Is it OK to buy a flat near a pylon?

Jane100

Hello everyone. I'm in the process of buying a flat and the survey has shown that it's within 50 metres of a high voltage pylon. The cables do not run directly overhead and are not within swinging distance. It's not too late for me to pull out of the sale. I'm a first time buyer and I wondered if anybody has any thoughts about whether it's a good idea to go ahead with this sale? Thanks very much.

lincroft1710

It's probably far enough away not to be a problem and clearly cannot be seen from the flat as you didn't notice it when you viewed the flat.

vuvuzela

Personally it wouldn't bother me too much.
However one important thing I would consider is that if it puts you off, it may well put off potential buyers when you come to sell in the future.

Paully232000

It may put some people off, but if you are not that bothered and have the intention of living there for a long time, then it shouldn't make a difference. Did you even notice it before the survey mentioned it?

When we were looking I wasn't so bothered if we were close, although saw some houses that had them pretty much right up against their fences; that would be a bit close.
However, my other half was dead set against being anywhere near one, and as a result we chalked off quite a few houses that i liked the look of for that reason.

ManuelG

I looked at a house, it was beautiful in the pictures; canal side and pretty. I convinced myself it was cheap because the area wasn't the most desirable, and it had an eccentric layout.

When I went to see it, the massive great pylon with one of its legs in the back garden told me otherwise.

Anyway, *that* was close to a house! Current research seems to suggest there's no obvious health risk living under one. It is however one of those things that makes me nervous, and might make others nervous. What's true and what's seen to be true can both have an impact on an emotional decision after all.

Rule of thumb I'd suggest would be if it's not in your back garden(!) then it's not overly likely to put people off.

Hoploz

I researched this a little while ago when we were considering a house near one. Current thinking seems to indicate few health problems living near power lines (its the lines themselves which emit and not the pylons btw) although there is some conflicting evidence regarding this.

It concerned us as we were planning to stay in the house for 20 years or more, with our children growing up there. Flats tend to be shorter term purchases so people may be less choosy.

We did not buy the house in the end, but for other reasons. If the pylon had been more visible I would have been more concerned. With a flat you can't see it from, I wouldn't think it's a deal breaker.

A family member lives near to power lines and they aren't worried about them. They say the biggest problem is the crackling noise they can hear constantly. Apparently it is louder when it's raining.

jules888

We lived in a bungalow 22 years ago with a pylon behind our back garden.Though over 40 people looked at it took over a year to sell it which we think was definetely because of the pylon but there was bad publicity about them then.
Personally though i wouldnt buy one again near a pylon,it used to buzz in the rain as well!

Jane100

Thanks very much to everyone who's given me their opinion. It's such a tricky one because I like the flat itself and as a first time buyer in the South East, there are not that many places to choose from within my budget. Having said that, London and Country told me that people sometimes have problems getting mortgages in places near to high voltage pylons. The National Grid and various other sources say they pylons do tend to have an impact on selling prices and the pool of people who'll come to view or put in offers in the future. In terms of the health risks, you can find plenty of websites that will put the wind up you about the risks and plenty of anecdotes about people living close to pylons who got ill. The evidence is really only there for childhood leukemia, as far as I can tell as a lay person, and even that isn't fully suppported. I don't have children and don't plan to in the near future (although I would like to one day). It's only a one-bedroom flat so I imagine most people coming to view it will be childless too. Having said all that, I have a really bad feeling about the flat now because of the pylon. I just wonder if it's really worth the possibility of finding it hard to re-sell in the future or hard to re-mortgage. I can't help but wonder if it really is bad for your health too (even though there's not really much evidence that it is). The surveyor flagged it as a serious issue, which is what has made me feel worried. Help!

Jane100

P.s, I viewed the flat twice before I put the offer in, but didn't even notice the pylon. I went back once the survey had taken place and realised that it's very conspicuous. The actual structure can be seen from the living room window (with its legs in the grounds of another set of flats) but the wires run down the side of my flat. It's quite a built up area and that's probably why I didn't even notice when I was viewing it initially.

AdrianC

What do you mean by "High Voltage"? Do you mean the normal 11kV wires going to street-level transformers? Or do you mean the mahoosive 220kV wires and large pylons going to and from power stations?

11kV - I wouldn't worry at all. We've got an 11kV-to-230v transformer for our little clump of houses just at the back of the garage, on our land.

220kV - bit more controversial. There's a lot of scare stories about radiation and whatever, often from people who seem quite happy to lean against their microwave using their mobile phone, but very little actual scientific evidence to show there's a problem. You're living in London, it's probably not the biggest health hazard about, by a long chalk.

Pookie85

Google "The IET Policy EM Fields" and you'll find a really useful document. It requires a bit of technical understand, but a non-engineer should get the gist of it.

As I'm a new user I'm not allowed to post links. Sorry!