House near motorway - would you buy?

yorkshire_terrier_owner

Tancred wrote: »

Priceless? I doubt it!! :rotfl:

Nice house 70m from the M4 = £285k
Identical house in quiet cul-de-sac = £320k

Re-read my post - it's not the property that's priceless it's the quiet.

You asked the question "would you live near a motorway", I answered. For me personally I wanted the quiet, and to me, yes it is priceless.

Please don't jump on people for placing a personal value on things that mean a lot to them...... It's just plain rude.

You wanted constructive comments so here they are:

I lived for 8 years on a main road so not as busy as a motorway. Whilst to a certain extent I got used to it, in the end the constant noise, coupled with the road being closed every so often when there was an RTA, roadworks etc, I had enough. I also saw a fatality from an RTA just outside my house one night - not pleasant. Believe me, being woken up at 3am with flashing blue lights and the clear up going on for hours when you have to be at work the next morning is not fab. I would say we had and RTA about 3 times a year (twice in one week once).

I decided to go for a smaller house in a cul-de-sac. My choice.

Your choice - go for a bigger house near a motorway or a smaller one in a quiet area. Do what's right for you like I did what's right for me. That, and be a bit more respectful please. It ain't rocket science!

yorkshire_terrier_owner

Tancred wrote: »

When the opinions are not constructive then yes - I will argue against them.

Was my opinion not constructive?

geoffky

Run your hands through the local hedges then tell me whether you want to live there.....

Mrs_Imp

Tancred wrote: »

in the congested south-east prices are sky high

The south-east might be expensive, but it's certainly not congested. If you want congested try going oop norf to the Leeds/Bradford or Manchester/Liverpool conglomerations or try the midlands for Sheffield/Stoke/Nottingham/Derby or Brum.

We've just has a lovely day driving through beautiful countryside and seeing very few houses.

I reckon there are more 'country bumpkins' down where I live now (south-east) than where I was brought up (midlands).

I grew up about 400m from a railway line and never noticed the noise. I then moved to a house about 100m from a railway line and still didn't notice the noise. I'm not sure about a motorway though. It might take me a year or so to get used to it.

spud

We used to live on the edge of a village, on the top of a 30 foot bank, backing directly onto the M3 in Hampshire. It was *noticably* quieter than the houses further away at more eye level but there was still noise of course. We lived there happily for nearly ten years and as mentioned elsewhere, you do get used to the drone & tune it out.

The main positive was the price (& location), which for us was 50k less than if we were 100 meters nearer the vilage where we wanted to live but couldn't otherwise afford. Houses on the small estate where we were, all backing onto the motorway ranged from approx 300K to 600K and they still are being snapped up now when they come on the market. Ours sold in two weeks for just about asking price. There is even a premier league footballer still living in one, for what that's worth Also we backed onto the bank which meant we weren't overlooked.

Negatives were the noise, though as mentioned it didn't affect us after living in major cities previously. Noise did increase/decrease dependent on wind direction & of course rain. Majority of the year windows were closed anyway and the only thing we sometimes heard/felt indoors was vibration of traffic when the numpties had repaired the inside lane and created a 'divot' with their poor workmanship. That did get fixed shortly after we complained to the highways agency. I would strongly suggest you spend time in the rooms you intend to relax in & feel as well as listen. If you can't close out the traffic when you are trying to relax, that may annoy you over time. Our main bedrooms overlooked the front of the house which faced away from the motorway. There was also more dirt thrown up by the traffic which appeared in & on the house. Again, not a big deal to us but noticeable now we've moved away.

So for us and others it can still work, but I appreciate it's not for all. I would be surprised if anyone moving from the countryside could get to grips with that sort of compromise.

lessonlearned

I think proximity to a major road is only part of the story. There is also the lie of the land, atmospheric conditions, trees and hedges etc to take into account.

The house we sold recently backed onto open fields, and was at the top end of a very quiet cul-d-sac. It was blissfully peaceful and quiet until they built the A50 about 1 mile away. Yes you could always hear a constant low drone in the background. At peak times it was very noticeable. You could also hear Donnington Race Track on race days and that must have been at least 7 miles away........

The house we are now buying is smack bang in the city centre next to a very busy road with a flyover in close proximity.

The house is below road level. We have viewed it several times at varying times of the day to assess how noisy it might be.

Standing outside the front of the house there is noise but not nearly as bad as I had expected.

It has secondary glazing behind sash windows because it is Grade II listed. I was astonished to find that the side of the house which faced the road was so quiet - you couldn't actually hear any road noise at all. You can see traffic driving past but not hear a sound - quite surreal.......

The rear of the house is surrounded by an L-shaped garden and again inside the house it is very peaceful, no noise.

The garden is enclosed by brick walls on all sides and has been judiciously planted with trees, hedges and shrubs. Yes you can hear some noise but, apart from peak times when traffic flow is at it's busiest, the noise is far less irritating that the constant low drone we experienced in our old house. Running water will easily mitigate that. The previous owners filled in the pond and it's little stream because they had a young child. We intend to re-instate them.

When we initially viewed this property it was our "wild card". We really went to see it because I was desperate to see inside. I had no intention of buying it because I fully expected to be deterred by the road. I really don't like road noise and I thought the noise levels would be unacceptable.

I have found both the house and the garden to be far quieter than I would have thought possible.

I'm wondering if this because the house is situated "below" the road.

We intend to keep this house for a long time. I hadn't even given a thought to advances in engineering and the future of electric cars so that will be a bonus.

Given the high population density of our small island and the sheer volume of traffic on our roads I think it is becoming increasingly difficult to escape traffic noise.

I have viewed properties in some beautiful villages which should be peaceful but on nearly every occasion I have noticed that incessant low drone from distant motorways.

rrtt

At the risk of incurring the OP's wrath ...

I too am a countrybumpkin. Currently live 2 miles as crow flies from major artery road - when the wind is from there, can here the drone in garden here. It's not a problem for me, I got used to it. I think I'd also get used to a drone from constant motorway traffic.

I don't think, however, I could get used to the noise from a 'B' or more minor road which has intermittent noise from more clunky vehicles such as farm machinery rattling past 60 feet or 100 yards away - the situation which I found when I spent time looking at 2 other houses recently - esp at (eg) 5am which you'd have to expect in summer in this rural area. And esp if you like to sleep with windows open. Motorway noise is permanent, therefore some people simply stop noticing it. Occasional noise can get really irritating or wake you up.

May be worth adding that a couple of houses I looked at which had B roads about 2 metres from the (N facing) back walls, seemed actually quite quiet in the S facing gardens on the other side, possibly because they were much lower down and had the houses in the way.

It's all down to topography, prevailing winds, individuals' tolerance levels and preferences in the long run.

Edit - oh, and PS, DO think of the resale ...

racing_blue

Don't know if I'm typical I have and would NEVER buy a house within earshot of a motorway, in a flood plain or of non-standard construction.

I would however buy a house with a smaller garden, less rooms, a bigger mortgage, attached neighbour(s), a phone mast or pylon in the garden, subsidence, underpinning, dry rot, bats, newts, Japanese knotweed, and abandoned mine shafts...

rrtt

racing_blue wrote: »

Don't know if I'm typical I have and would NEVER buy a house within earshot of a motorway, in a flood plain or of non-standard construction.

I would however buy a house with a smaller garden, less rooms, a bigger mortgage, attached neighbour(s), a phone mast or pylon in the garden, subsidence, underpinning, dry rot, bats, newts, Japanese knotweed, and abandoned mine shafts...

small wager that you wouldn't if it had rats tho

lessonlearned

racing_blue wrote: »

Don't know if I'm typical I have and would NEVER buy a house within earshot of a motorway, in a flood plain or of non-standard construction.

I would however buy a house with a smaller garden, less rooms, a bigger mortgage, attached neighbour(s), a phone mast or pylon in the garden, subsidence, underpinning, dry rot, bats, newts, Japanese knotweed, and abandoned mine shafts...

Phone masts and pylons, electrical substations a definite no for me. Just backed out of a sale because of JK, mainly because it was in the neighbour's garden too and although I would have taken steps to eradicate it there could be no guarantee that the neighbours would do their bit.

Rats, subsidence, dry rot can all be dealt with. I know that bats are a protected species and some newts too so I might think twice about them. Abandoned mine-shafts can be made safe. I too would avoid high risk flood areas.

I think for me it would be down to the general neighbourhood, a drug infested crime ridden area would be a definite no go.

Realistically most things regarding the house itself can be fixed - at a price - it is the surrounding environs that can't be changed.

Back to roads - sometimes a major road can become a minor road if say a by-pass is built. This has happened a lot in our city and suburbs. This is exactly what happened to the house we are buying.

At one time the house fronted a major road and I would never have bought it in the past. Now that road has been downgraded and a newer one built in it's stead. Although the house is still within earshot of the new road, it is actually situated on a traffic free stretch of the old road which is below the new road which is built on stilts at that point.

I'm no engineer but I think this must be the reason why it is so quiet. I certainly thought it would be far more noisy than it is.

We are also close to a river with pleasant tree lined walks, a large park, a cricket ground surrounded by trees - used to be horse race track, and several green areas where trees feature quite heavily. I suppose this all helps to muffle the sound a bit.

I'm not too concerned about resale. This is a "forever" house - not one to be bought and sold with profit in mind.

Because of it's listed status it will always have a specific market anyway. People either love or hate listed buildings. It is actually one of the oldest private dwellings in our city, of considerable historic interest so I think resale would not be too much of an issue. Someone will fall in love with it just as we have and be daft enough to take it on.:rotfl:

The house also lies within a conservation area which does give it a measure of protection, ie no further development. What you see is what you get so I think this also helps mitigate the road.

As for the future - well who knows, the road could be re-routed again, people could be using their cars less, electric cars may well be quieter.

There is already talk of re-introducing a tramline in our city to reduce congestion. A lot of our shopping streets and inner city housing has already been pedestrianised. That currently busy road could well become obsolete in the future.

In the meantime we get to live in a lovely Grade II listed house which, if it had been located in a pretty village in the Peak District, would have cost us at least £500K. We have paid considerably less:D