Re-sale near a motorway

Old_Git

it depends how busy the motorway is .I know the motorway passes the end of my cul de sac ,but apart from rush hour its not overly busy.

Tom99

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Whether the motorway is up an embankment or in a cutting and has sound absorbent fencing or low noise road surface can all make a big difference to the noise you will actually hear.[/FONT]

Cakeguts

Are you saying that the house you are looking at is £15k cheaper than others on the same development? If so that means that it is already difficult to sell being near to the motorway. As it gets older you can expect it to become more difficult to sell if there are more new houses being built not far away.

If you want to sell for the best price you have to have a house that has the biggest market for selling not one that is difficult to sell.

Davesnave

Tom99 wrote: »

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Whether the motorway is up an embankment or in a cutting and has sound absorbent fencing or low noise road surface can all make a big difference to the noise you will actually hear.[/FONT]

This is so true.

The house my daughter rented a year ago was close to the M4 and I expected it to be noisy, but even in the garden the sound, though discernable, was rarely a nuisance because of prevailing winds and other buildings/landscaping.

Her new rental is further away, yet the noise is more apparent in the garden.

As a side note, when we lived in the city, an A class road 200m away was rarely heard, unless an ambulance or police siren sounded. We rented for a short time after selling and immediately noticed the roar of traffic. The rental was actually 400m further from the main road, but topography made it 'closer' in human experience terms.

I checked this out on the noise map below, which confirmed that I'd lived in a 'quiet zone' for 30 years without realising it.

http://www.extrium.co.uk/noiseviewer.html

LandyAndy

I lived for 16 years about 400m from the junction of the M6 and M62, so quite a busy stretch of Motorway. It was a constant humming in the background 24 hours a day. We never took any notice of it and it didn't spoil our enjoyment of the house or garden one bit.

Caraway90

Personally I wouldn't consider a house so close to such a fast stretch of road. We looked at a house where the garden backed on to a main road (only a 30mph limit) - but we knew the area very well so knew how busy and constant the flow of traffic was on the road.

Then again this particular house sold really quickly, all down to personal choice and what someone is willing to pay for that location.

[Deleted User]

Living next to a motorway wouldn't bother me at all, in fact I'd rather a constant hum than an intermittent train / plane that you're always listening out for.


Cars on a motorway are not idling so I would imagine safer pollution wise than a built up city where they sit in traffic spewing our fumes.


I see more and more houses / flats built adjacent to the Motorway, I'm thinking m3 and they are all occupied so that's a good sign.


There will always be some noise where the majority of us live so its what you can accept.

EachPenny

ashe wrote: »

...or have kids/pets that they wouldnt be able to relax knowing a dangerous road is so close...

People (not just you ashe) are getting a bit too focussed on the word "motorway". Motorways aren't inherently dangerous roads and arguably are safer than urban streets. Pets and children are just as likely to get run over on a country lane as a motorway, perhaps more so because the environment of a country lane gives the appearance of being less threatening than the 'alien' environment of a motorway.

One of my friends has lived near to a motorway and railway line - the railway was far more of a nuisance than the motorway because of the vibration caused by freight trains. Their new home is on a 'country lane', which is far more intrusive because the road is a few feet from their front door and 'rush hour' traffic is constant in comparison to the quietness of the rest of the day.

As for the effects of air pollution, I'd rather live 100m from a motorway than on a (sub)urban street. One of the biggest problems with vehicle related air quality is where you have a 'canyon effect' - i.e. in urban streets - as airflow is restricted. An open motorway facilitates the dispersal of emissions, at 100m distance the pollutants have already been well diluted.

The big issue for the OP is what is proposed to happen with the 100m wide strip of land between this house and the motorway. The OP suggests the land will be used for some form of garden. Will this be allowed to grow up and become a screen, or will it be maintained (e.g. park-like) gardens? Frankly, I'm surprised the 100m width of land isn't being used to build more houses on Before buying I'd want to be absolutely clear on what the future use of this land is - and crucially, will I be expected to contribute towards the costs of maintaining it?

Regardless of the facts though, people's perceptions are far more important when it comes to housebuying. So if people perceive a motorway to be dangerous and polluting then the house would be more difficult to sell on.