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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Would you buy a house very near an airport?

154 replies

Kittypillar · 07/04/2019 23:47

DH and I have started doing some house hunting and we've found a house that we both really like, except for one issue on my part - it's only 5 minutes down the road (by car) from an airport.

We had a viewing on Friday and aside from the airport issue it's perfect. We're talking "dream house" territory - plenty of room, lovely garden, gorgeous rural/village location but also easy access to city we work in, excellent schools nearby. The village itself isn't in the flight path from the runway (it's south of the airport and the runway goes east to west), and the noise from that one visit seemed fairly minimal when we hung around a bit afterwards.

DH absolutely in love but I'm a little reluctant. I'm not 100% sure why but I suspect it's due to air pollution more than anything else. DH thinks I'm being ridiculous because we lived in a zone 2 very busy area of London a few years ago and I never worried about that then, although I've pointed out we have a 1 year old now and it's slightly different circumstances...

AIBU? Is it a bit silly to pass up on an amazing house due to this? WWYD?

OP posts:
Winenotttea · 08/04/2019 00:13

My noisy houses....
Growing up under the Heathrow flight path, didn’t notice it at all
Moved to slightly away from the flight path but nearer the Thames, helicopter noise all the bloody time
Local railway line, not a problem
Local airfield, bloody annoying and I worked for it at the time!
My mum used to live right under the Heathrow flight path just where planes put their undercarriage down for landing. I bloody loved that flat, I went up to her roof garden and watched the planes as often as I could.

sardinesontoast · 08/04/2019 00:15

I regularly visit a friend that lives under a flight plan for a major airport. I notice the first couples of planes and then nothing for the weekend. She hears none of them

sardinesontoast · 08/04/2019 00:15

Path not plan!

Original poster
Kittypillar · 08/04/2019 00:21

The pollution is another matter. Planes and the traffic.

This is exactly my worry. We don't exactly live out in the sticks right now but I'd had an idea that when we did move, it would be to somewhere a bit more rural and away from the city, which would be good for DD as she grows up. Sort of feel like by moving near to an airport I'd be undoing the good of that and air pollution would still potentially be high. DH thinks I'm being a bit neurotic mum about it. She's PFB, naturally Wink

OP posts:
Sparklesocks · 08/04/2019 00:24

I think it’s quite specific to the individual, I live under a busy flight path but I don’t hear the planes anymore. My neighbor though, despite only being a few doors down, is constantly struggling to sleep and always talking about how terrible it is - she even knows the flight numbers of the ones which regularly wake her!

breadzeb · 08/04/2019 00:25

If you are checking scheduled flights to gauge airport size be aware that some airports will be heavy cargo handlers and those flights are mainly not scheduled.

Jsmith99 · 08/04/2019 00:27

I work very close to East Midlands Airport, which operates 24/7 due to large amounts of cargo traffic. The runway is laid out east-west, and there are villages under the fight path at each end of the runway, Melbourne and Kegworth. Both have aircraft passing directly overhead, but Melbourne generally suffers from more noise as the aircraft normally take off in that direction, ie westerly.

There are also villages north and south of the airport, Castle Donington and Diseworth. These are MUCH quieter, as the aircraft don’t fly directly overhead. I would definitely buy a house in Disewoth, despite it being less than a mile from the runway.

WhyTho · 08/04/2019 00:32

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

lyralalala · 08/04/2019 00:36

What is the parking like? If the house has off road parking or residents permits then yes. If it doesn't then no. We used to live near a busy train station that had a rail link and the train noise you get used too, but having to park 15 minutes away because the street is full of people who parked up and got a taxi to the station quickly got tedious.

Original poster
Kittypillar · 08/04/2019 00:46

What is the parking like?

Off-road parking enough for two cars plus a garage. After a year or so of fighting to park our car on the street outside our house, DH was practically salivating Grin

OP posts:
TheTitOfTheIceberg · 08/04/2019 00:53

I grew up directly under a flight path (in a house, I wasn't feral on the runway verges) so it wouldn't bother me in the slightest. When visitors used to come round they'd sometimes comment on the closeness / noise of the planes and my parents and I genuinely wouldn't have noticed.

Toddlerteaplease · 08/04/2019 00:55

If it's Hale village in Liverpool I'd grab it with both hands!

RomaineCalm · 08/04/2019 00:56

We are close to a regional airport and it really doesn't bother us.

I quite like seeing the planes going over and somehow feeling connected to the rest of the world. We try to fly from our local airport if we go away and even after many years we smile when we can land, collect bags and be home within 40mins.

Not sure I would feel the same way about living near Heathrow or Gatwick but I wouldn't necessarily let an airport put you off a dream house.

MovingThisYearDefinitely · 08/04/2019 01:00

I live near an airport. One thing to bear in mind is flight paths can change. A house that has little aircraft noise can quickly switch to unbearable. I just moved & now live 10 minutes from the airport, but don't notice the planes because of the great double glazing. Summer could be noisy though. I used to get woken at 5am at my old house that was 20 minutes from the airport.

LondonHuffyPuffy · 08/04/2019 01:02

I live under the flight path to London City airport. I hardly notice it and, as a PP said, when they changed the flight path during the 2012 Olympics it was weird to not have any aircraft noise! Helicopters going up and down the Thames are more annoying than the planes.

HunnyCaramel · 08/04/2019 01:02

I would, but noise doesnt bother me, it really badly affects some people

Unihorn · 08/04/2019 01:07

I'd love it! My parents live next to a busy dual carriageway and I find the noise comforting.

Original poster
Kittypillar · 08/04/2019 01:08

One thing to bear in mind is flight paths can change.

This is a really good point, neither of us had considered that!

OP posts:
IncrediblySadToo · 08/04/2019 01:19

The thing that would worry me most is whether there was any chance of being in the situation where the airport was planning on extending and being served a. conpulsory purchase order 🙁

breadzeb · 08/04/2019 01:22

It's actually rare for a huge change in flight paths. Edinburgh trialed a change a while back but it ended up being rejected, it was over the course of about 4 years though and local residents did massive campaigning against the trial.

You will find if you are not too far south nothing will actually go over or even near you. And with an east/west runway the planes will come in from the east more than from the west.

dontfluffthefluffer · 08/04/2019 01:40

I live approx 15ish min drive from a busy airport now, grew up about 30 mins from it. Depending on the wind direction you can hear the low rumble sometimes but it's not offensive and you very quickly get used to it. Never really notice it now and I quite like hearing that low rumbly noise in the night every so often.

Conversely, I lived in a house rurally, nowhere near an airport. Turns out it was a fly by/training area for fighter jets. The noise was brutal at times and really quite scary at first as they were so fast and so low.

Give me an airport any day, nothing like the roaring screams of jet engines and pilots so close you could practically invite them in for a cuppa.

PhilipJennings · 08/04/2019 01:44

I’d say things to bear in mind are: holding patterns, which can generally circle areas that aren’t in the usual path. The direction in which planes travel along the runway to take off or land can change, depending on wind and weather conditions. And if the surrounding area is quiet, the early and late flights can seem louder.

(I live about 15km from Gatwick, and I’m often woken up by the first flight of the day.)

Nickpan · 08/04/2019 01:45

why so mysterious about which airport? Are you important?

IfNotNowThenWhy · 08/04/2019 01:48

I live under a flight path of a small airport and find it quite comforting as I'm falling asleep. Better than the low flying police helicopters that used to wake me up all night where I used to live!

MovingThisYearDefinitely · 08/04/2019 01:49

Flight paths do change & it is dramatic & life-changing for some. Some people near where I live (major airport) are suffering greatly, so its certainly not something to dismiss because it is apparently rare in some peoples opinion! What are you used to? I was used to living somewhere quite rural in a cul de sac with a car passing every 10 minutes. Suddenly being woken by a plane every few minutes from 5am during summer when I moved area & they changed the flight path was indeed a rude awakening.

One of my old houses was right by a railway line & I could feel the house literally shake as trains went under the tunnel beneath the house. That didn't bother me at all, but loud aircraft noise is a completely different level. I suggest you research how busy the airport actually is during busy times. I am putting across worst case scenario for you. I still chose to move yet closer to the airport. 5 minutes is really close though. Personally I don't think I would. You need to spend a reasonable amount of time there before you decide for sure though!