Staines
Semi Detached House Prices rise by 479% in 20 years
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 now our wonderful semis are having the last laugh - having enjoyed the highest
price growth of any property type in Staines, up by an average 479% increase in
the last twenty years - in 2017 they are now eminently cool and very desirable!
The semi can laugh in the face of its posher detached counterpart,
which saw a rise of only 243% in the same 20-year period. Looking at smaller
properties, flats/apartments rose 301%, whilst terraced houses did slightly
better at 310% (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 Staines semi stood
at £78,100,
today it stands at £452,100
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 lived 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.
Nearly one in three houses in Staines
is a semi-detached house
There are 3,639 semi-detached properties in Staines and they
represent 33.02% of all the households in Staines. Staines has such a mix of
semi-detached properties with the older classic bay fronted semis to more modern ones built in the last
couple of decades. Especially with the older ones, the semi offered a hall to
provided 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 that 118 semi-detached houses have been sold in Staines
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!
