Types of houses

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 neighbours close by.
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!

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.

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.

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.

Pro 1: Cottages lower environmental impact.

Pro 2: They are quite private and usually come with additional land

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.

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.

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.

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.
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.

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.

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.

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.

8) Block of flats
9) Penthouse

10) Loft

11) Maisonette (= a small flat/house; it can be found in detached, semi detached, terraced
houses and bungalows, it is a self-contained flat with its own frin door directly off the street, usually
over two floors)

12) Mansion (= kastély, villa, palota, nemesi kúria)

13) Chalet (= hegyi kunyhó, turistaház, faház)