Narrow gap between house

[Justinzizichan]

Hi everyone,

We are thinking about purchasing a semi detached Victorian house. However, there is no side access or space between the house and the next house apart from just around 5cm. There is no way that anyone could get between the houses for any maintenance or anything.

I am wondering if anyone else would be concerned about this or is it just me?

 

[aockenden]

Hmm yeah not ideal. Everything would seemingly need to be reworked / troubleshooted from the inside. What does the roofline look like between the two?

 

[Justinzizichan]

Yay. That’s my worries too. The roof is like this. It’s similar at the rear side.

 

[Richeee]

As said not ideal but liveable with.

Is their daylight al the way through. Might need a long pile or telescopic pole from window cleaning brush etc to make sure its kept clear periodically.
Can the level of the soil/ infill be ascertained with ref to the i ternal levels. Has muck built up over the years.?
Damp inside. At low level? At roof loft level?

Basically if no obvious damp and air can flow beteen to dry then should be ok.

But if in process of buying have a decent survey to confirm.

 

[Cubist]

I would echo and increase the volume of Richeee's thought concerning muck build up. All sorts of windblown rubbish will accumulate in there. Besides attracting vermin, that will produce nasty odours that waste will get wet and may induce damp in the bricks and internal plasterwork. Personally, I would consider this as an opportunity to see if my new Nikes work.

 

[a twig]

Thrillingly we just had an extension done where the Building Control inspector insisted on just such a gap with our semi-detached neighbours for “airflow” and “separation” - extension has been finished structurally for 4 months and it’s already full of weeds and leaves that I can’t clear.

Going to do my best to clear it out in the Spring and then put some sort of mesh / netting across it

 

[a twig]

On the flip side weather exposure is zero and you’ll get a howling gale down there front to back drying things out so shouldn’t be too many issues assuming it was built reasonably well in the first place?

Can you get a small remote control bulldozer to drive down the gap to clear it out?