Would you live on a busy road? Need Big house but have small budget

[Notsurewhatsgoingon]

Hi,

So we are looking at buying at the moment as we need to upsize. Our budget is small for the area which is expensive. We can afford a house in a quiet cul de sac but it would be absolute top of our budget and smallish. After looking we would not be gaining much extra downstairs space than we have now but would be getting the extra bedroom we need (our home is extended downstairs by the previous owner).
There are bigger houses but they are on busy roads.
One is big enough for us to live in for a long long time. It has a front garden but it's on the second busiest road in our small village/town. It's not the m1 by all means but it's pretty much constant traffic and bad at rush hour. It's the main way people access the village. The house is set back and has a garden at the back which backs on to a lovely wood. It has a private road at the back with parking. The kids rooms would be at the back so it would be us at the front. It's a lovely looking property. Would you?

[Desperatelyseekingsummer]

Yes. I think with double glazing and a garden to the front of you you would not be bothered. You can do nice shielding things with box hedges. The only things that would put me off a main road would be fronting straight onto it (no front garden), sitting traffic outside during rush hours, or if it was very hard to get cars in and out due to traffic jams or speed/lack of visibility of main road.

[Saz12]

Yes. Everyone has to compromise on something.

If you’re move is forced due to lack of space, buying a house that’s not really big enough makes no sense (assuming no extension ££).

Road noise is easy to ignore -I find my mind quickly learned that it wasn’t a problem so I stopped hearing it. It’s not like having noisy neighbours or whatever.

Pollution effects would concern me more, but the tests showing problems are from stop-start traffic in heavily built up areas (rather than a constant flow where fumes can “escape” as no tall buildings).

Of course it’s not ideal. And you need to see that you can get in/out the driveway safely, and consider how many really LOUD vehicles use the road.

[Notsurewhatsgoingon]

Thank you. There is sitting traffic outside during rush hour but I don't think it would matter as the house is raised up from the road.
I am worried about the noise. I can't see a solution unless we move out of the area but my children go to school here already.

[PotteringAlong]

Yes.

[Abitoflight]

I had a friend who lived in a house on a dual carriageway- motorway feeder road. She said that the traffic noise didn't bother her and when it was busiest, she was always busy anyway with DC meals, homework, after school stuff etc

[Sneakyfox]

I live on an busy road. It is actually an A road that leads to the village. Although the speed limit is 60, we have a farm shop just before us which slows the traffic. Traffic rarely gets up to speed. Doesn’t bother me in the slightest. Once in the house, you can’t hear the traffic, our drive is secure and the garden extends to an acre at the back. The house is 300 years old, loads of history to it.

When I first saw the house I thought - no way! Why would anyone want to live off an A road? But the garden is the trade off! Orchard, wildlife pond, I’ve grown all my own veg this year and I’m about to get chickens!

I’d class us as rural, but the advantage of the road is good bus/travel options, we won’t get snowed in and it doesn’t feel like we are too cut off from everything.

It really depends on what you are willing to compromise on, most of us have to compromise somewhere. I also think it depends on what’s going on in your life and what’s important to you at the time. In our last house we were overlooked, which was fine when we first got it, then when we had kids, and I couldn’t bear it. Good luck.

[KenDodd]

The noise wouldn't bother me but the pollution might. Also, thinking of road safety, it would depend on how old my children were and if I had a dog or cat that was likely to run out.

[EvilPea]

You need trees and double glazing.
Do not underestimate the power of a tree for blocking noise.

I would also suggest a water feature in the back garden for noise.

[Jujuball]

I'd go for it, the pros outweigh the cons in your situation!

[Murmurur]

Yes. I grew up in one. My mum used to regret that the ice cream van didn't call and we couldn't ride bikes much, but they were very small prices to pay for growing up in a wonderful old house with tonnes of space.

As children get older it's about safety - can they walk to school or to the shops safely? - but in a village many of them will end up walking along the main road as part of their journey.

[thisstooshallpass]

Yes.

You will adapt and you'll find it won't be the bug bear you thought it wasn't going to be.

[NoSquirrels]

We live on a main road - doesn’t bother me. As long as access out into the road/onto your drive isn’t bothersome, you have parking and double-glazing then it’s fine!

[user1471538283]

I would but then I don't mind the noise of traffic. I actually missed it during lockdown because it drowned out other noises. It is something you can zone out and the back sounds idyllic. It is not noisy neighbours or loud music. My only concern would be if you had cats and they got on the road but with a wood behind it would be unlikely

[riotlady]

I wouldn’t personally, because I have cats, but it sounds like a fine set up. Is there a gate on the front garden so if the kids for out the front they couldn’t run into the road?

[Graffitiqueen]

We live on a busy main road. I don't notice the traffic noise most of the time. The pollution aspect worries me a bit tho.

[DaphneduM]

Our house is exactly like this!!! On an A road through the village, garden at the front and back, with private road and parking/garage at the back. I love the fact that there's always something going on and don't notice any noise (although the house is 20 years old, it has new double glazing). The road has meant that I would say our house was about £50k less than similar properties in cul de sacs. (Four bed, two bathrooms, two reception). Ironically we weren't keen on living on an estate, and strictly speaking we are a non estate position!!!!! We previously lived in the country with fields at the back and kept our cats in. As we now have a fully secure back garden, they now go out!!!!

[Zebrahooves]

We used to live on a busy road too. We didn't mind the noise, but would open side and back windows rather than the front ones.

We also had a decent sized front garden, which helped.

Be careful if you plant trees, that the roots won't cause a bigger problem than the noise would.

As mentioned above, the hardest point was getting on and off the drive. Sounds like you wouldn't have this issue.

[crimsonlake]

If I could choose I would not live on a busy road, however if it gives you the space you want then that is the trade off.
How are you with noise, realistically how much would it bother you?
Where are the bedrooms located as I expect someone will have to sleep at the front. This means never having the windows open in the front bedroom and ultimately in any room at the front of the house.
I moved from a really quiet residential area to a house on a road which overloks fields. Traffic not a problem I was told. It is not a problem in the middle of the night, but basically it is a rat run.
I should have known better as having lived on a road before with some traffic which really bothered me I vowed never to d so again, but here I am.
I replaced the double glazing and it has not made the huge difference I was expecting. I will not lie it has taken about 2 years to zone out of the traffic noise and I do worry a bit about the pollution. I dream of when I used to lie in bed and all I could hear were the birds.
I have lovely views, but would swap it for a quiet street.

[Roowig2020]

I have lived on a busy road for 13 years. It honestly has never bothered me. Inside house you can hardly hear and in the back garden you obviously can but you get used to it. We're currently selling ours and hoping it doesn't put others off.

[CherieBabySpliffUp]

I live next to a busy A road from Kent to London and it feels like it's busy 24/7. With the windows closed I can't hear anything but the noise is really noticeable when they are open.

[GiantPinesAhem]

It sounds perfect to me!

[MissBPotter]

I think if you have a big family it will he worth it. Definitely need to plant hedges and trees at the front. They can actually absorb so much pollution and also block noise.

[PickAChew]

We do. It's fine. We didn't really gain much in terms of overall size but we have a 30s house with character and spacious rooms close to amenities and nunerous bus routes rather than a 70s house with slightly too small rooms in the middle of an identikit estate with fewer amenities and a change of bus whenever we wanted to go anywhere without the car. We have teens so that suits us much better.

Our road also gets gritted in winter, which is a huge plus!

[BlackAmericanoNoSugar]

I think you will get used to the noise. We used to live in a flat beside the Thames. We moved in in the winter and got a nasty surprise in the summer when the party boats started up and we were getting loud burst of music as they passed by. We thought we wouldn't get a proper nights sleep until summer was over, but actually by the second week we were just sleeping through the noise. I think the key is not to let yourself stress about it, if you do that then your body learns that the noise is something that needs to be reacted to and you'll keep waking up. If you treat is as white noise and relax to it then you won't be triggered awake by it.

[Maisieme]

My grandparents lived on a busy corner of a busy road. Cars would screech round it. At the start of a visit I really noticed it but after a few days I became completely oblivious to it.