Buying house close to rail line

francohoops

We have had an offer accepted on a house which is not a million miles from a rail line (underground, going into London from Croxley). The house does not back onto the tracks, it is about 2 or 3 gardens away. You can faintly hear the trains when in the garden, but can't see them.

There is a plan to upgrade the route which may mean more trains and potentially more noise. What I am struggling with is to get an answer as to whether our house will be impacted. Estate agent will say no, as will vendor.

How would I find out for sure? Solicitor will do the searches, but that may not tell us that much.

I was thinking of writing to 2/3 neighbours, explaining the situation and asking whether they are impacted by the current line, and whether they have any concerns over the new service. Is this a weird thing to do?

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

F

jc808

Does the sound of trains bother you yes or no?

Why you have to write to potential neighbours to answer that, I dont know...

DVardysShadow

francohoops wrote: »

.... Estate agent will say no, as will vendor.

How would I find out for sure? Solicitor will do the searches, but that may not tell us that much.

I was thinking of writing to 2/3 neighbours, explaining the situation and asking whether they are impacted by the current line, and whether they have any concerns over the new service. Is this a weird thing to do?

Neighbours, if they have any sense, will be as self interestedly unaffected as the EA and the vendor.

chris_m

DVardysShadow wrote: »

Neighbours, if they have any sense, will be as self interestedly unaffected as the EA and the vendor.

They will, in all likelihood, also have a different level of tolerance to railway noise than the OP, so their views would probably be of little use.

DVardysShadow

jc808 wrote: »

Does the sound of trains bother you yes or no?

Yes, I only have to hear the word and my blood pressure rises and I break out into a cold trembling sweat.

jonewer

francohoops wrote: »

Is this a weird thing to do?

Yes. rather.

princeofpounds

The answer is no-one knows. Try to find a similar line to that which it will be upgraded to and stand by it perhaps?

If you can't hear the trains much as it stands, then it's probably ok for now (but bear in mind every few weeks the tracks will get scraped clean which normally happens at night and will be noisier, but brief).

But with a new line going in? No idea.

phill99

I grew up living on the direct flight path into RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. Being a military base, they weren't restricted to particular flying hours and could fly all through the night. After living there for a couple of weeks, we didn't hear the planes at all. I guess your brain learns to ignore them. It was never an issue even when Concorde was using the base as a test facility in the 1970's.

So don't worry about the noise - you won't here it after a while.

Annisele

I do think it would be weird to write to the neighbours, but I don't think it would be odd to knock on their doors, introduce yourself as somebody who might be moving in, and see if they have time for a quick chat about the area.

duchy

I'm the same -when I was seven my parents bought a house that backed onto the Victoria to Brighton main line.

We had 100 foot garden and the embankment was high so the track was roughly on a level with the back (my) bedroom window. After the first couple of weeks we honestly didn't notice we just tuned it out. We used to wave at the Brighton Belle as it went past (and travelled on it on the very last day of its service).

I wouldn't actively look for a house on a railway line BUT if it ticked all the other boxes it wouldn't be a deal breaker !

warehouse

O.P. I live in Croxley, near enough to hear the trains faintly but not as close as you. The line has just been fully upgraded so overnight engineering won't be happening for a long long time. I have a good friend who lives in Rickmansworth right next to the met line, and it doesn't bother him whatsoever. Do not concern yourself about being close to the tracks, it's a non issue.

Regarding the upgrade and extension of the line in to Watford. This is far from definite yet. If it does happen then the line will run from Croxley towards the business park. All the work will be down by the 2 bridges pub and beyond, so only the far edge of Croxley. If you're in the high end, (up the hill), then it won't affect you at all. The area will prosper from it long term.

I bought my house at the peak in 2007, and because of the area and proximity to the station, it's worth more now than when we bought. The area is superb, the schools are so good that people from miles away try to get their kids in, and it's totally safe.

Buy the house.