7 Key Types of Houses in the UK (Pro’s & Con’s Explained)
What are the the different types of houses you can buy in the United Kingdom? Is a question we’ve heard many times.
There are a large variety of home types available however the seven we will cover are the mainstream homes that make up the majority of the UK housing market.
Why would this information be useful to me?
It’s worth learning about the different types of homes available to you because as a UK resident it’s likely that during your lifetime you’ll be put in a situation where you’re considering to buy or rent a home and knowing the perks and drawbacks of each type beforehand will help you make a more informed decision which best caters for your own personal circumstances.
Which Type Would Fit into your Budget? A Price Comparison
Figures taken from https://www.gov.uk/
Before looking into each type of property in more detail, you may want to consider the average selling price of each type of property.
To help aid you further when it comes to pricing, above is a chart which contains the average price by property type for England in July 2018.
We can now checkout the most popular property types you can find in the UK below in more detail.
1) Terraced Houses
The first house to come in our list is the simple terraced house.
A terraced house is defined as a house built as part of a continuous row where the attached homes share side walls. One of the main reasons terraced houses are popular is because they are a fair amount cheaper than detached and semi-detached homes.
They became popular back in the 19th century as a way to provide high-density accommodation for the working class and are still quite prevalent in old industrial cities such as Manchester today.
The average house price for a terraced home in England is £200,889
Advantages of Purchasing a Terraced Home
Pro 1: Generally speaking a terraced home is the cheapest type of housing you can purchase in the UK.
Pro 2: They require less maintenance overall because of their smaller square footage.
Pro 3: Potentially more safer and secure because you have two sets of neighbors close by.
Disadvantages of Purchasing a Terraced Home
Con 1: Terraced houses are smaller than their semi detached and counterparts so they inevitably come with less space.
Con 2: They come with little to no garden space.
Con 3: You have two sets of neighbors so you can expect to hear them from time to time which means less privacy.
2) Semi-Detached Houses
The second house to feature in our list is the semi-detached house.
A semi-detached house is defined as a house that is joined to another similar house but only on one side. Generally speaking, semi-detached homes are more expensive than your standard terraced homes but still a fair bit cheaper than detached.
Semi-detached houses first began to be planned systematically in late 18th-century Georgian architecture, as a suburban compromise between the terraced houses of close to the city center, and the detached “villas” further out, where land was cheaper.
The average price of a semi detached home in England is £230,284
Advantages of Purchasing a Semi Detached Home
Pro 1: You get an increased amount of privacy compared to terraced homes.
Pro 2: There is more garden space and square footage available than a terraced home.
Pro 3: Semi-detached homes are more affordable than detached homes.
Disadvantages of Purchasing a Semi Detached Home
Con 1: If you plan to extend your home, you have to take your neighbors into consideration.
Con 2: As one side of the building is joined you can still be disturbed by neighbors so there is less privacy.
Con 3: Increased maintenance compared to terraced home.
3) Detached Houses
Next up on our list are detached houses.
A detached house (sometimes called a single detached dwelling) is a stand alone house usually set on it’s own lot – a house that is not joined to any other house. Detached homes are usually more expensive than your typical semi-detached or terraced homes.
Detached homes are quite common in rural and suburban areas but remain most popular in low density, high income regions. They come with a number of added benefits which include additional privacy and land that surrounds the house which is a big plus for families which enjoy gardening or other outdoor activities which require land. One downside to this that there is much more maintenance involved in taking care of a detached home so being well off financially with no debts is a big plus.
The average price of a semi detached home in England is £378,473
Advantages of Purchasing a Detached Home
Pro 1: Detached homes come with more land which you can pretty much use as you please.
Pro 2: You get total privacy as your house is located on it’s own plot.
Pro 3: Extending or renovating your home with new specs is easier as you require less approval.
Disadvantages of Purchasing a Detached Home
Con 1: There is a lot more maintenance and up keep involved compared to semi-detached and terraced property types.
Con 2: Detached homes are generally the most expensive type of home from the seven in our list.
Con 3: Some people may experience a feeling of isolation as there are no neighbors close by.
4) Bungalows
The good old Bungalow is next to feature in our list.
A Bungalow is a type of house that only has one level but sometimes upper rooms set in the roof, typically with dormer windows.
The word Bungalow comes from the Hindi word “bangla“, meaning “belonging to Bengal” which was used to described detached cottages built for early European settlers in India.
Bungalows are slowly becoming a rare breed in the UK as developers opt to build taller homes with multiple stories as oppose to single floor bungalows. It’s becoming more common now for property developers to purchase a bungalow and then proceed to demolish it so they can build taller homes.
Taking this into consideration – in some areas of the UK, bungalows are worth double the average price of your typical home!
Advantages of Purchasing a Bungalow
Pro 1: Bungalows for the most part are cheaper than storied homes.
Pro 2: They are easier to clean and maintain as there is only one floor and no stairs.
Pro 3: They hold their value quite well as fewer bungalows are being built every year.
Disadvantages of Purchasing a Bungalow
Con 1: Being only a one storey house, breaking in through bungalow windows and getting access to key rooms like the bedroom is easier.
Con 2: Bungalows have the highest cost per square foot as they built across more land.
Con 3: Larger living areas in bungalows usually mean smaller bedroom sizes.
5) Cottages
We’ll look at cottages now.
A Cottage can be defined as a small house usually in the countryside away from cities and towns.
Cottages originally emerged in the middle ages and housed agricultural workers and their families. The term cottage denoted the dwelling of a cotter which is a farm laborer or tenant occupying a cottage in return for labor. Cottages were traditionally built with thick walls and small windows to help withstand the harsh weather.
Although there aren’t any solid statistics for the average price of a cottage in the UK, a bank’s report by Halifax reveals the average price of a home in rural areas is £202,000, compared with the £172,000 average in an urban area.
Advantages of Purchasing a Cottage
Pro 1: Cottages lower environmental impact.
Pro 2: They are quite private and usually come with additional land
Disadvantages of Purchasing a Cottage
Con 1: Cottages come with less space than storied homes as there are less rooms.
Con 2: Cottages in rural or suburban areas can be quite expensive.
6) Block of Flats
The 6th different type of property in our list are flats.
Flats are what Americans may call Apartments. A flat is a set of rooms for living in, usually on one floor and part of a larger building. A flat usually includes a kitchen and bathroom.
Despite popular belief, flats/apartments have been around for a very long time. In ancient Rome, the insulae were large apartment buildings where the lower and middle classes of Romans lived and during the medieval Arabic-Islamic period, the Egyptian capital of Fustat (Old Cairo) housed many tall residential buildings, some seven stories tall that could reportedly accommodate hundreds of people.
The average price of a flat in England is £230,603
Advantages of Purchasing a Flat
Pro 1: There are usually several layers of security in flats making them quite safe and secure to live in.
Pro 2: Considering the size of a flat compared to any type of home you will likely have to pay less utility bills and there is less maintenance in general.
Pro 3: In many cases blocks of flats are usually located within or close to city centers allowing people quick access to amenities.
Disadvantages of Purchasing a Flat
Con 1: Less privacy as neighbors are only separated thin walls.
Con 2: You cannot extend the flat and even remodeling can be difficult as there isn’t much space and many restrictions.
Con 3: Current property law in England & Wales require flats (for the most part) to be leasehold.
7) End of Terrace House
The last type of property on our list the end of terrace house.
Although very similar to terraced houses, an end of terrace house is as it sounds – a house that sits at the end of a row of houses.
According to the estate agent Savills an end of terraced house can potentially cost up to 18% more than your standard terraced house – but why? Below are some additional benefits that could come with an EoT house.
- Potential to extend sideways.
- Slightly wider than the other homes on the row.
- More light from windows as it sits on the end.
- Less disturbance from neighbors as you only have one.
As mentioned earlier in the article, the average price for a terraced home in England is £200,889, if we add an additional 18% (as Savills have found) to this the average price could go up to an estimated £236,000!
Advantages of Purchasing a End of Terrace Home
Pro 1: Generally speaking a terraced home is the cheapest type of housing you can purchase in the UK.
Pro 2: They require less maintenance overall because of their smaller square footage.
Pro 3: Potentially more safer and secure because you have two sets of neighbors close by.
Disadvantages of Purchasing a End of Terrace Home
Con 1: Terraced houses are small so they inevitably come with less space.
Con 2: There is less garden space compared to semi-detached and detached homes.
The Bottom Line
Regardless of which property type you end up buying, as a homeowner or future homeowner it’s a great idea to educate yourself on what’s available so when the best time does come to switch homes or buy your first home, you know what’s available to you and roughly how much it will cost.
We hope the list we’ve provided has given you with a little more information on the different types of properties available to you as a UK resident – The team here at Housebuyers4u wishes you the best of luck in any future property purchases!
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