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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU not to want to buy a house on a busy road?

65 replies

2Earlgreysplease · 10/07/2018 07:33

We are torn over a lovely house which is very close to a busy road. My husband loves the house and thinks we will learn to live with the road by building sound proofing fences etc.
My gut is telling me we are making a bad decision, but I don't want us to decide against the house if I'm just being paranoid. Help!

OP posts:
HopelesslydevotedtoGu · 10/07/2018 08:08

I wouldn't now due to the harms of air pollution. Levels are much higher next to a busy road and drop off as you move away. Higher risk of asthma, heart disease, dementia amongst others.

We once lived next to a busy road and the painter said "seems a waste to paint your ceiling white as in a few years it will be grey with the traffic fumes". That made me feel sick thinking about what was happening to our lungs!

crimsonlake · 10/07/2018 08:10

I think it depends on your budget as another poster has said.
Is this a bigger, better house than you could afford in a quieter area?
How set back from the road are you? Is the living room in the front? Would your bedroom be in the front also? Can you hear the traffic from the back garden and is it your forever home?
I live on a busier road than I imagined, but when you think of it as you drive around millions of people live in houses on busy roads. That thought makes me feel better about it.

BarbarianMum · 10/07/2018 08:11

I wouldn't. Air pollution, plud being stuck in traffic whenever you take your csr off the drive.

Iamtryingtobenicehere · 10/07/2018 08:14

A busy road would not put me off, however, I’d not live on a busy road if I had young children (I don’t, mine are all adult) or pets.
I grew up living besides the Blackwall tunnel approach and the A11, incredibly busy, I’m guessing busier than the road you are talking about. I didn’t notice the noise at all, because it was always there. I did notice the quiet when I moved away.

kikashi · 10/07/2018 08:17

Yep - air pollution. Traffic only ever seems to get heavier - not better and people tend to speed/rev/play loud bass music when driving at night - so not quieter then. If it is on a bus route - the buses will annoy you and check if it is on an ambulance main route as the sirens will be loud.

The main issue is that it is worrying you so I think I'd say no to the house as it will continue to bug you and anything else you find wrong about the house will seem magnified and you may come to resent your DH for persuading you it would be okay.

PaintedHorizons · 10/07/2018 08:21

Not ideal but noise wouldn't bother me. Live near a railway line and it is fine. It gives increased security. However PPs have made good points and it really does depned on how busy it is.

Lucisky · 10/07/2018 08:24

Dirt is a major factor. I used to live on a rural A road, which was busy during the day, but very quiet at night. I had triple glazing at the front (double glazing with an internal sliding window as well). Even with all that, there used to be a film of black dust over the frames and ledges inside that worked its way through the glazing, and I was forever washing down the front door as well. The window cleaner used to do the windows weekly for me. You get used to the traffic, but the muck it causes is quite alarming.

Jeippinghmip · 10/07/2018 08:34

We lived in a lovely house on a busy road. I loved the house but the road completely did my head in. I felt like I was trapped behind the doors and walls and there was a monster outside. We had to move.

DobbyisFREE · 10/07/2018 08:34

Have you driven past in rush hour? In my experience the noise doesn't take long to get used to but not being able to get out of your drive can be a massive pain. I'd pop by a few times to see how bad the traffic can get.

eddielizzard · 10/07/2018 08:37

Don't do it. Air pollution.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-44612642

cause of death should be recorded as acute respiratory failure and severe asthma secondary to air pollution exposure

BatShitBuns · 10/07/2018 08:39

We live in a flat very near a busy road and I don't find it a bother at all, you get used to it.

Then again, our bedroom window also backs onto train tracks which I understand is a huge no no but I absolutely love the noise of the trains, they help me sleep.

givemesteel · 10/07/2018 08:40

We considered a house on a busy road but I'm glad we didn't buy it.

We now live on a road that's a rat run at rush hour and school run but otherwise v quiet. When it is busy I sometimes think how annoying it would be if it was all the time, so I'm glad we didn't buy the other house.

BatShitBuns · 10/07/2018 08:40

We actually live off the South Circular in London which is where the little girl who died lived.

thesnapandfartisinfallible · 10/07/2018 08:42

I don't notice the traffic noise anymore. It's actually quite reassuring, white noise when going to sleep.

fleshmarketclose · 10/07/2018 08:47

We used to live not on a main road as such but on a bus route so there was always regular traffic and tbh I never noticed the noise. We now live on a quiet cul de sac and even though I didn't notice the traffic noise I appreciate the quietness. Last week we holidayed in a cottage out in the wilds in Scotland and the silence was bliss.
I think you would probably get used to the noise if the house was right in every other way tbh.

Ellie56 · 10/07/2018 08:50

Don't do it OP. I had your reservations , but we went ahead anyway because we liked the house.

When we were inside the house, every time heavy lorries went by, the walls vibrated and the glasses in the cupboard rattled, and sitting out in the garden was ruined by the noise, even though we had a high fence and a wall.

It took us ages to sell that house, because guess what? Prospective buyers were put off by the fact it was next to a busy main road, and the noise of traffic.

We didn't make the same mistake when we bought our current house. Sitting in the garden here is lovely as we are set so far back from the road, all we can hear are birds singing. Smile

AmIRightOrAMeringue · 10/07/2018 08:50

I had doubts but bought on a main road. It's actually quieter than our previous house which was quieter but near a junction - the sound of constant traffic is quieter than cars accelerating. It's quieter than you'd think in the back garden though.

I do worry about the kids but we are careful and it will teach them to have road sense.
I also worry about pollution.

There are also positives -
I feel much safer as there are always people / cars about to deter intruders

Always gritted in winter

It's actually easy to get in and out our drive when it's really busy as traffic is slow

It's on a main bus route into town which is really handy

Everyone can easily find it etc

It's not ideal and if I could move my house to a quiet cul-de-sac I would, however I think you're never going to find a house with absolutely everything you like about it.

There is a b n b up the road from us, we considered staying in there one night and requesting a road facing room before we bought, not sure if you could do something similar?

Bluntness100 · 10/07/2018 08:54

I'm curious too. You started a thread on this a week ago, and never once bothered going back to it, not even to say thanks, and have now started another one. Why?

OftenHangry · 10/07/2018 09:01

Bit unrelated, but after reading posts here, I am bit baffled, because where I live, houses are 30k+ more expensive on the main road than the ones in quiet streets behind them Hmm only difference is a driveway.
Op you have to see if the house is really affected by the road. And if you are used to noise you might be fine. My aunt used to say that village is noisier than a city and she could never get good sleep in ours, because she was used to road noise rather than animals.
Do a proper viewing and stay in there for at least half an hour. And tell the agent to be quietWink so they can't distract you from noise.

4GreenApples · 10/07/2018 09:09

Depends. How near, what kind of road, etc. Sound proofed fences won’t cut out everything.

The noise itself you could probably learn to live with, at least to some extent, but there’s other things I’d be worrying about.

Air pollution from the traffic. Both in terms of impact on health and extra cleaning.
Selling the house - will the noise put off potential buyers?
Are you near enough for vibration from passing lorries to be an issue?
What’s access like from the property to the road?
How easy is it for small children / pets (if you have or are planning any) to wander onto the busy road if they manage to slip off your property without you noticing?

RoxytheRexy · 10/07/2018 09:11

I grew up on a house on a busy main road. When I bought my house I went for a quiet road in an estate. As a child I hated being on the main road due to not being able to play out with friends.

LillianGish · 10/07/2018 09:11

There are so many other factors to take into consideration - my parents’ house is on a busy road (dual carriageway) but living there means they can walk into town, to the station and have easy access to the motorway. They also have an uninterrupted view over the road to sports fields. These are all positives that come from living on that road - and it’s a really nice house. So a busy road alone would not put me off - you need a list of pros and cons.

Carrotshelpuseeinthedark · 10/07/2018 09:24

Likeflissgloss said I'd be concerned about pollution and possible asthma. I'd go with my gut. There might be another lovely house in a quieter area waiting for you. If you don't already live in a busy road it could be an eye opener. Plus the window factor imagine this weather and the noise keeping u awake plus u will always be cleaning yr windows from the dust from the traffic.

Mumminmum · 10/07/2018 09:30

We lived 3 years next to a busy road. Did not get used to it, just started to hate it more and more.

Mumto2two · 10/07/2018 09:36

We lived in London for many years, and moved to a pretty house in a quiet pretty Home Counties village, seemed so tranquil & idyllic on the Sunday afternoons we had viewed it.
But what a nightmare it has turned out to be. It may be a picturesque village, but our road just happens to be the main thoroughfare for every Tom Dick & Harry for miles around. And then a beautiful old site at the end of the road, got the go ahead for building 500 homes, and it’s been misery ever since. Endless trucks come thundering past our door, from the early hours to late evening...every single bloody day. And this has been going on for years. We have cracks in our walls and ceilings from the shuddering movement of the house when they pass. Speeding is a constant issue, we have regularly tracked 60mph+ on our 30mph idyllic village road...and nobody does anything. We can’t get funding for a permanent speed device, the local council don’t care about speeding or the damage to our home, the building companies don’t care about their lorries hurtling up and down our road at dangerous speeds. Our beloved cat was killed right outside our door, and we can’t bring ourselves to get another pet, as it is just too dangerous. I won’t even let my young daughter walk outside our door on her own, as the speed of traffic can sometimes be horrific. And as for sleeping with the windows open, that’s definitely not an option! Having lived in some of the busiest parts of London, and even beneath the Heathrow flight path for many years, complete with Concorde sonic booms and 747s descending past our rooftop, I can honestly say, that none of it has topped our village ‘idyll’, and I would move in a heartbeat if we could :(

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