To not buy a house next to the school if you don’t like the sound of children.

[Popsy92]

I have a friend. Her and her hubby bought a house directly behind a school. Their garden backs onto the school field. A pathway goes down the near their house from the school.

But they are always moaning about the noise from the school field.. the school have been spending a lot more time than usual outside at the minute when it’s sunny due to covid and outdoor learning but they moaned about the noise before then.

My children go to the same school and I just feel that if you buy a house near a school you should expect the noise?? There is only one school in the area and they bought the house closest to the field/playgrounds.

Aibu?

We bought a house near a school, great for school runs but the cars drive me bonkers. People park over our drive blocking me in nearly every day. Whilst I appreciated there Would be extra cars twice a day, I didn’t anticipate the school adding an extra year R class so over 6/7 years the traffic has got worse and worse. The noise is fine.

Wtf how could they not realise that there would be noise and business around the school!

It's like buying a house next to a motorway and then moaning about the traffic noise

I have absolutely no sympathy for people that buy a house near a school, church, farm / countryside, stations, airports, large venues etc.

Basically any where you know that there will be noise, smells, disruptions.

The council should absolutely tell them to fuck off when they go complaining.

I have a friend who lives next to a primary school. For a period of time after leaving teaching due to trauma he couldn't bear the sound of the children. It isn't a problem now.

If you choose to buy a house next to a school you expect the sounds that go with it.

She is a plonker. So is the husband. We live near a school that we're not in catchment for, and on the map it looks quite far away. I can hear the children at playtime though!

When we were viewing houses before we bought our current one, we viewed some new builds that were right up against a primary school's boundaries, and I couldn't believe how high priced the houses were.

Your friend is bonkers.

I live next to a school and it won’t re-open until September. There’s a farmers field between us and the playground.

I used to love hearing the children playing at break times especially if I heard someone shouting my son’s name. I really miss hearing the chatter and laughter during Lockdown. It almost feel apocalyptic seeing the empty playground.

I live next to a primary school. On sunny days I can hear the little ones singing with their teacher in the playground, I think it's lovely.
You'd have to be an extremely miserable old crow to actually complain about the noise from a primary school, when you've chosen to live there. Unbelievable.

I live about 100m from the gates of a primary, with the actual building and playgrounds about another 100-150m down a driveway. Given the way the trees screen noise, I don't actually hear the kids much, but when I do, I think it's lovely.

My mum attended that primary school, it's around 70 years old. So anyone new moving in now who complains gets the message that they should put up with it or move. Lucky for me, the street is permit parking only, as due to a quirk, it's the only place near enough to park. The vast majority of parents walk, and just a few compete for the 5 open use drop off spaces in our car park. It rarely gets busy.

But I have little sympathy for anyone who moves next to a school, church, other noisy place that was there before they were, who then tries to get the noise stopped.

Like the woman on our estate who bought a house right next to the play park then moaned at the kids playing to be quiet because her dc was revising for his A levels.

I find this attitude ridiculous. In the city I grew up in some silly arse bought a flat above a busy live music lounge in the city centre and then started a huge legal campaign to try and get it shut down due to the noise.

I don't know how people this stupid can even manage to get out of bed in the morning. Utter morons.

People are stupid. Stupid people also move to houses surrounded by fields and then complain about what happens in the fields, and bells from the church etc etc

I think that estate agents need point to the school/farm/church and ask the potential purchaser to identify it, and ask them if it might annoy them, and then suggest that they live elsewhere because people are too stupid to work it out for themselves.

YANBU - I've always lived near schools. We are behind a primary school and I like hearing the children play.

Churches and bell ringing have already been mentioned several times.

I come from a fishing village. Newcomers complain like mad about the smell of fish. They want a living village with shops and amenities but none of the things that enable the locals to actually earn a living.

I back onto a school and personally love the noise like a previous poster said its a happy babble. During lock down the school looked so cold and empty will be glad to hear the kids back on September

There is definitely a big difference between a secondary and primary though. I should have said on my PP that we've got a primary very close and that noise is lovely. Secondary, not so much (PE and breaktimes). It's easy to mis- remember what those times were like, the sound of secondary school kids screeching and shouting and teachers bellowing is definitely not pleasant noise, even though you do learn to live with it!

To a PP who suggested we were stupid to not realise the fields would be in use all day - that didn't happen when I was at school and we don't have secondary age kids so why would we? The majority of our sports lessons were in the hall except for the brief times we did hockey or rounders, but even then we only had 45mins a week so even across the whole school it wasn't in constant use. Probably because it turned into a mudbath very quickly

@Iloveyoutothefridgeandback

I find this attitude ridiculous. In the city I grew up in some silly arse bought a flat above a busy live music lounge in the city centre and then started a huge legal campaign to try and get it shut down due to the noise.

I don't know how people this stupid can even manage to get out of bed in the morning. Utter morons.

My DD’s grandmother did this. Bought a house on a long-standing (since Victorian times) seafront promenade type-street with loads of bars and restaurants with music etc.

She had only lived there a couple of months before she started a residents’ campaign against late-night noise, which has culminated in legal battles for the local businesses.

Yes that is ridiculous. Although until living near one I never understood how crazy parking is during the school run, seen all sorts.

I lived 100 metres from the front gate of a primary school. The playground was at the front gate too.
Loved it at 0850 when a child would come out and ring the hand bell and every child would freeze on the spot. Loved hearing their joyous playing at 10.30 too. The sound of youngsters playing in the playground is lovely.

I guess the 2% who voted YABU are people who bought houses near school 😀

Your friend is ridiculous and I would soon tire of her constant moaning about the same thing.

I would find constant moaning really annoying. I hate having the same conversation over and over again. Nothing is going to change, the school will always be there, it's not as though there are noisy kids living next door who will eventually grow up and move. If they can't live with it then they need to either create some sort of sound barrier or move. Whinging doesn't alleviate their suffering, it just extends the annoyance to their friends too.

No sympathy but some people just can't handle any sort of noise.

We had someone move in behind my work (large industrial building thats been there 200+ years) and then had the son round complaining that his 90yo deaf mother was annoyed by the noise when she's in the garden on weekdays. Apparently I was unreasonable to suggest they either shouldn't have bought the new build house, or should turn her hearing aid down when in the garden?

Didn't buy near a school, but a school was built subsequently, across the road. Never hear anything but if I did, it wouldn't bother me.

We purposely bought near a good school when my daughter was 6 months old. Absolutely regret it. She doesn't go to the school and the parking drives me mad. Yes - I was aware it was there when we moved here but I was incredibly naive and really didn't realise that people would park over my drive twice a day! Morning drop offs not so bad but they start parking up at 2.30pm for 3.30pm collection!!!! Sitting in their cars with the radios blasting and engines on. I really underestimated how selfish some people can be.

I do like hearing the children playing though! And I could tell the excitement they felt when they finished today for the holidays! Not enough to miss it when we move though!

YANBU, this is up there with people who buy property with a public right of way through the garden and then complain about people using said public right of way. Or people who buy a house next to a neighbour who has a tree, and then complain that the tree has grown.

We bought our house 200yards from a school 30 years ago.

30 years ago the school was a single form entry primary school (120 kids). Infant school was on another site. First they made it bigger and combined infants with primary. Then they made it double in size and added another form entry - so building up to 2 of each class over 6 years and now they have built a massive extension and there is a 3 form entry - built up to 3 of each class over the past 6 years. (630 kids - most of whom seem to need to be dropped by car!) Playing field has got smaller as the number of classes got larger, so incredibly noisy.

Things have changed dramatically. And it is not just term time and weekdays any longer as they now have a sports hall and a meetings hall and "public access space" etc. So it is busy year round.

We are fine, and won't be moving but are entitled to feel a bit miffed, though thankfully ageing has brought with it a general muffling of the senses.