Thoughts of buying near a building estate starting 2025

Cola133

I'm in a bit of a quandary. We've seen a house in a larger village which is idyllic and has tree lined streets, however there are lots of houses for sale which made me suspicious. After investigation there are two new large housing developments going to happen in 2025, one butts up to the village of the house I like and the other is butting up to the neighbouring village, but I think with time it will be developed to join up the two villages to make one town that connects to a very undesirable town with high crime :-( that is currently 6 miles away

The local development will have construction traffic going along the end of the road of the house I'm interested in and then the estate will be built one road away from mine. Houses are not really selling in the village, they've been up a while and the prices are being slashed, so I can get a good size, high spec house for my tiny budget.

I'm really undecided whether to go ahead. The village won't be a village, the dirt and noise will be awful for about 7 years according to the developers, and I'm worried about a low crime area becoming a high crime area. On the other hand, I can't get a house of this spec. for my limited budget anywhere else. I'm frightened that it's going to turn into a bit of a pup and I'm going to have a house in an area I will hate with too much crime and that it might go into negative equity.

I could be catastrophizing as I'm incredibly stressed with it all. It's a relocation move as I'm priced out of my local area. Any thoughts and opinions are very welcome. Thank you

WellKnownSid

How about a different spin.  Everywhere is going to be affected by the need to build more houses, infrastructure, wind turbines, etc, etc.  In your case you know exactly what the next seven years will look like and can factor that in.

Cola133

@WellKnownSid thats a really good point, thank you. I hadn't thought of it in that way. Thats helped immensly thank you

ThisIsWeird

I guess, try and inform yourself as much as possible;
Look at the developers plans, and see - ask - in what order it will be built. I suspect it will be easier if it begins closer to 'your' house, as these houses will likely be completed within a year, sold, and any building noise will then begin to move further away from you.
Other factors to take into account - will you be at home during the day? Do you work from home? Do you have a preschool family?
Building sites are usually well managed, and real disruption - I think - pretty rare, but everyone has a different level of tolerance. I am concerned by your comment that you are 'incredibly stressed' about the whole thing.
I think I can safely say that no-one will be subjected to 7 years of disruption. The first stage of the development will be completed, sold, and will have families in them. That will provide a buffer to the rest. All these new families will be properly living in the midst of the development, unlike you, but even they will be able to lead normal lives. Have a look at how such developments are built - find one that's under way, and you'll see the new roads, houses, landscaping, and folk moving it to pristine properties. Then the developments continues behind them. Knock on a couple of doors - ask what it's like!
I can't see the situation with crime becoming an issue, as the 'high' crime area you are referring to is presumably relatively 'deprived'? But these developments will be spanking new. Yes, of course, more people = more risk, but treat yourself to a few drives around completed developments in your area, and ask yourself, 'does this feels peaceful?'
LOTS of new housing around here, one of them of potentially 500 homes is taking place behind the other side of our road, albeit further along. Yes, there are trucks coming down our road, and yes, there are occasional sounds of heavy machinery, but it general I'm not aware anything is happening. The only thing that surprises is how quickly they go up - ground one day, 4 walls the next.
It sounds to me as tho' you have an opportunity here that you would simply never have had under other circumstances. The house will always be in a relatively idyllic, tree-lined street, and whilst the population will increase, how will you notice this?
The development on our street cannot actually be seen, so the street itself is unchanged*, you simply drive past the new entrance to it. But that's because the road is on a hill, and the development slopes gently away on the far side - what will 'yours' be like? Will trees separate you? Will you be overlooked?

*The actual road I'm on has, in itself, been completely changed over the 20 years we've lived here - extra houses squeezed into gardens, bungalows changed into houses. 

mark_cycling00

Positives:

1. I doubt crime rates will go up. "Nice" people will move out of the crap town to the new houses and crime will get worse in the town not the nice villages.
2. Some new businesses will open, maybe a school won't close due to low numbers etc
3. It will be way worse to live in the tiny, high density new houses being built than in established village houses

Negatives 
1. Don't believe the developers. It will be more like 10 years. Dates slip, council will demand changes etc.
2. The place will become horribly congested, existing facilities won't be able to cope. 
3. It won't be a nice pretty village anymore 
4. It will be really really different. If you want to live in current village situation you're only having it for a couple of years. That might be distressing and lead to a lot of stress

born_again

Cola133 said:

I'm in a bit of a quandary. We've seen a house in a larger village which is idyllic and has tree lined streets, however there are lots of houses for sale which made me suspicious. After investigation there are two new large housing developments going to happen in 2025, one butts up to the village of the house I like and the other is butting up to the neighbouring village, but I think with time it will be developed to join up the two villages to make one town that connects to a very undesirable town with high crime :-( that is currently 6 miles away

The local development will have construction traffic going along the end of the road of the house I'm interested in and then the estate will be built one road away from mine. Houses are not really selling in the village, they've been up a while and the prices are being slashed, so I can get a good size, high spec house for my tiny budget.

I'm really undecided whether to go ahead. The village won't be a village, the dirt and noise will be awful for about 7 years according to the developers, and I'm worried about a low crime area becoming a high crime area. On the other hand, I can't get a house of this spec. for my limited budget anywhere else. I'm frightened that it's going to turn into a bit of a pup and I'm going to have a house in an area I will hate with too much crime and that it might go into negative equity.

I could be catastrophizing as I'm incredibly stressed with it all. It's a relocation move as I'm priced out of my local area. Any thoughts and opinions are very welcome. Thank you

The fact of them joining up will have little if no effect on crime. 

Albermarle

. I doubt crime rates will go up. "Nice" people will move out of the crap town to the new houses and crime will get worse in the town not the nice villages.

Also away from a few small areas, for most people/areas, the fear of crime is much higher than the chance of it happening.

LHW99

We lived on a completed phase of an estate (on the edge of a small village) that was still being built for about 5 years. There was dust, but the noise wasn't that close and didn't penetrate double glazing. We moved due to changing jobs, but the presence of the estate meant the local shops stayed open as they got plenty of custom (excellent fruit / veg / fish & chips), and the school was well patronised with no prospect of closure.

Depends whether you think you may move on in a couple years, when prices may still be depressed, or are likely to be there 10years plus, when they may well have begun to go up again, particularly of the non-estate houses.

RelievedSheff

We bought a new build 5 years ago on Phase 1 of a larger development. (They are just finishing up now). When we moved in they were still building the plots at the bottom of our garden and yes it was at times noisy and dusty but the building work was very close to us. As it moved away from us this became less of a problem to the point where now we don't even notice the builders at all. 

At the time that the development started the people in existing houses in the area were complaining that the new builds would reduce the prices of their homes. In actual fact the opposite happened and their properties increased in priced alongside the new builds. 

You can never tell what will happen to an area after you move there. No one has a crystal ball and no one can see into the future.

lincroft1710

In 1950 my parents bought a 1900s end terraced house in a block of 4 with large garden to the one side, a small allotment beyond, large allotment on the other side and at the end of the road with fields beyond, terraced houses to the front, fields to the rear.


During the 1950s, 3 bed detached houses were built on the field to the rear. In 1960 work started on a large estate of (mainly) 3 bed semis beyond these and on 2 sides of the large allotment (several families from the terraced houses moved to this new estate)


In the late 1960s (after my parents had left their house) 4 bed detached houses and 3 bed detached bungalows were built on the large allotment and a road was put in linking their street to the 1960 estate. Also more (mainly) 3 bed semis were built beyond the 1960 estate and this greenfield build would continue spreading westwards into the 1990s.


By the 2000s the small allotment had detached houses built on it, their side garden now had a pair of 4 bed semis on it. Where once their house had fields to the side only a hundred yards away, you now had to drive for a mile to find fields again. The old terraced houses have been done up and sell for silly money. All this happened not in some large town/city but in a small market town which is quite sought after as a place to live.


So if you really like the house and don't mind living on the edge of a sea of housing, buy it. If you want to live somewhere tranquil and/or semi-isolated there are such hamlets/villages, but the house prices will usually be more expensive