House near mobile phone mast

worrieddad_4

Hi all

We went looking for another house this weekend and have found one which we really like. The only concern I have is that in the field next to the house, there is a mobile phone mast. Its only about 300 yards away. Its partially hidden by trees so in the summer it will prob. be hidden. I nearly missed it myself but my partner spotted it.

I've heard people say that these things affect house prices. Is it true? If so, by how much? Its a new estate so likely to be full of young families so if/when we come to sell, we will have the same problem.

Any advice/thoughts appreciated.

Thanks

Stumpy

Hi. A couple of years ago we had a fight with one of the mobile companies who wanted to put a mast just across the road from us - just a few metres away from the side of the house. We ended up getting a petition and local councillors involved and managed to get it stopped (although you cannot legally get it stopped on potential health grounds as they don't acknowledge there is a problem with them) - in this case they were trying to install one that was 2 ft higher than the maximum the council allowed.

Anyway, during the course of all of this, we looked into the various problems, etc caused by them. We got our house valued before anything was done, and if the mast had gone up intended to get it valued again afterwards, however that didn't happen, but we did speak to the valuer at the time, who said it wouldn't affect the value of the house.

The problem is, the house is only worth as much as someone is willing to spend - all the mobile operators ended up putting masts half a mile down the road in a fairly open area near Tesco. A neighbour of mine has a friend who has been trying to sell a really nice house on the corner near these masts - he has reduced the price by £20k so far and still no interest. Now, I don't know the exact ins and outs of it - he may have overpriced in the first place, but he is blaming these masts.

As far as health grounds are concerned, there is plenty of information out there - there have been studies in various countries which "prove" that living near one of these things can cause health problems ranging from long-lasting headaches, nose bleeds, etc to tumours and cancer, but must of these studies have been discounted for one reason or another.

Couple of websites here and here that might be of interest.

The other thing I was concerned about was simple electrical interference. Have you ever had you mobile phone next to your computer? It will often make the screen shake and the speakers make weird noises when you are about to receive a call, or when it is checking the network. I was told that there may "possibly" be some electrical interference from the mast, which I wasn't happy about as both myself and my husband work from home, using computers throughout the day. And at the moment it is a wired network (for my computers) but in the future I may want to go wireless - no idea what affect that would have.

Anyway, hope that all helps!!

silvercar

Firstly you have to consider whether you feel there is a health risk. If you do then walk away now.

Then you have to consider whether it will affect the saleability and price. There will be some people that will not look at a house because of the mast, on present health information the majority won't be bothered. When it comes to selling I doubt it will affect the price that much, it may effect how quickly it sells.

The risk is on changing medical advice between now and when you sell. We once looked at a house that had an electricity pilon about 30 metres from the front door, a few months later there was a lot of publicity linking childhood leukemia with pilons.

IN_LIKE_EVERYONE_ELSE!

Oh my God, it will kill you, run for the hills, radiation......bzzzzzzzzzz......bzzzzzzzzzzz.....bzzzzzzzzzz

hummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm argggggggghhhhhhh.

Cheap house anyone?

Bonk.

ManAtHome

There are mobile phone masts and repeaters in all sorts of unexpected places http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2309645.stm

Woby_Tide

half the time peoples houses/workplace are near masts anyway and they haven't noticed in teh first place. In anr suburban area I'd doubt people are much more than a mile away from any 1 base station, in cities probably even less

nelly_2

My mate tests these masts he's up them all day everyday and has been for years.

So far he has grown 3 extra heads and a full new set of legs.

People come up with stories like this only because they know some people will believe them.

Stumpy

nelly wrote:

My mate tests these masts he's up them all day everyday and has been for years.

So far he has grown 3 extra heads and a full new set of legs.

People come up with stories like this only because they know some people will believe them.

I seem to remember when we looked into it all that there was a certain "umbrella" effect with these things - the stuff they give off emenates out from the thing at the top, so there's a certain point close to the mast when you are underneath the waves, rather than in them. We worked out that our house was that close that part of our downstairs was within this umbrella, however, where the children sleep upstairs would have been directly in the way of the most powerful part of it - the further away you are, the weaker the signal.

Some people believe, some don't. I don't know whether I believe or not, but I wasn't willing to take the risk with my kids. It's not so bad if you move into a house near a mast knowing all the facts, completely different kettle of fish if you've lived somewhere for some time and then they decide to plonk one right next to you regardless of how you feel. We had decided that, if one was erected near us, we would have moved.

[Deleted User]

I recently came from a village with a large pylon on the edge. Houses near the pylon were almost impossible to sell.

I personally would not buy anywhere near a phone mast

claz

What i would do is ask as many people that you know as possible if they would buy a house near a phone mast, if the answer is no then ask then would they buy it if it was at a reduced price, also take into account what the replies are from your post because it will give you an idea to whether you will be able to sell the house on

i would also bear in mind that if it is confirmed that they are a health risk then if companies are not forced too take then down then your house will depreicate it value.

my partner and i was going to buy a house next a substation but became concerned when a lot of friends and family said that they wouldn't buy it, obviously a property is an investment so you need to consider all the other factors

ater we waited it out a bit another fantastic property came on the market just around the corner and we are moving in soon

hope this helps

exil

There is a dilemma here. It's unlikely IMO the masts are dangerous except when VERY close to your house. If not, those of us (ie nearly all of us) who have mobile phones are in BIG trouble, as the radiation from a phone next to your ear is much more than that from a mast a few hundred metres away.

On the other hand - if people BELIEVE masts are dangerous - then the house concerned will lose value.

So if you expect to sell within a few years - tread warily. If you expect to live there a long time - then if you are not worried yourself, go ahead.