Buying near a motorway

user1977

RatInACage said:

x_gemms_x said:

I was fine which surprised me as I have to sleep in silence or wear ear plugs (wind chimes are particularly awful for me). I have never had to wear ear plugs since moving in.

It sounds like the background hum of the road is acting like a white noise machine.

Yes, I used to live within 200m of the M8 and it was relatively distant white noise which you could easily blank out. Never really noticed it at night, though remember being aware of the increased volume as rush hour started. 

ETA: Also never noticed any problems with particulates etc.

Another_Level

Having lived with the M25 at the back of my garden, noise levels varied. Dry road was ok, wet road and the noise was double 

During my residency there, the motorway was widened bringing lane 1 closer to our house. 
Local air quality was Ok, 

I would consider buying near a motorway again 

lookstraightahead

I think the black dust will be on your window frames, doors, garden furniture. Can you buy somewhere smaller and further away?

Salemicus

We could certainly buy somewhere smaller and further away, or even somewhere larger and further away but less conveniently located for other purposes. Life is full of trade-offs!

I went for a second viewing yesterday. Confirmed that inside the house, there is zero noise with the windows closed, and even with the windows open, barely audible. In front of the house, noise is significant. On the patio, it's there but not bothersome in any way - no more problematic than anywhere else in London. At the back of the garden (it's on a slope) noise is a bit louder.

The people talking about black dust and lawns and plants covered in muck etc have me perplexed. The house is not like that, the garden is not like that,  none of the neighbours' houses are like that. It's nothing like (e.g) houses adjoining the North Circular, presumably because it's on a hill above the motorway rather than next to it.

Lots of food for thought. 

paulj2021

A factor to consider is what happens when major resurfacing or other works take place on the motorway, as this tends to mostly take place overnight. As a comparison, I live by a main railway line, I don’t mind the trains at all but once or twice a year they are out doing major track works with heavy equipment all night long, so very little sleep on those days! 

Mickygg

AnotherJoe said:

Electric cars will make almost zero difference to road noise on a motorway (unless it comes to  halt sometimes?) because its mostly tyre noise.

Pollution will certainly decrease but it will probably take at least 20 years because theres a lot of ICE cars out there that need to be replaced and thats going to take a long time.

FWIW electric cars produce far less brake dust because they use the motor for braking in many cases, not the physical brakes. They are renowned for brakes lasting a long time. No difference with tyre wear between the two though AFAIK.

The house is cheaper now to buy because of the motorway and same will apply when you come to sell. It may take longer to sell because fewer will want to buy it. And maybe with more awareness of pollution, even fewer in 20 years. Air pollution is  prematurely ending the lives of many already, this will be more well known in future.

I totally agree with your last sentence. Why anyone would want to buy with a motorway in their back garden makes no sense to me. I’m sure we will learn in years to come just how bad air pollution really is. 

lookstraightahead

I think you are adamant about buying it, so you should just go with your gut instinct. 

It's something I would never do, but then I've just bought an old house that needs work doing to it and it would put a lot of people off.
I just think you need to be absolutely sure you won't regret it. And also that your OH is also happy as it's something you can't just convince someone to be ok about.

Another_Level

Knowing the property location would be helpful . The road surface, acoustic reduction barriers, fences and a few more infrastructures will have an influence on noise transmission.

Previously lived in Rickmansworth before & after the M25 was widened.  Was quieter after widening   

Google, 'M25 noise pollution' 

benson1980

Salemicus said:

We could certainly buy somewhere smaller and further away, or even somewhere larger and further away but less conveniently located for other purposes. Life is full of trade-offs!

I went for a second viewing yesterday. Confirmed that inside the house, there is zero noise with the windows closed, and even with the windows open, barely audible. In front of the house, noise is significant. On the patio, it's there but not bothersome in any way - no more problematic than anywhere else in London. At the back of the garden (it's on a slope) noise is a bit louder.

The people talking about black dust and lawns and plants covered in muck etc have me perplexed. The house is not like that, the garden is not like that,  none of the neighbours' houses are like that. It's nothing like (e.g) houses adjoining the North Circular, presumably because it's on a hill above the motorway rather than next to it.

Lots of food for thought. 

We've just moved from a house which was around 35m away from a dual carriageway A road- 70mph limit so basiclly a motorway and granted your house is double the distance but presumably 3 or 4 lanes of busy traffic? Motoways are totally different to other busy roads in that the sound produced by cars and lorries at this type of speed is intrusive and constant.

We did what you did- tested the noise with windows opened and closed, and we didn't pick up anything really inside the house. Out the back was okay. In fact we were surprised with how quiet it was.

Living in it was a different matter entirely. No estate agent, no distractions, just picking up the intrusive noise of HGVs in particular- we scratched our heads wondering why we didn't notice it during our two viewings (about 45 to 1hr each). As already mentioned, rain makes it much worse but also winter was incredibly bleak with no leaves on the trees to screen it, so again you need to factor in that outside of these current conditions it will easily be twice as noisy. Plus it was just depressing walking out of our house to a wall of noise all the time.

In summary, I would proceed with the upmost of caution. Aside from the noise, pollution was also a worry. We lasted 18 months before we sold up and moved, and it is immeasurable how much the quality of our lives has improved being away from a busy road. That said, we had neighbours in our old street who had literally been there decades.

AdrianC

I've just remembered this from a month or two ago...
https://metro.co.uk/2021/04/14/coleshill-woman-who-moved-next-to-busy-a-road-insists-shes-not-stupid-14407361/