbery, end terrace is still thought of as a terraced house (albeit at the end), a semi is a semi and your neighbour also has a semi so you're a bit posher than the ***** in the end terrace.

Personally I'd rather save 30k and go for the end terrace.
 
Semi's have always been more popular, hence the increase in price. Simple supply and demand. In most developments as well the garden space tends to be bigger.

End terraces are still a good option, they tend to be similar sizes to new build semi's, but on the downside frequently have a common back lane running behind their garden/down the side of their drive for the mid terraces to get bins etc out of their back gardens. In my development the end terraces only have a 2ft fence between them and the mid terrace garden.
 
End of terrace = A terraced house without the benefit of your neighbor insulating one of the sides.

Semi detached often has more land (although rare with newbuilds I admit) - drive/ garage/ bigger garden

A street full of semi detached houses will be less densely populated than a terraced street also.
 
Let's not also forget that end terrace houses suffer from movement much more than a semi due to the lateral loading or pulling from the row of neighbouring properties should they be subject to movement also
 
Another reason for the end terrace being cheaper is that you have a large external wall to keep maintained. This is something that the terraced houses don't have to worry about.

However, if it comes with a 30K discount, I would be jumping at that everytime! That is one hell of a man-cave you can build with that.
 
In older houses they are noticeably colder, maybe doesn't apply to new builds.

End of terrace is often on a corner, where chavs assemble.

Wall requires maintenance, and depending on location can cause hassle like kids kicking balls against it.

It's not like it's awful or anything, but if it's a choice between terraced or end terraced, you choose terraced.

I grew up in a Victorian terraced house without central heating.

Now I own my own place, I bought a new semi (best I can afford), and the thing I like most is having a driveway - and a garage for storage.
 
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Cuchulain said:
I think it's some kind of snobbery, end terrace is still thought of as a terraced house (albeit at the end), a semi is a semi and your neighbour also has a semi...
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Having a semi all depends on which one of the neighbours we're talking about. :D

But, the idea of an end-terrace generally makes people think of the old back-to-back housing and people wearing hoodies sitting on your wall. Just a name that seems to put people off, making them cheaper.
 
Main reasons have already been given:

1) End terrace means you are living next door to someone in a mid-terrace i.e. perceived to be a lower class of citizen than you would get in a semi (since as you have stated yourself, the neighbour will typically have paid £30k more). This may sound like a snobbish attitude, but FWIW both properties I have bought have been terraced. That's perhaps because like yourself, I haven't considered semis to be worth the premium, despite the fact that I would prefer one.
2) End terrace likely to next to rear access path for some of the other houses

One possible further reason could be that parking may be more contended i.e. outside a pair of semis lets say you could park 3 cars or an average of 1.5 cars per house. Whereas outside a terrace the ratio might be worse say only 1.3 cars per house.

When it comes to advertising a property, you can advertise a semi as a semi, but you can't advertise a terraced as a semi. And rightly or wrongly some people will be specifically looking for a semi or detached in favour of a terraced.

So in summation I think you are looking at it too simplistically by just comparing the floorplans and plot sizes, you also need to consider the impact a particular housing type may have on the surrounding area.

On our new build estate I think an end terrace typically held a premium (book price) of £5k over a mid-terrace although hard to say for certain.
 
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Semi detached = your neighbour also owns a semi detached
End terrace = your neighbour owns a mid terrace, how very common

Wait, I own a mid terrace, oh the shame.
 
In 4 years and 3 addresses I've never really known any of my neighbors.

It does just seem like snobbery. Ah well, if I can get a nice house cheaper because society are snobbish, so be it :p
 
I live in an end terrace of three houses. Benefits are that I have a 3 car drive, space for a car port and great rear acess. I wouldn't get any of that in a mid terrace.
 
Area probably plays a big part of it. Historically I would imagine post war terrace houses we're build on big housing estates, whereas detached and semi detached houses where build in smaller developments in 'nicer' areas.
 
Lopéz said:
I live in an end terrace of three houses.
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Same. Much better access than the mid terrace next door. Not sure why its called an end terrace, to all intents its a semi detached as its, you know, only attached on one side!
Bloody silly labels.
 
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