| First Time Buyer Needing Advice- Living with a Terrace House 11:01 - Apr 16 with 2325 views | MB26 |
Morning kind people of TWTD,
My partner and I are looking at purchasing our first property together in Ipswich. Our budget limits us to what we can purchase but we do favour a character property which points us in the direction of Victorian Town houses in a terrace. The clear limitation of this is lack of allocated parking which we've both been lucky to have whilst living with parents.
Does anyone own or live in a terrace house and how much of an issue have you found not having allocated parking?. My partner and I both have relatively small hatchbacks. We are willing for any help or guidance in terms of type of property as well as area so any contributions are welcome.
[Post edited 16 Apr 2021 11:02]
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| First Time Buyer Needing Advice- Living with a Terrace House on 12:01 - Apr 16 with 1989 views | Steve_M |
Doesn't that depend more on where it is than within the town than anything else? There's quite a lot of variation. |  |
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| First Time Buyer Needing Advice- Living with a Terrace House on 12:19 - Apr 16 with 1948 views | MB26 |
| First Time Buyer Needing Advice- Living with a Terrace House on 12:01 - Apr 16 by Steve_M |
Doesn't that depend more on where it is than within the town than anything else? There's quite a lot of variation. |
That is true but it was more a general feel I was after, most are without allocated parking which depends on the road and how many cars belong to it.
We have a viewing at a property just off Belstead Road which has no allocated parking. I will be scouting the road at multiple times to see how bad it is parking wise. | | | |
| First Time Buyer Needing Advice- Living with a Terrace House on 12:24 - Apr 16 with 1934 views | hype313 |
| First Time Buyer Needing Advice- Living with a Terrace House on 12:19 - Apr 16 by MB26 |
That is true but it was more a general feel I was after, most are without allocated parking which depends on the road and how many cars belong to it.
We have a viewing at a property just off Belstead Road which has no allocated parking. I will be scouting the road at multiple times to see how bad it is parking wise. |
Most roads around there are permits now though I thought? |  |
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| First Time Buyer Needing Advice- Living with a Terrace House on 12:32 - Apr 16 with 1917 views | MB26 |
| First Time Buyer Needing Advice- Living with a Terrace House on 12:24 - Apr 16 by hype313 |
Most roads around there are permits now though I thought? |
I'm guessing this due to proximity to the train station? | | | |
| First Time Buyer Needing Advice- Living with a Terrace House on 12:34 - Apr 16 with 1908 views | hype313 |
| First Time Buyer Needing Advice- Living with a Terrace House on 12:32 - Apr 16 by MB26 |
I'm guessing this due to proximity to the train station? |
Yep, and I'm a guilty party for parking around there when using the trains, all now permit, so actually it works better for you as you will be able to apply for one. | |
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| First Time Buyer Needing Advice- Living with a Terrace House on 12:48 - Apr 16 with 1866 views | giant_stow |
I live in a narrow terrace house, so there's sometimes a bit of a scrum for parking spots. Worst case, you just park it a bit further away or round the corner - no big deal. |  |
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| First Time Buyer Needing Advice- Living with a Terrace House on 13:17 - Apr 16 with 1826 views | Herbivore |
It can be be bad. The houses are scarcely wide enough to accommodate every house having one car parked in front of them, so when you have two car households - like you and your partner - it doesn't help things much. It does vary a lot road by road. Where I was living in Norwich was permit parking but even so if you got home after 8pm the chances of parking within 50m of your own house were slim. |  |
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| First Time Buyer Needing Advice- Living with a Terrace House on 13:29 - Apr 16 with 1805 views | SouperJim |
Lived in a terraced house in Newmarket where, between the two car households all the way along the street and the locals going into Town who were too tight to pay the 50p to park in the public car park just around the corner, being able to park somewhere near the house was a daily challenge which rapidly became a serious inconvenience.
Yes you can park a few minutes away and walk, but that doesn't help when you've got a boot full of shopping. Even on moving in day, we were left with no choice but to block the road with the van and inconvenience our new neighbours.
I would consider very carefully and find out exactly how busy the parking is. At the bad end of the spectrum, it's a real ball ache. |  |
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| First Time Buyer Needing Advice- Living with a Terrace House on 18:30 - Apr 16 with 1676 views | MB26 |
Appreciate all your replies and private messages. It's been an eye opening experience so far, very much learning as you go at times, but we will get there. | | | |
| First Time Buyer Needing Advice- Living with a Terrace House on 19:02 - Apr 16 with 1611 views | Nthsuffolkblue |
Regardless of where you buy, you need to think about what the parking situation is.
The only parking that you can absolutely guarantee is space on your own land and, even then, if it isn't clearly yours that can create a problem. I once lived somewhere where we owned a space in a car park and another one in a run of four off-road spaces alongside the property. We had a few times where people parked in the one round the side. Even once, I got home from work to find a guy parking in it and when I asked him to move, his response was he wouldn't be long! Allocated on-street spaces will be even more seen as free game for people who think they won't get a ticket. Permit parking will usually not guarantee you a space either only the right to park there provided there is space.
When looking, look at how crowded the parking is when you look round. Then make sure you go round and check what it is like in the evening and the weekend. Even then, though, these things can change. I know a chap who runs a car mechanics business in a residential area and frequently has in excess of half a dozen cars parked in the residential street. That puts a lot of pressure on parking. |  |
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| First Time Buyer Needing Advice- Living with a Terrace House on 19:16 - Apr 16 with 1584 views | MB26 |
That's definitely a consideration. Luckily my partner took the decision to purchase the car she had on finance for a measly sum considering the age of the car and how few miles she has done. We might have to suck it up for a year with two cars but if we don't need it when she is in full time employment and the train station/public transport or even if work is waking distance. | | | |
| [Redacted] on 19:24 - Apr 16 with 1575 views | victorywilhappen |
| First Time Buyer Needing Advice- Living with a Terrace House on 19:16 - Apr 16 by MB26 |
That's definitely a consideration. Luckily my partner took the decision to purchase the car she had on finance for a measly sum considering the age of the car and how few miles she has done. We might have to suck it up for a year with two cars but if we don't need it when she is in full time employment and the train station/public transport or even if work is waking distance. |
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| First Time Buyer Needing Advice- Living with a Terrace House on 19:47 - Apr 16 with 1521 views | gainsboroughblue |
I lived in Withipoll Street during the nineties and that was an absolute ballache. I had a permit but even that scarcely guaranteed a spot as the street itself was limited to parking on one side due to how narrow it was. All the roads within a half mile radius was also permit parking and it seemed to be more people wanting to park there than spaces available.
My saving grace was early starts at work and late finishes so I could take advantage of the single yellow line parking between 6pm and 8am. |  |
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| First Time Buyer Needing Advice- Living with a Terrace House on 20:32 - Apr 16 with 1450 views | dickie |
I've lived in Hill House Road and Kensington Road (both are mostly terraced houses). Hill House Road could be a pain, especially when I used to get back late from a gig and had to block the road to unload my equipment. Plus the traffic wardens used to target residents who had forgotten their new parking permit on the day of the new permit (found that out the hard way).
Kensington Road was ok really, one side of the road had lots of 30s semis with driveways and the other side all terraced houses. In 5 years of living there I never had to park on a different road, and rarely did I have to park more than 50 feet from my house. I think it depends on the road really. |  | | |
| First Time Buyer Needing Advice- Living with a Terrace House on 01:17 - Apr 17 with 1311 views | TractorWood |
| First Time Buyer Needing Advice- Living with a Terrace House on 13:29 - Apr 16 by SouperJim |
Lived in a terraced house in Newmarket where, between the two car households all the way along the street and the locals going into Town who were too tight to pay the 50p to park in the public car park just around the corner, being able to park somewhere near the house was a daily challenge which rapidly became a serious inconvenience.
Yes you can park a few minutes away and walk, but that doesn't help when you've got a boot full of shopping. Even on moving in day, we were left with no choice but to block the road with the van and inconvenience our new neighbours.
I would consider very carefully and find out exactly how busy the parking is. At the bad end of the spectrum, it's a real ball ache. |
Some streets in Newmarket are awful. Permanently impossible and others have acres of spare space. Cambridge is the same, strangely. Re the OP - just try parking there a few days in a row at a couple of different times and get a feel for it.
Agree it's a daunting prospect. Some people I know have it so bad they leave one of their cars at one of their offices permanently and get an Uber when they need it! |  |
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| First Time Buyer Needing Advice- Living with a Terrace House on 07:18 - Apr 17 with 1257 views | dickie |
My abilities to parallel park have improved massively every time I've lived in a terraced house (I think I've lived in 5 terraced houses in Ipswich and Colchester) | | | |
| First Time Buyer Needing Advice- Living with a Terrace House on 08:54 - Apr 17 with 1156 views | MB26 |
| First Time Buyer Needing Advice- Living with a Terrace House on 07:18 - Apr 17 by dickie |
My abilities to parallel park have improved massively every time I've lived in a terraced house (I think I've lived in 5 terraced houses in Ipswich and Colchester) |
I think it's an important skill to have. We both live in the countryside so parking has never been an issue. If you don't have to do it you don't parallel park. We've both got small cars so it shouldn't be too challenging to refresh our skills | | | |
| First Time Buyer Needing Advice- Living with a Terrace House on 09:14 - Apr 17 with 1136 views | CBBlue |
| First Time Buyer Needing Advice- Living with a Terrace House on 07:18 - Apr 17 by dickie |
My abilities to parallel park have improved massively every time I've lived in a terraced house (I think I've lived in 5 terraced houses in Ipswich and Colchester) |
Yes I was a whizz at parallel parking after living in a terraced for 10 years.
Where we lived there were terraces one side but the other side the houses mainly had driveways so we we were only competing with half the street to park. Usually we could park both cars outside the house but occasionally had to chance the 1hr only spaces - not a problem until you had the following day off work and forgot to move the car. | |
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| First Time Buyer Needing Advice- Living with a Terrace House on 09:30 - Apr 17 with 1119 views | ElephantintheRoom |
Cars are the least of your worries - it is the tradesman with a transit as well as two or more family cars that eat into parking spaces. Anyone who has the temerity to park in the terraced streets around Portman Road will know that parking spaces are zealously guarded by those who think they own the public roads alongside their property. When we bought our first house, we didn't have a car. Those were the days. | |
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| First Time Buyer Needing Advice- Living with a Terrace House on 09:38 - Apr 17 with 1087 views | Churchman |
Just remember that if it’s something that bothers you like parking, it will probably bother others when you come to sell it.
The old principle was location location location. While that still applies, when buying a first property compromises always have to be made e.g. bigger property v poorer location, character of old v modern property with less space, flat v small house, garage v no garage. The trick is to do as much research as you can then do some more! Decide what your priorities are and the type of place you want and list preferred locations.
While the internet is brilliant, getting out there, legwork, has to be done. Time consuming, frustrating, dealing with awful people and genuine ones, disappointment and success, it’s a process that like everything else, the harder you work at it the better the outcome. Buying houses in principle is no different to anything else. Just more complex and of course costly!
Good luck. |  | | |
| First Time Buyer Needing Advice- Living with a Terrace House on 10:18 - Apr 17 with 1036 views | jontysnut |
| First Time Buyer Needing Advice- Living with a Terrace House on 09:30 - Apr 17 by ElephantintheRoom |
Cars are the least of your worries - it is the tradesman with a transit as well as two or more family cars that eat into parking spaces. Anyone who has the temerity to park in the terraced streets around Portman Road will know that parking spaces are zealously guarded by those who think they own the public roads alongside their property. When we bought our first house, we didn't have a car. Those were the days. |
We moved into a new house and the fist thing the neighbours did was to complain that we'd parked outside their house even though their car was on a driveway. My main memory of terraced living was the vigorous and noisy love life of the couple on one side. |  | | |
| First Time Buyer Needing Advice- Living with a Terrace House on 10:20 - Apr 17 with 1030 views | MB26 |
| First Time Buyer Needing Advice- Living with a Terrace House on 09:38 - Apr 17 by Churchman |
Just remember that if it’s something that bothers you like parking, it will probably bother others when you come to sell it.
The old principle was location location location. While that still applies, when buying a first property compromises always have to be made e.g. bigger property v poorer location, character of old v modern property with less space, flat v small house, garage v no garage. The trick is to do as much research as you can then do some more! Decide what your priorities are and the type of place you want and list preferred locations.
While the internet is brilliant, getting out there, legwork, has to be done. Time consuming, frustrating, dealing with awful people and genuine ones, disappointment and success, it’s a process that like everything else, the harder you work at it the better the outcome. Buying houses in principle is no different to anything else. Just more complex and of course costly!
Good luck. |
Yes Location certainly is very important. We've looked north of the border but I think we've decided that for social and working life balance Ipswich makes more sense. I spend or spent before COVID most of my social life in Ipswich so commuting an extra 10 minutes from a place I will spend a lot of time in makes sense.
My partner's situation is still unclear post-University. Ipswich is quite a solid base to commute from either to Norwich or anywhere on the train between Ipswich itself and London. We realise that it's our first property and it's more than likely not going to be a forever home so like you say, we need to determine what we can sacrifice. | | | |
| First Time Buyer Needing Advice- Living with a Terrace House on 10:26 - Apr 17 with 1025 views | CBBlue |
| First Time Buyer Needing Advice- Living with a Terrace House on 10:18 - Apr 17 by jontysnut |
We moved into a new house and the fist thing the neighbours did was to complain that we'd parked outside their house even though their car was on a driveway. My main memory of terraced living was the vigorous and noisy love life of the couple on one side. |
Ah yes, we'd have the constant reminder that our love life was not as regular as the younger couple one side aof us nd on the other side we'd have to endure Emmerdale every night as the old dear had her telly so loud we could hear every single word of it.
TWTD | |
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| First Time Buyer Needing Advice- Living with a Terrace House on 10:42 - Apr 17 with 1010 views | Churchman |
| First Time Buyer Needing Advice- Living with a Terrace House on 10:20 - Apr 17 by MB26 |
Yes Location certainly is very important. We've looked north of the border but I think we've decided that for social and working life balance Ipswich makes more sense. I spend or spent before COVID most of my social life in Ipswich so commuting an extra 10 minutes from a place I will spend a lot of time in makes sense.
My partner's situation is still unclear post-University. Ipswich is quite a solid base to commute from either to Norwich or anywhere on the train between Ipswich itself and London. We realise that it's our first property and it's more than likely not going to be a forever home so like you say, we need to determine what we can sacrifice. |
Priorities and lists!! Tedious but a good thing. Ok, I’m a bit of a saddo, but in complex decisions theyve always helped me.
For the property itself, it’s about your lifestyle really. In other words, are you going to be there much, have people round a lot, hobbies to accommodate, stuff, etc etc. Older properties, because they were built for another age, tend to be compromises in themselves in terms of layout. The thing to remember is that there’s always another property so patience is crucial.
When you find what you want, do make sure you pay the money for a good survey. It’s well worth it. It never ceased to amaze me the number of people that skimped on that, given it’s the most expensive thing normal people will ever buy. | | | |
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