Would you buy a house near a sewage works?

Astro75

Hello

After many months of searching for our ideal house we've recently seen one we really like. After taking a look around the area we noticed that there is a sewage works and rubbish tip about 15 mins walk away.

We viewed on a hot day and have driven through the area many times over the past year and have never noticed any smell. Husband phoned the council to see if there have ever been any complaints and they said from time to time they do. Last year they had a problem with their system and there were many complaints.

This has obviously put us off but we still really like the house, so just wanted to see what other people thought, would this put you off buying a house you liked?

missile

How fast do you walk? Is it visible from this house?

It would put me off if I could see or smell it or had to drive / walk past on route to the house.

TBeckett100

wait until the wind is in the wrong direction. if you are having a think about it, your buyers will in years to come.

Vincenzo

No chance. I drive through an area with a sewage works regularly. Sometimes I don't notice any smell at all, other days it is awful.

Astro75

Thanks for your replies. You can't really see it, it's in a fairly leafy area, well hidden in trees. I do agree that if we're having to think hard about it we would struggle to find buyers when we came to sell it.

westv

15 minutes walk? That's about a mile isn't it?
So nowhere near the house then.

thunderbird

I live less than a mile from a (small) sewage works and have no problems with bad smells. It is very hidden away, I'm sure a lot of people don't even know it is there.

Have a look at how many houses are selling in the area and the prices, that should give some idea of how much it puts off buyers.

Vincenzo

Speak to the neighbours and ask them about the smell.

tawse57

No.

In my part of the world there is a suburb near a rubbish tip and the residents regularly complain about fly infestations and/or smells at various times of the year.

mynameisdave

I've got two friends who live within half a mile walk of a sewage works, and less than 500m as the crow flies and in all the time I've been round, and all the times I've walked past getting some beers and what not from the shops I've never noticed any smell. In fact, I'd passed the place loads of times before they moved there and didn't even know it was sewage works. Only once has my friend say there was a smell in the air.

Once - considerably less than the farmer near my uni rental who was constantly stinking the town out with a turnip smell

sonastin

I work in the water industry and in all honesty, I would rather live near a sewage works than a drinking water treatment plant. If the sewage works goes wrong it just smells bad. If the water works goes wrong, there are some nasty chemicals that can be released into the air.

If you haven't really noticed any smells, they've probably got it working pretty well at the moment. Water companies are paranoid about odour complaints but some plants are just impossible to get operating without odour. Doesn't sound like this is one of them though.

The worst time for odour from a sewage works is often in the days following a big rainfall - when the storm overflow tanks are full and waiting to drain back through the main works. If you are concerned, that would be a good time to go and check it out.

I can't comment on the odours emanating from the rubbish tip though...