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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To buy a house so close to a motorway

138 replies

fabulousfailure · 19/04/2023 20:22

Just this really. A lovely house has come on the market. We put an offer in which was accepted, now having second thoughts.

The issue is, it's really quite close to a major motorway. As in, 3 or 4 houses beyond ours, then a decent fence which is the motorway edge.

You can hear it, it's a bit like white noise, there all the time. I don't know whether we'd get used to it and just not notice it over time, or conversely whether it would become an ongoing irritant.

And then I've started to read up on air pollution. Forgive me but I knew little about this until now. What I'm reading sounds really scary. If you live within 150m or so of a road like this, it sounds like there are all sorts of health risks. Not just for us as adults like dementia, but also our children and potentially lifelong.

On the flipside, clearly lots of people live there now, and across the country so many people live near roads like this and in cities. Am i being really over anxious through Google groups this stuff?

YABU = it's not that bad, you can get used to it
YANBU = these are valid concerns, it is reasonable to hesitate in this situation

OP posts:
Bambooflowers · 19/04/2023 22:09

Ah ok, then that would put me off but in reality the price will reflect it so you will get more house for your money due to its location.

Original poster
fabulousfailure · 19/04/2023 22:10

Bambooflowers · 19/04/2023 22:09

Ah ok, then that would put me off but in reality the price will reflect it so you will get more house for your money due to its location.

Yes the price is good for the size of the house, and it's lovely inside.

OP posts:
moonspiral · 19/04/2023 22:11

IhateJan22 · 19/04/2023 21:59

Won’t be a problem soon with electric cars 🤷‍♀️

That's very optimistic. Electric hgv?

RudsyFarmer · 19/04/2023 22:12

Big executive detached for just under a million are being built near us right next to a hugely busy A road. I don’t understand it. I can’t think who will buy them but I know somebody will. We certainly wouldn’t. I think it madness.

Clicheinaqashqai · 19/04/2023 22:12

I think depends on your circumstances and how the house otherwise meets your needs, assuming it is priced to reflect the location of the motorway

If you are say a family of 4 and could only afford to buy a 1 bed flat elsewhere, but this is a 2 bed house with a garden then yes, I would consider it.

If it is just a nicer version of a house you could afford elsewhere, then no.

JudgeRudy · 19/04/2023 22:12

fabulousfailure · 19/04/2023 20:22

Just this really. A lovely house has come on the market. We put an offer in which was accepted, now having second thoughts.

The issue is, it's really quite close to a major motorway. As in, 3 or 4 houses beyond ours, then a decent fence which is the motorway edge.

You can hear it, it's a bit like white noise, there all the time. I don't know whether we'd get used to it and just not notice it over time, or conversely whether it would become an ongoing irritant.

And then I've started to read up on air pollution. Forgive me but I knew little about this until now. What I'm reading sounds really scary. If you live within 150m or so of a road like this, it sounds like there are all sorts of health risks. Not just for us as adults like dementia, but also our children and potentially lifelong.

On the flipside, clearly lots of people live there now, and across the country so many people live near roads like this and in cities. Am i being really over anxious through Google groups this stuff?

YABU = it's not that bad, you can get used to it
YANBU = these are valid concerns, it is reasonable to hesitate in this situation

I'm very sensitive to noise and thus would bother me. The pollution even more so. When I look at grimy buildings sometimes I imagine the lungs of the people in that all day. Its well documented that kids in someone the polluted inner city area have 'brain damage' from toxins. Id also inaginevit affects fertility too. Life is a balance of risks, rewards etc but I'd feel what's the point of packing a healthy lunch, getting children to clean their teeth etc if my kids are breathing in shit.
Of course you could gamble on us all ditching petrol/diesel in the next few years so the impact won't be so great

Magenta65 · 19/04/2023 22:15

I live in on main road. House is set back off the road due to the front garden. No houses opposite me and on the other side of the main road is a major A road. It can be noisy but you get used to it. Hardly hear it in the back garden and can’t hear it really when in doors.
Id say the main a road it’s about 30/40ft away from my front door.

SnackSizeRaisin · 19/04/2023 22:16

IhateJan22 · 19/04/2023 21:59

Won’t be a problem soon with electric cars 🤷‍♀️

What won't be a problem?

The noise is caused by tyres on tarmac and air turbulence - not engines

The pollution is largely from tyres and brakes - at least half anyway. So the air quality may improve somewhat. Regardless, we're probably 20 years away from most cars being electric and a lot longer for HGVs etc.

The thing that will solve the issue is better public transport - not different types of cars

SwanPools · 19/04/2023 22:19

YABU not to share the Rightmove link!

StillWantingADog · 19/04/2023 22:22

Not a motorway but we previously lived near a busy road.
i wouldn’t say I regret it but the noise and pollution got to me, increasingly, until I could no longer tolerate it. I never enjoyed being in the garden.

I’d pull out now if you possibly can.

Leftbutcameback · 19/04/2023 22:22

It would bother me because of the noise, the air pollution, and my cats. I think only if you are a very indoors family would it be ok (but you’d need triple glazing).

You might also get vibrations and dirt - we got that from a nearby railway line. Often had to repaint near windows and rehang stuff.

moonspiral · 19/04/2023 22:24

Thelnebriati · 19/04/2023 22:23

There's an air pollution website you can use, you put in the postcode. Ours is terrible and we're not near a motorway!
https://addresspollution.org/

Oh no that's grim reading right there

Seas164 · 19/04/2023 22:30

moonspiral · 19/04/2023 22:24

Oh no that's grim reading right there

Show quote history

Mine also high, but for context my sister's postcode which is in deepest rural countryside amongst many many square miles of fields and quiet b roads, rates as medium on this, so not sure where you've got to be to score as low.

tara66 · 19/04/2023 22:31

I don't know when but at some point only electric cars will be allowed.

ReUseRepeat · 19/04/2023 22:32

When you say three or four houses behind, do you mean three or four streets back or a few doors down?

WoodenStackingRainbow · 19/04/2023 22:36

We lived just less than a mile from a major motorway for some time - you could mostly hear it in the mornings and it was loud and obvious then. Didn't here it at other times but lots of trees and houses in between. Wouldn't have wanted to be closer!!

Withnailandeye · 19/04/2023 22:36

I’m a surveyor and in my previous role I acted for highways England. When they want to widen a motorway for lane extension or improvements, they will take out 2/3 of those houses next door by powers of CPO, and then there are only 1/2 houses between you and a motorway fence.
It bothers you enough to post on here, don’t do it, houses near major infrastructure are difficult to sell without impacting value.

MRSB1980 · 19/04/2023 22:37

I lived in a really lovely house with brilliant windows 3 houses down from a motorway for 12 years. Bonus’s were no one can hear your kids making a racket on the trampoline! And neighbours can’t hear you talking

TheExchange · 19/04/2023 22:37

Don’t do it, my biggest regret is buying a house near a busy road. I moved from that house 10 years ago and every day is a blessing.

whynotwhatknot · 19/04/2023 22:39

my pollution level is so high i should apprently demand action!

yeah ok im sure the tories are just sitting there waiting for me to complain and fix it

anyway id say it was up to you-can you hear the noise in the garden?

Georgiepud · 19/04/2023 22:39

It sounds as though you already have enough doubts to make you withdraw your offer.

Having said that we lived close to a motorway and it wasn't too bad. The noise was a constant in the background but far less intrusive than the woosh noise which made us jump when we lived on an A road. We also lived next to a tube line but got used to that quite quickly too.

Pollution is an issue when it comes to respiratory issues but as living in say Devon and Cornwall gives the highest risk of skin cancer, nowhere will be risk free or perfect.

Leftbutcameback · 19/04/2023 22:42

Bloody hell - I knew our air pollution was bad but it’s the highest category. Rubbish.

carriedout · 19/04/2023 22:43

I would not do this. I might in about 15 years time when electric vehicles are the norm. Even then the pollution will still be high as most pollution comes from tyres/brakes.

deplorabelle · 19/04/2023 22:45

Seas164 · 19/04/2023 22:30

Mine also high, but for context my sister's postcode which is in deepest rural countryside amongst many many square miles of fields and quiet b roads, rates as medium on this, so not sure where you've got to be to score as low.

Show quote history

Particulates do travel miles and miles and nowhere in England is that far from roads. Quiet B roads are usually pretty fast moving so what traffic there is is putting out quite high levels of pollution.

Also lots of people burning wood in the countryside which is horrendous for air quality