The semi-detached house with its bay windows and net
curtains has long been ridiculed as an emblem of safe, lacklustre and desperately
uncool suburban life; the homes of the likes of Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping up
Appearances and more latterly Alan Partridge – but they could have the last
laugh - having enjoyed the highest price growth of any property type in Maidenhead,
up by an average 425% increase in the last twenty years.
The semi can now laugh in the face of its posher detached counterpart,
which saw a rise of only 280% in the same 20-year period. Looking at smaller
properties, flats/apartments rose 358%, whilst terraced houses did slightly
better at 376% (although they were starting from a lower base and demand from
buy to let landlords has had a big part in driving the values on that type of
house (i.e. the price a buy to let landlord is prepared to pay is driven by the
rent the landlord can achieve).
In 1996 the average value of a Maidenhead semi stood at £92,200,
Such is the attractiveness of semis, which are cheaper than
detached houses but have most of the same benefits for families. Semi-detached
houses were built in their hundreds of thousands by the Victorians and
Edwardians between the wars and through to the present day. Interestingly in
the late 19th Century and early 20th century – they often weren’t referred to
as semi-detached – but as villas!
So whilst Europeans live on top of each other in apartments
us British chose, in the late Victorian and early Edwardian times, suburban
comfort, being near … but not too near, the neighbours! I once heard someone
say the semi-detached house was a peculiar crossbreed that doesn’t stand on its
own — it is inseparable from its neighbour — yet somehow still embodies a dream
of suburban independence.
Over one in four houses in Maidenhead is a semi-detached
house, 6,632 to be precise – this represents 26.11% of all households….! The
traditional semis offered a hall to provide separation between the reception
rooms and privacy for their occupants. Also the downstairs offered larger rooms
to accommodate dining tables, whilst upstairs, bedrooms were smaller, yet cosy.
However, probably the most overlooked aspect of popularity
for semis is the garden. The front garden, designed to separate the house from
the world, and the back garden designed for private relaxation. The semi in the
suburbs was relaxing, well presented, plumbed and enhanced by a garden so that
when a window was opened the air had a chance of being genuinely fresh… and it’s
for all those reasons why 153 semi-detached houses have been sold in Maidenhead
in the last 12 months alone. Still as
popular today as they were with the Victorians all those years ago – some things
just stand the test of time!
I find this article in bad taste. So many of the local residents from years gone by, whom have grown up in the area are being priced out. Yet you celebrate these obese price increases like it's something to behold. Great, now we can expect to pay in excess of Half a Million for a bog standard run down semi. All driven by greedy buy to let. I ask you, would we all be celebrating in this same way if a loaf of bread had increased by upwards of 400%, no we wouldn't. It's no happy article that so many more of us are being being pushed to become debt slaves for a simple roof over our head - or pay someone else's mortgage and enjoy the lack of security. Do me a favour, you may make your money through price ramping but don't pretend to the world it's good for the state of society in the long run.
ReplyDeleteI understand your view. With this and all my articles, they are based on factual numbers and statistics which anyone living in the area are entitled to see. Thanks again for your comment and I always appreciate feedback.
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