Buying house near planned development

CosmosS1

Hi,

Thank you for your time. Essentially, my partner wants to buy this house which is next to a planned development for 170 houses (I expect work to start within a year or two). I did not know that when we offered. The field that is directly across the house (with 30m width tree screen in between) will house a recreational area with a kids play area and mown grass paths. Picture attached.

Essentially, the kids play area or playground will be around 65 meters to 90 meters away from the property. The distance is uncertain as developer drew the play area in slightly different locations in some plans. I am asking my partner to reconsider but they think there will be minimal to no noise at our doorstep. What do you think? I am just wary of buying a house right across a field that will house a playground and walking paths. However, it wont be in sight as the view will be covered by the existing 30 meter tree screen. I am mainly worried about the noise to be honest. 

The planning application for pictured upcoming development is here 

Any thoughts are appreciated. I tend to be very cautious. I do not know if I am overthinking this and being unreasonable. The other concern is the building noise. There will be a tree screen so visually it will not be an issue but it is the noise. I am less averse to that given we work long hours from 7 am to 6pm weekdays. so it is just the concern on Saturday morning which we can live with. The issue is we might be selling in four years time and this could make the house harder to sell. 

The accepted offer price is 20K above the Rightmove estimate and exactly at the Zoopla esimate (which tends to overestimate). So 4-5% higher than instant online estimates. I know these are no hard estimates but from my experience searching for a house for 6 months now, selling price usually ends up being extremely close to the Rightmove estimate. It does have a west facing relatively good sized garden that offers good degree of privacy which probably makes up for some of that price difference. But I feel that with the planned development nearby, we should not be paying 20K above the Rightmove estimate. Should I try to negotiate? The estate agent was surprised we offered asking price straight away. We were hoping the bank would  say something but the bank desktop valuation came back fine. And as stated previously, the planned development was not declared to us at the point of offer. 

I guess to summarize 

1) Should I try and negotiate a price reduction given the planned development nearby?  Especially with the playground planned in the field opposite.

2) Would you pull out? Does it sound too problematic with playground  in the field across (with trees in between) and development nearby. Do you think any noise from the playground will put off buyers if we decide to sell in four years time. To be fair, the playground in the development the house is in is quiet. 

Thanks

CosmosS1

I am not allowed to post links being a new member. But searching for "Planning application: 23/00853/OUT" on google will lead to the planning application for the new development on the first result. 

Section62

CosmosS1 said:

Hi,

Thank you for your time. Essentially, my partner wants to buy this house which is next to a planned development for 170 houses (I expect work to start within a year or two). I did not know that when we offered. The field that is directly across the house (with 30m width tree screen in between) will house a recreational area with a kids play area and mown grass paths. Picture attached.

Essentially, the kids play area or playground will be around 65 meters to 90 meters away from the property. The distance is uncertain as developer drew the play area in slightly different locations in some plans. I am asking my partner to reconsider but they think there will be minimal to no noise at our doorstep. What do you think? I am just wary of buying a house right across a field that will house a playground and walking paths. However, it wont be in sight as the view will be covered by the existing 30 meter tree screen. I am mainly worried about the noise to be honest. 

The planning application for pictured upcoming development is here 

Any thoughts are appreciated. I tend to be very cautious. I do not know if I am overthinking this and being unreasonable. The other concern is the building noise. There will be a tree screen so visually it will not be an issue but it is the noise. I am less averse to that given we work long hours from 7 am to 6pm weekdays. so it is just the concern on Saturday morning which we can live with. The issue is we might be selling in four years time and this could make the house harder to sell. 

The accepted offer price is 20K above the Rightmove estimate and exactly at the Zoopla esimate (which tends to overestimate). So 4-5% higher than instant online estimates. I know these are no hard estimates but from my experience searching for a house for 6 months now, selling price usually ends up being extremely close to the Rightmove estimate. It does have a west facing relatively good sized garden that offers good degree of privacy which probably makes up for some of that price difference. But I feel that with the planned development nearby, we should not be paying 20K above the Rightmove estimate. Should I try to negotiate? The estate agent was surprised we offered asking price straight away. We were hoping the bank would  say something but the bank desktop valuation came back fine. And as stated previously, the planned development was not declared to us at the point of offer. 

I guess to summarize 

1) Should I try and negotiate a price reduction given the planned development nearby?  Especially with the playground planned in the field opposite.

2) Would you pull out? Does it sound too problematic with playground  in the field across (with trees in between) and development nearby. Do you think any noise from the playground will put off buyers if we decide to sell in four years time. To be fair, the playground in the development the house is in is quiet. 

Thanks

Depends what the status of the tree belt is, and whether they will be (legally) protected in some way.  65 - 90m should be enough that noise from the play area is minimal... but the tree belt should help to reduce that to near zero.  (although playing in the trees may be more attractive to some than using the official play area)

I'd be more concerned about the noise - and dust - whilst the developer constructs 170 properties almost on my front doorstep.

Dustyevsky

There are other sources of noise: main roads, flight paths, schools, and the sort of construction Section 62 mentions. If you rule out areas based on those considerations, you may severely limit the number of properties open to you. Even then, there's no telling whether one neighbour with a yappy dog won't drive you crazy once you move in.....Unless, of course, you check out the house in question at different times of the day/week, and find another similar playground to see what noise is typically generated on a fine evening or Saturday.

Research, on foot, is always worthwhile. It won't guarantee no problems with the neighbourhood, but it will reduce the odds of having them.

Edit: And I doubt others will worry much about the planned development. If anything, it shows there's demand to live in that location.

CosmosS1

Section62 said:

CosmosS1 said:

Hi,

Thank you for your time. Essentially, my partner wants to buy this house which is next to a planned development for 170 houses (I expect work to start within a year or two). I did not know that when we offered. The field that is directly across the house (with 30m width tree screen in between) will house a recreational area with a kids play area and mown grass paths. Picture attached.

Essentially, the kids play area or playground will be around 65 meters to 90 meters away from the property. The distance is uncertain as developer drew the play area in slightly different locations in some plans. I am asking my partner to reconsider but they think there will be minimal to no noise at our doorstep. What do you think? I am just wary of buying a house right across a field that will house a playground and walking paths. However, it wont be in sight as the view will be covered by the existing 30 meter tree screen. I am mainly worried about the noise to be honest. 

The planning application for pictured upcoming development is here 

Any thoughts are appreciated. I tend to be very cautious. I do not know if I am overthinking this and being unreasonable. The other concern is the building noise. There will be a tree screen so visually it will not be an issue but it is the noise. I am less averse to that given we work long hours from 7 am to 6pm weekdays. so it is just the concern on Saturday morning which we can live with. The issue is we might be selling in four years time and this could make the house harder to sell. 

The accepted offer price is 20K above the Rightmove estimate and exactly at the Zoopla esimate (which tends to overestimate). So 4-5% higher than instant online estimates. I know these are no hard estimates but from my experience searching for a house for 6 months now, selling price usually ends up being extremely close to the Rightmove estimate. It does have a west facing relatively good sized garden that offers good degree of privacy which probably makes up for some of that price difference. But I feel that with the planned development nearby, we should not be paying 20K above the Rightmove estimate. Should I try to negotiate? The estate agent was surprised we offered asking price straight away. We were hoping the bank would  say something but the bank desktop valuation came back fine. And as stated previously, the planned development was not declared to us at the point of offer. 

I guess to summarize 

1) Should I try and negotiate a price reduction given the planned development nearby?  Especially with the playground planned in the field opposite.

2) Would you pull out? Does it sound too problematic with playground  in the field across (with trees in between) and development nearby. Do you think any noise from the playground will put off buyers if we decide to sell in four years time. To be fair, the playground in the development the house is in is quiet. 

Thanks

Depends what the status of the tree belt is, and whether they will be (legally) protected in some way.  65 - 90m should be enough that noise from the play area is minimal... but the tree belt should help to reduce that to near zero.  (although playing in the trees may be more attractive to some than using the official play area)

I'd be more concerned about the noise - and dust - whilst the developer constructs 170 properties almost on my front doorstep.

Thank you. The trees will be protected which is outlined in the development plan. The houses will not be built on the field right across. It is the field adjacent to it that will have the houses (where the number 8 is). The rest of that field is not shown in the picture.  Not that it makes much of a difference anyway. It still is very close. haha. 

singhini

I guess to summarize 

1) Should I try and negotiate a price reduction given the planned development nearby?  Especially with the playground planned in the field opposite.

2) Would you pull out? Does it sound too problematic with playground  in the field across (with trees in between) and development nearby. Do you think any noise from the playground will put off buyers if we decide to sell in four years time. To be fair, the playground in the development the house is in is quiet. 
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1) Yes i would (only because you can only but try). Personally i think having a play field rather than more houses is a god send. 170 houses is not alot in the grand scheme of things, and i suspect will take 2-ish years to complete. (having looked at the planning application online i get the impression the reason that whole field (section of the image you posted with 2,3,9,11) is all recreational area and not housing is because the developer cannot access that field. It looks like the row of trees left of No 9 is preventing the access. Do you know if that row of trees is either already protected with a Tree preservation order (TPO) or will be granted TPO status once the development is completed? (it would be good if they are protected with a TPO to prevent any development / access to that field for development in the future). 

2a) My initial feeling was no i wouldn't pull out (but thats just me).
2b) The play area is not too problematic to me (rather that than houses bcoz houses equal more people and cars). Also the trees inbetween you will block the view, reduce access to your estate, dampen the noise, suck up air pollution.
2c) buyers being put off by the noise from the play area is an assumption i.e. you assume there will be noise and you assume you will hear it on a regular basis and you assume any potential buyer will also hear it on the days they come to view your property when its up for sale. I live in an area with 120 houses, it has a very large open public space for kids to play on, i only ever see 5 kids max ever playing on it (most kids play in their back gardens).
2d) see 2c above i.e. same where i live, the development my house is in the play area is also quiet. 

My thoughts:
When i saw your image my initial thought was "there's loads of trees inbetween those developments, what's the issue". Personally i don't think your going to notice that new estate once its built. Perhaps you will notice the effects of traffic while it is being built.

i would look into how many (if any) of those 170 houses are council houses / social housing? 

Where you have drawn your homemade red arrow, it looks like there will be a pedestrian access point. You could argue the kids from your estate might go over to the new estate and play there and thus cause more noise or vice-versa (but my gut feeling is i doubt it)

Interesting to see loads and loads of letter of objections from the general public aswell as from 2 parish councils and anumber of other groups and associations (i get the impression there must be other recent development in the area and its all becoming just a bit too much for the locals (yet i also get the impression your estate is also new-ish i.e. within the last 5 years). So once these 170 houses go up, will there be even more development (looks like there are plenty of fields nearby to still potentially develop)

Interestingly for me, its not the noise that concerns me. Its how many more houses will potentially be built in the surrounding area and secondly how many of these 170 houses are social housing (and the possibility for more social housing if more houses are built). Thirdly how good is the infrastructure (roads, schools, hospital, doctors) And fourthly, what are the local amenities like (shops, vets, parking, recreation, library)

Do you know how quickly the houses are selling within your estate? 
Do you know what sort of money the houses in the new development will be selling for?

Albermarle

Even then, there's no telling whether one neighbour with a yappy dog won't drive you crazy once you move in.....Unless, of course, you check out the house in question at different times of the day/week,

Or the near neighbours have young very noisy children. Or your neighbours have grandkids, who spend most of the Summer holidays in their garden ( speaking from experience.....) .
Actually I quite like the sound of children enjoying themselves, as long as it not all hours of the day .

CosmosS1

Thank you all for your input. I appreciate your time. With asking how quickly the houses are selling, you are probably wondering how long they are on the market before getting sold. The two 4 bedrooms in the development that were listed for sale in the last year (The one we are buying and another one) sold within a week of being on the market. In terms of people selling to leave the development, there does not seem to be that much movement for it to be alarming. The house we are buying belongs to a couple who are relocating to another country.

Yes, there were a lot of objections. This actually made the news nationally if you look up Vistry group banbury bbc news on Google. The main reason would be the fields outlined in the picture above. They separate Banbury from a rural village called Hanwell. Once the new development is built, the fields and rural views of Hanwell village will be significantly eroded. The local council can only blame itself for rejecting everything to the point that they had not enough land for five-year housing land supply. There were applications they rejected that were actually quite reasonable with reasonable locations.

The red arrow that I drew is not a pedestrian entry point so this will not be an issue. It's just to show the distance measured. I have explored the area a number of times on foot and will continue to do so until we complete. At different times of the day and on the weekend. Could not find anything untoward to be honest.

I was thinking of doing a survey and valuation and take it from there. The house was built 5 years ago so it will probably be of not much use apart from providing window for negotiation if it comes back a bit lower. 

CosmosS1

singhini said:

I guess to summarize 

1) Should I try and negotiate a price reduction given the planned development nearby?  Especially with the playground planned in the field opposite.

2) Would you pull out? Does it sound too problematic with playground  in the field across (with trees in between) and development nearby. Do you think any noise from the playground will put off buyers if we decide to sell in four years time. To be fair, the playground in the development the house is in is quiet. 
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1) Yes i would (only because you can only but try). Personally i think having a play field rather than more houses is a god send. 170 houses is not alot in the grand scheme of things, and i suspect will take 2-ish years to complete. (having looked at the planning application online i get the impression the reason that whole field (section of the image you posted with 2,3,9,11) is all recreational area and not housing is because the developer cannot access that field. It looks like the row of trees left of No 9 is preventing the access. Do you know if that row of trees is either already protected with a Tree preservation order (TPO) or will be granted TPO status once the development is completed? (it would be good if they are protected with a TPO to prevent any development / access to that field for development in the future). 

2a) My initial feeling was no i wouldn't pull out (but thats just me).
2b) The play area is not too problematic to me (rather that than houses bcoz houses equal more people and cars). Also the trees inbetween you will block the view, reduce access to your estate, dampen the noise, suck up air pollution.
2c) buyers being put off by the noise from the play area is an assumption i.e. you assume there will be noise and you assume you will hear it on a regular basis and you assume any potential buyer will also hear it on the days they come to view your property when its up for sale. I live in an area with 120 houses, it has a very large open public space for kids to play on, i only ever see 5 kids max ever playing on it (most kids play in their back gardens).
2d) see 2c above i.e. same where i live, the development my house is in the play area is also quiet. 

My thoughts:
When i saw your image my initial thought was "there's loads of trees inbetween those developments, what's the issue". Personally i don't think your going to notice that new estate once its built. Perhaps you will notice the effects of traffic while it is being built.

i would look into how many (if any) of those 170 houses are council houses / social housing? 

Where you have drawn your homemade red arrow, it looks like there will be a pedestrian access point. You could argue the kids from your estate might go over to the new estate and play there and thus cause more noise or vice-versa (but my gut feeling is i doubt it)

Interesting to see loads and loads of letter of objections from the general public aswell as from 2 parish councils and anumber of other groups and associations (i get the impression there must be other recent development in the area and its all becoming just a bit too much for the locals (yet i also get the impression your estate is also new-ish i.e. within the last 5 years). So once these 170 houses go up, will there be even more development (looks like there are plenty of fields nearby to still potentially develop)

Interestingly for me, its not the noise that concerns me. Its how many more houses will potentially be built in the surrounding area and secondly how many of these 170 houses are social housing (and the possibility for more social housing if more houses are built). Thirdly how good is the infrastructure (roads, schools, hospital, doctors) And fourthly, what are the local amenities like (shops, vets, parking, recreation, library)

Do you know how quickly the houses are selling within your estate? 
Do you know what sort of money the houses in the new development will be selling for?

Thank you very much for your time. Having had a look at the planning inspectorate decision. It seems that 40% of the houses must be affordable. So essentially 68 out of the 170 houses should be affordable. Looking at the definition of affordable: "Affordable Housing: means 40% of the Dwellings which are to be managed or owned by an AHP (except for First Homes) and which are to be provided for people who cannot afford to rent or purchase housing appropriate to their needs on the private market within the same area and "Affordable Housing Units" shall be construed accordingly; Affordable Housing Mix: means the following mix: (a) 25% First Homes; (b) 67% Social Rented Units and Affordable Rented Housing; and (c) 8% Shared Ownership Units" 

So essentially 45 homes out of 170 will be for social rented units or affordable rented housing. Probably means council housing. So around 25%.  Is that off-putting in particular?

CosmosS1

Just had a look at the development we are buying in at the moment. The council mandated a 30% affordable mix whereas the upcoming development will have a 40% affordable mix requirement. And there are no issues in the current development. So I do not imagine it will be a problem? 

singhini

Is that off-putting in particular?

No not particularly, more of an indicator  of the type of person moving into the area (i have seen social housing in developments much higher than the 25% you mention. If it was say 60% - 80% i might be put off buying in the new estate but not the house your looking at which is in a different estate.

When i mentioned your red arrow i ment this pedestrian access point (ive highlighted it with a black arrow). It looks like it will allow people to walk from your estate to the new estate and vice-versa