What Are Townhouses?

A term that finds its emergence in North America is now widely used across Europe, Australia, Asia and Africa. A townhouse is essentially a terraced home with a narrow façade and a tall frame. This type of structure is generally found in an urban set-up. The owner owns all the floors, and even the land. These are individual homes where walls are shared with neighbours. Each home is designed differently unlike row houses, which are terrace homes placed adjacently and designed with the same look and configuration.

MakaanIQ tells you what it means to own a townhouse:

• A townhouse typically is not wide but tall with the terrace rights lying with the owner.
• An independent house, it can be owned by only one person.
• In the West, whoever owns a townhouse also owns the land on which the property sits.
• The townhouse starts from the ground floor, has a front and back yard and generally, two to three floors. Due to its narrow façade, while one floor houses the living room, another would house bedrooms.
• It is built in a row of connected houses.
• In a townhouse, there are no common areas that are shared by the community living around. The owner is the absolute proprietor, which includes the front and back yard.
• If a townhouse is a part of the community housing, each townhouse owner also owns a percentage of the common facilities, including a swimming pool, a play area, a gym, among other amenities.
• A townhouse can be a part of community housing which has a separate common area for the dwellers.
• Townhouses are largely self-maintained and a private help can be hired unlike apartments or condos where the housing society or association does the maintenance and charges the dwellers for the services.
• For those who look for a home which they could maintain on their own and want to own a piece of land along with the property, then townhouses are the best bet.
• Townhouses can be heavy on the pocket as these offer you a spacious housing along with land ownership.
• Townhouses are a good way of community living, each home having its own distinct look.