Gorgeous house but on a main road.

[pinkhousesarebest]

I have just seen the most beautiful house. It is perfect for us. But it is on a straight bit of road between two villages and has boy racer written all over it. It has a pool (not in UK) but it is in the front garden so there is just a hedge separating it from the road(am haunted by a dreadful road safety ad from years ago). Dh does not see this as a problem and insists I will get used to it. I am so torn as I have fallen in love with the house. Help!

[magimedi]

Don't do it. If you don't like traffic noise you never will.

Amazes me how many main road houses you see up for sale & how long they take to sell.

[Bowlersarm]

So it's not noise you are worried about, but the image of a car ploughing through the hedge? Could you put a brick wall or something up?

[molesbreath]

I fell in love with our house that has similar features to yours and We bought it in the end ! I have to say I am used to the noise now, its not constant and there is enough space at the front for me to consider it off the road.

Does the road have a speed limit of 30 ? I know that doesn't mean anything (except in MN world where nobody has ever broken the speed limit )

I don't know the ad you are referring to but Im assuming a car ends up in the pond ? I think that would be incredibly rare and not something you should focus on if this is your dream home. In fact if the road is long and straight accidents rarely happen - as supported by my local PC and his fact sheet when I regularly complain about cars speeding in excess of 30mph !

[Eastwickwitch]

You could never have pets without fear of them being run over.

[berceuse]

I live in a gorgeous house on a main road. We moved here because it was on the main road, we are very rural and when we were house hunting we couldn't get to a couple of the houses we were meant to see which put us off a bit because we had to get to work.

DH had a job where he was on call and had to get to work within 40 minutes if ever the phone rang.

We tried to sell earlier this year - on the market for 10 months, plenty of viewings (2 or 3 a month) and no offers. Feedback generally said that the road (40mph) was an issue.

You can't hear the road in the house as it has 2ft thick walls and double glazing. Gardens are lovely but we don't use the garden next to the road, we grow vegetables, mow the lawn and have a climbing frame in it. We use the other three sides of garden.

Have a stone wall in parts, tall fence and a beech hedge inside all of that.

I think that you will get used to it - no doubt about that. I love our house but in hindsight I wouldn't buy it again, just because it is harder to sell a house on a road.

TBH, we didn't even think of the negatives when we bought, we could see that you couldn't hear it inside and we knew that we had to get to work (DH on a really strict timetable).

Just the selling on factor really for us.

[PigletJohn]

you will get used to the traffic noise, but not to the sirens of police and ambulances, nor to the noise of Sunday bikers.

I would not get a cat there.

Visit it at rush hour, and Saturday night, to see what the traffic is like.

[berceuse]

Depends where the road is as to when the busiest time is - we are on the road to the coast so it is Friday evening for a couple of hours and Sunday afternoons.

Also, how rural is it - our rural road is not that busy apart from above.

If you are at work during the conventional rush hour and that is when the road is busy it will bother you less.

We had two cats when we moved here but they were 13 or so, lived until 18 but I wouldn't get a kitten - is on the list when we move though.

[magimedi]

I'm going back some years but a friend had a gorgeous house on a main (A) road. There was a layby on the same side, about 75 yards from the house. Lorries used to park up there for the night & if they were refrigerated the noise was awful. It was illegal for them to park there but nothing could be done about it in the middle of the night when she was wide awake.

[wowfudge]

We live on a main road. The house is set back about 20 feet from the pavement. I hardly ever notice the traffic as we have double glazing.

If the road is straight, you are perhaps less likely to get someone careering into your garden than if, say, the house was after a bend in the road. Have a look at what it is like pulling onto and off the drive though. I find I have to 'manage' other road users sometimes: if they are driving too fast and too close, I slow down and indicate I am going to pull over (to park) well in advance. Parallel parking outside has its moments; always amusing when some idiot has driven right up behind you despite you indicating and having reverse lights on!

[ArcheryAnnie]

I live on a main road (in a city). It's fine. If you are worried about noise, budget for double or triple glazing in the front. If you are worried about safety (little kids running straight into the road as soon as the door is open) then budget for putting gates in.

[BackforGood]

If it's a straight road though, what makes you think cars will come off the road just where your house is ?

There is the suggestion above that you could build a wall as well as, or instead of the hedge.

IME, when buying property, you have to compromise on something - you have to choose the 'best' of the options available to you. If it's perfect in every way, then you know this image is irrational.

We bought on a busy road (in a City) and with a railway at the end of the garden. What it meant was we could afford a house FAR bigger than we would, without these "negatives". For us, the extra space far outweighed the noise, and, as others say, you don't notice it after a couple of weeks.

[catseyes10]

I currently live on a main road and can't wait to move. I sleep with my windows opened year round, except I can't do that here and I feel suffocated (daft I know). We're moving on the 22nd of this month and I can't wait. For the last few years I've been crazy about making sure the front door is locked and the keys taken out incase one of the kids unlocked it. I'd never willingly move next to a main road again.

[newgirl]

We had a gorgeous house on a main road and moved because of the random late night noise - def visit at 11/12 at night to see what it's like. Pollution was bad too which we saw from grimy windows. Shame as lovely house but sleep is more important! We had new windows but you can still hear odd noises - your brain listens for them!

[OliviaBenson]

You say that the road has boy racer written all over it- have you got proof of that? You need to observe for yourself the levels of traffic at various times of day before writing it off.

How main is main? Are we taking motorway or village road?

For what it's worth, I grew up in a house on a main road- we had pets and single glazed windows, and it never bothered my family or affected us as kids.

But it really does depend on your tolerances. Would a similar house on a quiet lane be affordable? Could you live in a smaller house or one that is less perfect because it's on a lane?

[ghostspirit]

i live on a main/busy road 4 lanes of traffic where my house is 2 one way 2 other direction. its does not really get speedy as there are traffic lights about 20 houses away. and as others have said dont really hear it. I used to live next to a rain bridge. again got used to that as well never really heard it.

[TooMuchRain]

I think your reaction might depend on whether this a necessary compromise or not. We live on a busy road and for us it was the only way we could afford the house we wanted in the town we wanted. We are happy with that compromise and mostly I don't notice the noise, but if I do hear it at rush hour then I just think about the other houses we could have had and it reminds me why this house is great.
That's a bit long-winded, but what I mean is if you don't need to be near the road, then you might regret moving there.

[pinkhousesarebest]

Gosh thank you for all your responses. The estate agent has said that the house is priced so reasonably because of the road. It is a secondary country road and the speed limit is 70 Kmh. Not constant but fast.
As my dh never tires of reminding me, we lived on a really crazy junction in a city and it never bothered me but we have lived in the utter sticks since then and if a car comes along we all run to the window to look out! I am deeply introverted and have come to love peace and quiet. One of the main reasons we are moving is because our neighbours have sold a bit of their garden with planning permission. Though I think road noise is more tolerable than constant people.
I will go back and lurk at different times of the day though. That would give me more confidence in taking our next step. Once again thanks to all.

[BumWad]

We have been living in our new house for 3.5 months now and it is on a main road in a village. It is however only 30mph however people tend to drive at around 40mph as it is right on the edge. Sometimes see the odd mobile speed camera so the police do try and slow it.

My old home was in a quiet cul de sac so I really noticed the difference in noise when I first moved in. In face I could hear everything, particularly the tractors and noisy Sunday motorbikers.

I know it's winter now and we don't have the windows open as much but I barely hear the road now. It's very busy first thing and then at 5-7pm other than that pretty dead. We also got the house at a much cheaper price than if it wasn't on the main road, I would say £30-£40K less so it's swings and roundabouts.

I would most definetly visit at different times of the day and see how you feel.