Tag:building=semi

building=semi is in use for semi-detached houses. This tag is probably a synonym for the more widespread building=semidetached_house.

Semi-detached houses in United Kingdom

Semi-detached houses are the most common type of house in the United Kingdom, but are also found throughout the world. They consist of a pair of houses sharing a common wall (the party wall) and usually have an identical layout which is a mirror of the other half. Semis can vary in size from small houses built for social housing (2 bedroom, 1 living room) to vast Victorian villas with 6 or more bedrooms spread over 3 or more floors.

In Britain, semis usually have 2 floors, but semi-detached bungalows are common in some areas. It is not clear whether the semi tag or building=bungalow should be preferred in this case: indeed, perhaps building=bungalow_semi may be a suitable alternative.

Synonymy

There are a number of synonyms for this tag (see listing below). The only ones with widespread usage are building=semidetached_house and house=semi-detached (used with building=house).

building=semi probably accords better than semidetached_house with standard usage in Britain, but it may be non-obvious to mappers from outside English-speaking areas where the term is commonly used.

house=semi-detached always had more uses than building=semi except between 2019 and 2022.

building=semi had more uses than building=semidetached_house until December 2013.

building=semi peaked at around 55,000 uses in 2022 and has been in decline since. The declines are step-like which suggests regions are being retagged en masse.

As of March 2025, house=semi-detached has 100 times more uses than building=semi, and building=semidetached_house has 400 times more.

Tag usage history up to 2025

Similar tags with low usage

building=semi-detached

		$1%
		$1%
		$1%
		$1%

More details at taginfo

• building=semi-detached

If you know places with this tag, verify if it could be tagged with another tag.
Automated edits are strongly discouraged unless you really know what you are doing!

building=semi_detached

		$1%
		$1%
		$1%
		$1%

More details at taginfo

• building=semi_detached

If you know places with this tag, verify if it could be tagged with another tag.
Automated edits are strongly discouraged unless you really know what you are doing!

building=semidetached

		$1%
		$1%
		$1%
		$1%

More details at taginfo

• building=semidetached

If you know places with this tag, verify if it could be tagged with another tag.
Automated edits are strongly discouraged unless you really know what you are doing!

Examples

Mendips, Liverpool