Living near a secondary school

StumpyPumpy

I wouldn't buy it.

A quick look shows that the school is actually two schools - a secondary with a current capacity of 960 students and a junior mixed & infants school with 200+ pupils. This means different drop off & pickup times thereby increasing the window of disruption to the neighbourhood. Also they run after hours clubs which start at 7.45am and end at 6pm weekdays as well as serving breakfast from 8am widening it even more. I don't think it would be stretching a point to say that during term time you'd be looking at much increased traffic from around 7:30 in the morning until classes begin and up until 6:30pm.

According to the schools' websites the school gates are closed from 8.20am to 8.50am and 2.50pm to 3.20pm. So I'd imagine there is a real scrum around these times plus lots of people hanging around (outside your house) waiting for them to open again.

Not only that but the house is directly on the route for anyone going from school to zebra crossing, school to bus stop and school to train station (and school to nearest shops).

There's more in addition to the schools, like the nursery on the opposite side of the road junction, the fact that you would be on a major bus route (one bus every 5 mins) and the potential development of 300 homes so close - where would those families send their children to school and how would that affect the rush hour?

I doubt I would even want to live in it for free.

SP

Anatidaephobia

I live near a small primary school but due to the layout of the roads, we are completely unaffected by traffic. The only kids who walk past our house before/after school live on our street. I wouldn't want to live nearer than I do at the moment though; if the circumstances were different or the school was bigger and busier, I wouldn't have bought a house nearby.

I definitely wouldn't live near a secondary school. They are much bigger than primary schools, the kids are older and more likely to drop rubbish. At our local high school, the whole area is completely gridlocked at 8.30-9am and 3.30-4pm. Not just a few streets immediately next to the school, an entire area of the town is a complete no-go area. Parents park anywhere and everywhere; they do not care about zigzags, they do not care if they block the road or somebody's driveway. The school can be busy from 8am to 10pm if there are after school activities or parents evenings going on.

It completely depends on the school though (and the buyer! I want a quiet house and will not compromise on that but plenty of people are happy to live near a school and are unaffected by it). Regardless of which way you go, I would say it's important that you make time to visit the school in the morning and in the afternoon though. I 100% would not buy a house next to a school without checking out the area thoroughly at different times of day to see it all with my own eyes.

duchy

I wouldn't spend £330 K on anything "sight unseen" and this context that means a couple of mornings and afternoons to judge the arriving and leaving situation. (I'd also want to check it out at lunchtime)

I'd consider it worth taking a couple of days annual leave for as it's a pretty hefty financial commitment.

Better_Days

I rented a house near a primary school and the inconsiderate parking of parents was the main problem. They seem to think that if they are only going to be 10 mins they can park where they bloomin' well like even if they are blocking drives, zig zags, yellow lines etc. In the winter engines would be kept running adding to noise and air pollution. And if it was raining it would be even worse.

The other thing to bear in mind is that the school may rent out rooms or halls during the evening or weekend for night classes and/or functions. If there is inconsiderate parking and noise as a result then it may affect you as you are likely to be home.

A lot will depend on the exact conditions in the area. I'd certainly talk to neighbours and see what they say.

ReadingTim

Given you originally offered £320k, upped it to £322.5k, withdrew it, and now might only offer £310k, I'd be tempted to write you off as a timewaster, and not have anything further to do with you - which sort of settles your query about whether you'd live next to a secondary school or not...!

Paully232000

ReadingTim wrote: »

Given you originally offered £320k, upped it to £322.5k, withdrew it, and now might only offer £310k, I'd be tempted to write you off as a timewaster, and not have anything further to do with you - which sort of settles your query about whether you'd live next to a secondary school or not...!

Not if i wanted to sell, and, as the OP says, thinks other people are being put off from buying. I might get a bit annoyed, but if i wanted to sell I would have to put up with it.

ReadingTim

Paully232000 wrote: »

Not if i wanted to sell, and, as the OP says, thinks other people are being put off from buying. I might get a bit annoyed, but if i wanted to sell I would have to put up with it.

Agreed - I might have to put up with a lower price on account of being next door but one to a school. But the school won't have materialised overnight, so one would have thought that any buyer would have priced their first offer accordingly, and certainly not increased it after the first one was rejected!

That the buyer is thinking of lowering their offer, despite no new facts coming to light about the property (ie it's not a price reduction following a bad survey) would worry me that they might try it on again - shortly before exchange of contracts for example.

Hence I wouldn't sell it to that buyer, even if I had to sell it at that price.