Anyone had experience of a house being built near them?

KiKi

There's a property I'm seeing on Saturday which has come back on the market, and I was really excited to get another opportunity to put an offer in (I missed out first time as it sold the same day I viewed it).

Context: I'm putting a lot of savings and equity from my current house into my next purchase as it will be my 'forever' house for the next 20 years or so (I hope).  I know I won't get perfection, but I do want the house to be as right as possible.  I work at home, I spend most of my time at home.  Location and the right sort of neighbourhood really matters to me, and I already live nearby, so I know the road is a nice road, and it's a great location.  

I did a recce to the road today, just to see it at a different day and time, and spoke to some of the residents. Diagonally across the road from the house there used to be a gate, giving access to several garages.  Today, I noticed that they've been knocked down.  When talking to the residents, one told me that they are building a new property there.  I've looked at the council's planning site, and they are building a new development of three flats (in a modern style).

I've been house hunting for a while, and everything in Brighton is flying off Rightmove just days after going on, so I don't want to lose the opportunity to buy in an area I really like, given how hard it's been to find somewhere (although I do wonder if things are slowing a bit, now).  However, the thought of moving somewhere only to have a lot of noise for a period of time isn't great.  But - I've no idea how loud that sort of development would be, and how long it would take.  Does anyone have any experience of how long a three storey build takes?  Even just roughly?  6 months?  12?  18?  Is the noise level to build foundations and erect a property quite significant?  I've got no idea.

I know I can't buy somewhere with a guarantee that a neighbour won't build an extension or building work won't happen, but that feels different to knowing that over the road they are about to build a new set of three flats.

I'm still going to go to the viewing, and I'll ultimately have to make a judgment call.  But I'd be interested in experiences of house builds near you and how disruptive they are noise-wise.

Thanks so much.

Lunchbox

I live very close to two recent developments. Both have taken around a year, but not all of this is noisy depending on the building phase.

The demolition and pile driving stages were the most ‘disturbing’, due to the vibration as well as the noise. The only thing that ever drove us truly insane was the constant reversing beep of a vehicle traversing the site all day every day. Neighbours contacted the company and they changed it to a white noise alarm instead which is barely noticeable.

A lot will depend on how good the double glazing/sound insulation on your property is, whether the rooms you use most directly face the site,  and your willingness to keep windows closed. We’ve been working from home full time since March last year and the reversing alarm was the only noise that was intolerable.

It would be wise to check the local council’s rules on construction noise hours, as many have relaxed them due to COVID and you probably don’t want to be there if they’re doing 12 hour days/7 days a week or 5am starts.

Another thing to consider is dust. Although they’re supposed to use dust suppression, in our experience this tends to be ignored.

FreeBear

Three flats is nothing. Had a development of 70 houses (almost) next door. The demolition and crushing of the rubble was by far the worst noise. The rest of it, some 18 months, was pretty quiet and confined to normal working hours.

Another smaller development that I pass each day has taken less than 6 months (just 4 terrace houses) - Half the time, no one appeared to be on site, and they were often gone by the time I pass by in the late afternoon.

Keswick1uk

When we had builders opposite it wasn't awful apart from parking and access when they had deliveries or a lot of workmen on site.

This was a long time ago now and it's nice to have a lovely home there not a waste site, which it had been. It certainly improved rather than ruined the area. Look at the plans to try and gauge that impact on you and will they have plenty of parking provision when owners move in too.

Oh, and where my son lives,  there seems to be a lot of power cuts now they are building down the road.....that might just be coincidence! He says parking of the workmen is the biggest hassle for him too. 

Scotbot

So basically 1 building. Depending on how long your sale takes the worst of it could be over by the time you move in, the noisy work is at the beginning.

yllop1101

I think the answer to this is 'how long is a piece of string'. 2 doors down from me they're building 4 flats and it has taken years due to only having a couple of builders on site at a time and stopping for longer periods due to weather and covid. 

I didn't live here when the main foundations were done, now they're finishing the brick work and roof. The noise isn't unbearable. I'm glad they can't see down into my building or house as that would feel intrusive. The vans dotted all around is a bit annoying. 

I think ultimately it's worth weighing up how long you think you'll be in the house for and how the building work may be just a small fraction of that time. Hopefully it will be pretty short lived in the grand scheme of things and it won't be forever.

ilikewatch2

We recently had a fairly large development take place at the end of our cul-de-sac, to be honest the work itself wasn't too bad - I was more bothered about the dust that was generated in dry weather than the noise.

What did have a negative impact on me was the drama caused by a small number of neighbours who objected to the development (despite buying their houses when planning permission for the development was already in place), and who would strategically park their cars on the road to prevent plant accessing the site, and to prevent infrastructure being installed. This resulted in numerous emotionally charged stand-offs etc...

dimbo61

If you don't want noise or neighbours close by Buy a big house in the country.
We have a Whole new estate of 300+ houses going up at the end of our rear garden.
Builders start at 8/8.30 and finished by 5/6pm.
How far away is the new site from the property you MIGHT be buying 

Jeepers_Creepers

KiKi.

That's the gist of it above. You can do some reasoned calculation, but there will always be an element of uncertainty in this - ie luck.

Good news - it's not an immediate neighbour, and it's on the other side of the road. Q - can you work in a room on the other side of your house should you need to? (Chances are you won't need to, at least not for most of the time, but always good to have the option).

It's a single building, consisting of 3 flats. That means one 'external' building, and the rest of the work will be internal - far less noisy.

Good chance that piling won't be needed - that's relatively rare. So that's one literal headache hopefully not an issue.

Reversing beeps? I, too, have heard it said that that's the worst... Good to hear there's a quieter option available should it be needed - tho' really I think it would only drive you barmy on a large site with multiple houses, where it would go on for weeks and months. You should only have the occasional beeping beep on this site.

And then there's the general uncertainty of what building could start up at any point wherever you buy.

Pretty sure I'd go for it.  

Soot2006

They built a new house just behind me last year when I was working from home. I'd say that there were a few weeks of that build that were genuinely "annoying", crashing noises, digging up for utilities, etc, but mostly I hardly noticed it. One year one, I can hardly believe that house hasn't always been there.  Probably better for your road appeal than run-down garages anyway

I'm in Brighton too, so I know they will keep on building on any half-suitable piece of land!

eddddy

If you're interested, you can look into the planning conditions for the development. There may be conditions relating to dust, mud, noise, hours of operation, where contractors can park etc.


FWIW, it looks like Brighton and Hove are temporarily allowing construction sites to work until 9pm (with permission) until September, to deal with  backlogs/delays caused by lockdowns etc. 
See: https://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/content/planning/update/extension-construction-site-working-hours