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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Why wouldn't you research an area before you move?

191 replies

GlitterGiraffe13 · 13/04/2021 19:37

This popped up on facebook earlier.. A woman bought a house next to the A446 and is now complaining about the noise from the road..For those who aren't really familiar with the A446 it's a really busy road in Birmingham and is used as an alternative route whenever theres a crash/traffic on both the M42 and M6...

She says;
"Before we moved in we had several viewings that all took place on a Saturday morning which all meant that the road was relatively quiet. We absolutely fell in love with the house,"

There was also another article which says she didn't research the area before she moved?

We're relocating soon and we've spent ages researching the new area, good and bad locations to move to and we're going to go and stay for a few days as soon as we can to get a feel for it? Which I thought was normal behaviour?

Even if that was the only time the estate agent could do (unlikely but how else would they sell the house) why wouldn't you drive past it yourself at different times of day to get a feel for the traffic? She's moved from Kings Heath in Birmingham so it's not exactly far for her to go and scope the place out?

I feel like i've missed something here?

Link:
www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/property/couple-forced-wear-earplugs-bed-20350434

OP posts:

murbblurb · 14/04/2021 10:01

There is a solution - cut the speed of the passing traffic and enforce it. Wales are looking at 20mph limits through all residential areas, perhaps England could do the same. It won't actually take that much longer to get places, would reduce pollution and fuel use, which if anyone actually gives a toss about the next generation is a good idea.

And yes I do drive.

MissKittyCat · 14/04/2021 10:03

It looks there are still 2 of the 9 houses for sale - I wonder how much they will manage to sell them for? www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/76532277?utm_campaign=property-details&utm_content=new-homes&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=copytoclipboard

ColonelPine · 14/04/2021 10:09

I’m amazed that planning permission was granted for a house so close to a 70mph road like that. The council having allowed those houses to be built now need to reduce the speed limit on that stretch of road I would have thought.

SchrodingersImmigrant · 14/04/2021 10:11

@murbblurb

And yes I do drive.

That's on residential streets which are now 30. Not all roads around residential areas.

Macaronirabbit · 14/04/2021 10:16

2 of my work colleagues moved further away, and both were surprised how much longer and more expensive their journey to work was. One constantly turned up late and the other changed her hours to start later, so she could get an off peak train.

Brainwave89 · 14/04/2021 10:17

I agree it seems very odd. Sometimes though the love of a house can blind you to the obvious disadvantages of a house, and maybe this was the case here?

Itstartedinbarcelona · 14/04/2021 10:22

I live nearby and we saw these houses going up, often remarking who would ever live there!? Even on a Saturday morning it would have been obvious that it was a major road and her garden literally backs in to it. She has been severely derided in the local area FB page.

CoffeeWithMyOxygen · 14/04/2021 10:23

I can’t think what she’s hoping to achieve with this long term though as even if they do lower the speed limit on that stretch she’s now gone on public record saying she regrets ever buying that house. Let’s hope she never wants to sell it, who’d touch it after this kind of press?

changi · 14/04/2021 10:24

I agree it seems very odd. Sometimes though the love of a house can blind you to the obvious disadvantages of a house, and maybe this was the case here?

I seem to remember it was £25k cheaper than the others too. That may have had something to do with her choice.

Theglassmakerofmurano · 14/04/2021 10:26

You’d be surprised how often this happens. I can’t believe people buy houses near, play areas, bus stops, busy main roads, with paths running alongside or behind gardens, schools etc and then complain.

Zzpplant · 14/04/2021 10:29

When she realised she had overlooked the fact that the house was backing on to a ruddy great major road her idea is to fight tooth and nail to lower the speed limit on the road ? The developers were greedy to build there but it’s not their fault if on buying it she finds the noise a problem. It’s not like they somehow put an invisibility cloak over the road each time she went for a viewing.

fizbosshoes · 14/04/2021 10:38

Surely the road is clearly visible from the first floor (if you failed to notice actually driving on it or looking at a map?)

Pet8 · 14/04/2021 10:54

Relative of a friend was on the verge of accepting a 4 bedroom housing association property in a 'well to do' postcode. Couldn't believe their luck after years of trying for a bigger home.
They live in an area which still has a solid community, surrounded by family and friends. Perfect location for amenities and transport but just no bigger properties.

They'd drove around the area in at different times and it was peaceful. Seemed ideal.
My friend asked my advice having lived in the vicinity. However, I had long moved because of a major problem with the area - the student population. A once thriving community had all been driven out by landlords snapping up all the available properties and turning them into HMO.
My friends who can sell have done. My friends who rent are stuck unless willing to move miles out as I did.

This family had gone to view the 'peaceful' area not only before the students returned en masse from Christmas break, but also during lockdown. Even the postcode and district it is classed in is misleading. On paper, very desirable. In reality, it is on the border with a less favourable district/ postcode. So much on the border that I hadn't realised it was a different district!

I did ask a few people who lived around there would they recommend a move. Every single person said to avoid like the plague. It had gone further down hill since I'd lived there. Constant parties. Kids going to school tired. Arguments over noise, rubbish, parking. It's surrounded by pubs and fast food places to cater for the students. The traditional shops had disappeared. You can grab a bottle of wine and a kebab but not a bottle of milk and a loaf.

I don't know if they heeded my warning via their relative. But, fast forward a few weeks to St Patrick's Day, a bit of good weather and the returned students and it was mass chaos. The local parks were rammed and left knee deep in discarded food and alcohol containers. As spring has continued, and a sunny Easter weekend etc, the ongoing problem has returned.
No wonder the housing association property is hard to let.

Disfordarkchocolate · 14/04/2021 10:58

Houses like this are built all the time and people buy them. I would never consider it but some people live with it happily.

Even visiting on a weekend and in lock down there would have been a lot of noise. This last lock down hasnt cut traffic very much at all.

DontDrinkDontSmokeWhatDoIDo · 14/04/2021 11:08

Poor woman, I feel very sorry for her.

It's obviously a bloody nightmare. She should, of course, have known to check, do XY & Z, but not everyone is very bright, and to my mind, the builders & sales agents have preyed on this.

From the info the article gives, the planners should be held to account immediately for allowing that house to be built.

As other posters have said, a football could go over the fence and cause a catastrophe.

Yes, she's foolish, yes, it was clear, but she's clearly not that switched on abs has been taken advantage of.

The sales team must have been incredulous that they got a buyer . Her life must really be hell. I feel really sorry for her.

Sidewalksue · 14/04/2021 11:09

People get blinded by the actual house.

I did have a friend who moved to the countryside and actually hears a lot of motorway traffic in her garden (it’s over a mile away). When she visited she never noticed as they were looking around and had kids with them. When you stand in silence in the garden it’s very obvious.

We had a family member move next door to a chip shop. Then complained there was a chip shop next door because of the smell, traffic, rubbish and tried to have it closed down (didn’t work).

JustSleepAlready · 14/04/2021 11:37

I just don’t u deter a show developers are being given permission to build so close to busy and dangerous roads in the first place. They are literally killing off any green belt we have to cram
In more and more houses. And the prices are astronomical. I don’t know how anyone can afford to buy new build homes these days. They must be mortgages up to the eyeballs. I fully expect my kids to be with me well into their twenties. I think developers have a lot to answer for. It’s all about money and greed now. No one gives two shits about decent safe affordable homes anymore. You just have to look at the number of complaints about new builds all over the media....

AlecTrevelyan006 · 14/04/2021 11:41

I don’t think there’s a problem building the house where it is - she chose to live there.

There are hundreds, probably thousands, of busier roads that have houses on them.

the80sweregreat · 14/04/2021 11:44

My niece put me off buying a new build for life as they said it had so many problems and were forever getting them back to fix it all!
Someone else I knew bought an expensive detached new build and there had to move out not long after they moved into it as it had so many things wrong with it. This was years ago as well, so things haven't improved much.

I'm sure that this isn't the norm and older properties have many problems too, but if you'd paying top dollar for a new one, then you would want them to be in good repair and livable!
In this case, the lady should have been a bit more savvy and realized it would be very noisy so close to the busy road.
She is stuck there forever now :(

Drunkenmonkey · 14/04/2021 12:27

Lots of houses are near busy roads but I've never seen one with a garden that is literally 9 feet from what is basically a motorway.

Happycat1212 · 14/04/2021 12:27

I looked up the road on right move and it brings you straight on to the road when you click street view, how did she not notice!? Mind you, you would hAve thought she would have noticed when she visited several times

3CCC · 14/04/2021 12:33

anyone else want to see the rightmove/ estate agent listing.

I wonder how they made " situated right next to a busy dual carriageway" sound remotely appealing

ClaudiaWankleman · 14/04/2021 12:42

I don't think I feel sorry for her, but I do feel strongly that the development shouldn't have gone ahead in its current state.

In my opinion there should have been crash barriers and a green belt/ similar buffer between the road and the development to mitigate the impact of pollution. It could have been a few metres of trees or a bank of earth or even those living walls that you sometimes see driving around France. It is wrong that someone was allowed to build those houses which will probably cause long term health issues.

All said though, these things should have been so blindingly obvious to the buyers when they stepped through the front door. They never should have bought it.

Spidey66 · 14/04/2021 13:36

I don’t know the area and while I maybe wouldn’t research as much as the OP I’d put it through google maps, see it was by a must main road, and ditch the idea straight away.

Spidey66 · 14/04/2021 13:38

Must =busy

MN really needs an edit function

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