Would you buy a family home on a busy road

[SilverDoublet]

I'm wondering would most people buy a family semi d on a busy road, in a location that is expensive but close to the city, driveway for several cars at the front, but constant traffic doing 30 - 40mph, sometimes backed up in front of the house? My friend thinks it's undesirable but I think the house looks lovely and would be great.

Definitely not. I’ve lived on a busy road and I hated the noise, the fumes and I felt trapped in my own home.

No I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole.

Decades ago I bought a house that was on a small road parallel to a 40mph road, separated by trees. The road wasn't particularly busy but there was constant road noise, and noticeable dirt and pollution. The bedroom curtains at the back were so much cleaner than the ones facing the road. I could actually smell the exhaust fumes when the windows were open. God knows what it would be like if traffic was queuing outside. Also the massive annoyance if traffic was queuing while you were trying to get in and out of your drive.

After that I swore I'd never buy a house on a main road ever again.

No way. Nothing more depressing than hearing cars and lorries roaring past all the time. Plus massive particulate pollution.

No, never. The noise and air pollution mean it’s not worth it. I used to cough every day when I lived near a main road; when we moved away the cough vanished…

We did,

lost a couple of cats but otherwise fine.

I’ve lived on a train line twice in my life and I actually find it a comforting sound.

We live on a busy road (not quite as busy as what you’re describing but for context there’s a speed camera outside the house a few doors up.) If you’re set back from the road you don’t notice. The garden at the back is bigger than most because of the road and it’s lovely. First time visitors are always a bit surprised but then they come indoors and out into the garden and they’re always pleasantly surprised. It was exactly how we felt the first time we came to view.
We thought we’d be here 3-4 years and then we’d move on. Actually we’ve extended and poured our heart and soul into this house and we love it. We’ve also grown a hedge at the front to cut out some of the noise. It’s been great tbh. Bigger than we could have afforded elsewhere.
An earlier poster is right: there’s always something - planes, trains or automobiles. You need to work out what compromise you’re happy to make.

I did this -bought a house not directly on the road, but very slightly set back. The noise didn’t bother me too much, but it my husband, who is very sensitive to any sounds throughout the night. There were constant siren sounds from police cars, ambulance and fire engines.
Air pollution was really bad, and our window sills and frames were constantly black.
My GP said my lungs were the same as a heavy smoker, yet I’ve never smoked!

We decided to sell to move to a quiet street.
Selling took forever, as the issue of the road always was mentioned by potential buyers.
i didn’t make a great deal of profit on it, after 6 years there.

Would not recommend!

I was brought up in a house on a main road. We had some things that mitigated some if the problems, it was set well back from the road, had off street parking, and a gate to the back garden to keep children and pets safe.

But for me as a teenager the massive advantage was that the bus stop was very near, this gave me loads of freedom to go out and about, and come home in the evening so long as I got the last bus home

Always lived in cul-de-sacs or estates and swore would never live on a main road. Ended up buying on a B road where speed limit is 30, but boy racers do a lot more.

The house was just perfect and can only see myself leaving here in a coffin, love the place so much.

Got used to the road noise so don’t hear it now. The only compromise has been not being able to have a cat again, as I know it would get out and I’d find it on the road squashed one day. We have dogs now instead and walking them has helped us lose the lockdown lard.

I live in that house. Rural views of fields front and back, long drive with parking for 6 cars plus a lovely front garden on top, and the main road into my town at the end of the drive.

zero regrets. I love the house. Road drives me a bit mad sometimes but it’s a very minor irritant in the scheme of things.

I’ve lived in my house on a busy main road in my town for a year, and hardly notice the noise. I sleep with the window open at night and at first had trouble sleeping due to the noise but not now. You can’t hear much in the house or in the garden and I don’t really have that much trouble getting on and off the driveway. You’ve just gotta be a bit ballsy when pulling out.

I live on the main road into town and the conditions are exactly as described by the OP, and houses on this road are snapped up. My neighbours just sold in 3 days for £30k over asking price. I think it very much depends on the area and the road.

we were afraid of getting a cat then a hungry frightened kitten turned up crying on our front path . No owner to be found so we kept him and he never goes near the road, he’s actually petrified of it.

One totally unintended consequence of living on a fairly busy road is i have amazing quirky neighbours.
Maybe I'm just lucky with it being a nice area, but the people are so chilled and live and let live.
Visitors often accidentally park on the double yellows in front of our houses and our neighbours will go out of their way to find the visitor to make sure they don't get a ticket.
If someone has a party, noone complains they message the street WhatsApp and compliment the tunes!
It made me realise that most of the intolerant or stand-offish people I know in my life would never buy on a busy road, so you tend to get a different type of character to a cul de sac in a village.
I'm not suggesting all village cul de sac types are intolerant by the way, I grew up in one and my parents and direct neighbours are lovely, but the issues they have on that road with random complaints over minor things is just ridiculous. I feel very relaxed here.

Nope.

Our first house was on a busy main road and the noise drove me nuts. Heavy lorries going by used to make the walls vibrate and sitting out in the garden in the summer was not pleasant.

I would especially if there was a drive. DH wouldn’t due to the road noise.

No, we've lived on a main road and it was horrible. We were also right next to a crossroads with 4 way traffic lights too. The constant noise of cars isn't the main issue (we actually moved to quite a busy road as well and that doesn't bother me at all) but the worst is the revving engines setting off from the lights, loud exhausts, blue lights waking you up in the night. And every time an HGV or bus went past, the house would shake. You also can't open your windows in summer. And as others have said, the house took absolutely ages to sell. Would not recommend at all.

Me and Dhs first house was on a busy road, it as pre-kids and thought nothing of it. Hated it constant noise, queuing in traffic to try and get into my driveway and really hard to get out of driveway and just not feeling a part of any neighbourhood. Red line for us after that

I grew up in a house like this. We had a decent front garden so the house was set back, and a drive for cars, and a large hedge at the front. But we had a few cats die and 2 pedestrian deaths including a child while I was growing up. (The noise never bothered me and we only had single glazing!)

It was a real non negotiable for me once I was a home buyer myself to live away from main roads, and once we had a dog and then kids it was even more of an issue. My dc have always lived in a cul de sac and been able to play out on bikes and skates, and I don't really worry about the dog getting out if we're mowing the front or tinkering in the garage.

I can see that these houses are often in good locations for transport links and commuter routes or good schools, so for some the pay off is worth it but for me it would never stack up.

I moved house last year after 16.5 years next to a main road, I wouldn't recommend it as you end up with front bedrooms you can't sleep in. You have to take into account boy racing, especially through the night at weekends, having to listen to traffic noise all day, in your garden, it got a lot harder when boy racing became a trend, vehicle modifications, we had a guy with a super crackly motorbike that sometimes use to go past at 5.30 am. Also it depends how proactive your council is at road resurfacing because when the surface deteriorates it gets noisier.

Be wary if you are likely to have things like lorries & tractors going past as they used to shake the house and cause cracks and door frames to pop out.

Where I live I see an awful lot of houses for sale on the main roads because until speeding & noise nuisance is sorted out, it's getting harder to live on a main road and these houses can also be hard to sell.

You have to compromise on something....

in our area there are several big detached lovely houses huge gardens on main roads. They are clearly popular and sell for £££.

Flip side of busy road is yes its busy but its safe at night if you have teens coming home at all hours

My friend lived on a main road for years, ciuld never afford to move. They constantly complained about the traffic noise especially when the windows were open during the summer. I could hear the traffic in their garden. The air quality is bad near main roads, COPD is linked to poor air quality. My mum had COPD (and actually died from it) as did a few of her neighbours as she too lived behind a main road. I would never live near a main busy road.

I live on an A road and when houses here come on the market, every one has gone within a few days. There were several buyers chasing ours when we bought it, 4 years ago. It wasn’t cheap at all compared to other similar houses on the market elsewhere.

I grew up on one with a front bedroom. When I had a sleepover at a friend on a side road I couldn't sleep as it was too quiet!
One benefit of a main road is that your road always get gritted & cleared first if there is snow!
Also they tend to be better lit than side roads so can feel safer if you need to walk home after dark.