Buying house on main road or side street

koalakoala

Detached every time. Keep looking......

TripleH

I have lived for half my life on busy main roads and half on quieter side roads.

The noise and shaking of the house don't bother me and I think it is something you can adapt to especially if young enough.

I would be reluctant now however because we have cats and 3 of them are sadly not to be trusted around vehicles not to do something daft..

A main road property with a drive is essential however.

I would focus on the right property for your needs wherever it is.

Sapindus

The detached looks too big for its plot, it looks crammed on and ostentatious.  I'm attracted to the semi, it sits nicely.  And I've lived on a main road such that the bath water rippled when a lorry went past.  But I'm a garden person.

Question is, can you afford to extend or are the bedrooms big enough for the two of your kids who are going to have to share? 

ripplyuk

Although the first house has a nicer garden, keep in mind that road noise might prevent you enjoying the garden and using it as much as you would like. 

LouLou589

We bought last year. My favourite house was on a main road, however I was worried about the noise for the kids (especially on summer nights with a window open) It too had a huge garden.

Instead we ended up I'm a side street. This afternoon the kids were all outside playing on their bikes..never would have been an option in the other house. 

Bendy_House

sonub4ualt said:

Detached property with big driveway and garden at the back

I get what's said above about this house being 'ostentatious', but only from above - so if you aren't flying over it, it won't matter

From the front, it'll (presumably) just look quite imposing.

Yes, the garden is small for the house, but so are some of the neighbouring properties on that bend. What's the wee extension sticking out? There's presumably room for a bespoke (ie - angled!) garden room to be added beyond that, which might make folk use that garden to the most of its potential.

No, it won't be a garden for intensive ball games, but how important is that anyway? How many people use their 'big' gardens to the full?

You mentioned that the on-road house had a park 10 minutes away? What about this one? If you have nice local green spaces, then I'd suggest it's better to get out there anyway - a different scene, you meet folk, it might even have facilities like tennis courts and stuff - ie you can properly have ball games.

And, if you can cope with a single reception room (the semi had 2?), then the detached house won't cost you any more over your stay - it already has the 4 soon-to-be-required bedrooms... It's all very well the semi having the room for development, but that ain't going to come cheap.

It's your call, but if I had to make the choice between these two, I'm pretty sure I'd go detached, quiet, 4-bed and smaller garden over noise, semi, 3-bed (and potential future £50k bill to extend) and large garden. Any time. In fact, semi and on a busy road would both be non-starters for me.

Bendy_House

Any chance of links so's we can browse the interiors?!

Bluebell1000

As someone who ended up in a 3 bed semi on a busy road 😅 which was not really our initial plan, do you love the house? Either of the houses? If not, maybe you should keep looking.
We are very happy in ours and prioritised the garden and a good school, moving (funnily enough) from a 4 bed with a small garden on a quiet side street to a 3 bed on the busy road. No regrets here, but what works for us might not suit others.

Lavendyr

I have to say that honestly neither of them look amazing and I do wonder if it's worth waiting for something better to come along. The detached house does look quite squished in and the garden is small. The semi-detached has potential but the thing is just how much the main road might become an issue. My preference is always for a detached house and a quiet area.

RoyalDad

I live on a main road in York and love it. My house doesn't shake, we have great double glazing and don't hear any noise and there is no dust problem. I love sitting in my living room and seeing the world going by outside.