Why the two-up two-down is back in fashion

Buyers are realising the hidden benefits of the often denigrated terraced house

When Andrea Cavalieri was shopping around for his first home he initially assumed he would be buying a flat. But, disappointed by what his budget would buy in Stratford, east London, he widened his search and realised that, for the same price as a modest modern apartment he could have an entire house.
The catch? The houses that were within budget were two-up two-downs, one of the most denigrated styles of home in Britain.
Nonetheless Andrea, a tech manager who is originally from Italy, was very taken with the idea of having a proper house with his own front door, no freeholder, nobody living upstairs, and a garden of his own. “I could see the potential,” he says.
It turns out that Andrea was ahead of the curve. New research from Zoopla has found that, between April and June, two-bedroom terraced houses were the fastest-selling property type in England and Wales. Sales are being agreed within an average 27 days.
Experts agree that compact homes are having a moment, for a variety of reasons. Some are being sold to buyers who would, before interest rates started rising, have aspired to a larger three-bedroom house.
Others are being sold to first-time buyers who, post-Covid, prioritise outside space. Many young renters are also disillusioned with the noise and lack of space flats can offer; yet more have been influenced by the cladding crisis which emerged in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy and have lost their faith in modern flats.
First-time buyers are an increasingly powerful force in the UK’s housing market. Last month, Skipton Building Society said it was making 41pc of all new loans to first-time buyers, up from less than a third in 2023.
“The appeal of a two-up two-down is having your own front door and a garden or some form of outside space which is often not available with a flat,” says Carol Peett of West Wales Property Finders. 
Other advantages include loft space for storage, plus the chance of off-street parking. And houses are usually sold on a freehold basis, which means no landlord to contend with and no service charges to pay.
“People are also concerned about noise from neighbours in a flat, where soundproofing is often poor,” adds Peett. “Noise can also be a problem from neighbours in a terraced house, of course, but at least it is only from either side and not from above and below as well.”
Helen Whitfield, of estate agency Butler Sherborn in the Cotswolds, agrees that two-bedroom houses were being snapped up by mostly first-time buyers; holiday let investors, once active, have dropped out as regulations have increased and tax breaks been squeezed. 
“A lot of people moving to the countryside are doing so for the opportunity to have outside space and control,” she says.
“Many are also moving out of London and have experienced high service charges, ground rent and unreliable management companies, and it becomes something they definitely wish to avoid.”
Harry Chennells, of Cheffins estate agents in Cambridge, believes first-time buyers have been spooked by the Grenfell tragedy and the ensuing cladding crisis, and have lost faith in modern flats. “As such, a lot of buyers focus their efforts on a freehold house with a garden,” he says.
The property Cavalieri ended up buying, in 2018, was in Maryland, just east of Stratford, and cost £470,000.
The house had been rented previously, and was in a miserable state when he got the keys. “It had four families living in it, one in each room, so you can imagine the state it was in,” he says. “You could just about move in – if you weren’t too fussy.”
But he was up for a project and has gone on to prove just how versatile a two-bedroom terrace can be. A lack of immediate funds meant he tackled the circa 1900-built house in phases.
The first involved ripping down the old conservatory and replacing it with a monumental concrete and brick extension designed by architect Greg Walton, co-founder of Studio McW. 
“I have always loved modern houses, but I also love the way London mixes the very old and the very new,” said Cavalieri.
“You have something like the Shard, and then an old church next to it. I love that and I wanted to do something like that on a much smaller scale.”
The results of the work thrilled Cavalieri, whose house looks like a classic terrace from the outside, and a modernist masterpiece inside. “It is a showstopper,” he says. “I have zero regrets.”
Once the ground floor was complete he moved in, and got to work on the upstairs, redoing both bedrooms, and installing a new bathroom. Phase three will be to go up into the loft, transforming the property into a three-bedroom house.
So far Cavalieri, 49, has spent around £200,000 on upgrading his house; renovating even small houses isn’t cheap. But he believes the property is now worth around £700,000, and once he has added floorspace with a loft conversion it could go up to around £900,000.
For him buying a small house and then slowly refashioning it was a way to get on the property ladder as soon as possible.
“If I had wanted to buy a bigger house it could have taken me another six or seven years,” he points out. “It was about the timing.”
Cavalieri felt that his house offered better value for money than a two-bedroom flat. But the price differential between two-bedroom flats and two-bedroom houses varies depending on where you are.
In Wales, Peett estimates that a terraced house in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, would cost around £155,000 on average – around £70,000 more than the £85,000 an average two-bedroom flat would set buyers back.
But in Sevenoaks, Kent, two-bedroom houses cost from around £350,000 to £500,000, according to Oliver Hodges of Savills, while a modern two-bedroom flat would range from around £375,000 to £400,000. That means it would be possible to pick up a house instead of a flat for the same money.
Chennells said that a classic two-bedroom Victorian terrace in Cambridge would cost around £450,000. City centre two-bedroom flats trade at between £550,000 to £600,000. But out in the suburbs a similar flat would cost £300,000 to £350,000.
Value aside, one issue which has historically put buyers off two-up two-downs, is their plebeian history – more Coronation Street than Selling Sunset. “The two-up two-down is really indicative of the 19th century when you rows and rows of these small houses were being built,” explains architectural researcher Melanie Backe-Hansen.
“Developers wanted to fit as many houses as possible on a plot of land so that they could maximise rentals. They were built around mills, railways, factories – people had to be able to walk to work.”
Most of these original houses had rudimentary sanitary facilities: an outdoor tap if tenants were lucky, or water supplied via a shared well or pump. Toilets were also outdoors and, again, often shared. 
“That is where the slightly grim image of these houses was born,” says Backe-Hansen.
When Cate St Hill bought her two-up two-down in Herne Hill, south London, the property certainly was an ugly duckling, from its pebble-dash exterior to the dated kitchen and bathroom, and a garish primary-colour scheme.
“It was a bit unloved, I definitely had the worst house best street mentality,” says St Hill, 36, an interior designer and writer (@catesthill).
The property cost £691,000 in 2017. One of the reasons she bought it was because she loved the location. She also spotted that several other owners along the street had done rear extensions, which meant the planning precedent had been set for her to do the same.
Initially she simply smartened up the house, taking the wall down between the living room and kitchen to create an open-plan space, putting in a new kitchen, flooring, and redecorating. Then, in 2022, she was able to remortgage to fund a two-storey rear extension. 
This meant she could move the bathroom upstairs and squeeze in a third bedroom too. Downstairs the new extension has a dining area which overlooks the garden.
The six-month, £230,000 project was completed in the spring of 2023 and the house is now a bright, light space for St Hill and her daughter Ophelia, three.
Based on what nearby homes are selling for, Cate believes her house is now worth around the £1m mark, meaning her efforts have resulted in a modest profit. But for now she simply wants to stay put and enjoy the fruit of her labours.
“The space we have created is wonderful,” she says. “It is really light and airy, the perfect place for Ophelia to play and enjoy.”