A vote for the most evocative British property type might see the terraced house win a clear majority – although those evocations may be as much fantasy as reality. For many, terraces suggest Coronation Street or the 1970s Manchester seen in Life on Mars. Others think of terraces as quintessentially Dickensian or typifying homes built by Yorkshire mill owners to house their wretched workers. Some may even have seen how terraces formed the backbone of Baltimore's crack trade in The Wire.
For the less dramatic, terraces evoke working-class communities where the joyous innocence of children playing in the street was tempered by over-crowding, the noise coming through paper-thin walls, and the consequent domestic violence.
There's a cultural swing towards homes that can be made more individual through colour or external embellishments like railings and hedges.
The purchase of a terraced house is more likely to be a move up rather than on to the housing ladder. Typically, terraced houses are 16 per cent cheaper than semi detached properties. This relative affordability has been allied to a shift in our perception. They're seen as on a par (with semis) in terms of character and the opportunity to add value through restoration or extension.They can be converted into flats and back again. They can be used to accommodate sharers or families. Rooms can change the function or be linked together." The terrace "is a triumph of true recycling and reinvention".
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