Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Flip

Original poster

Buying on a busy road

19 replies

friedeggsand · 06/09/2017 05:50

We've offered on a house that's on a busy road and I'm now worrying about it! It will be busy at peak times but quieter most of the rest of the time - would this massively be hard to live with?

OP posts:

Phillipa12 · 06/09/2017 06:04

I live in a small town but right next to its main road, think footpath then the A4! I dont really hear the noise now (have lived here under a year) unless its a lorry and only then if its not busy as a lorry rumbling past at 30mph is more noticeable. Traffic is barely there between 8pm and 6am anyway and actually rush hour although busy is fairly quiet as everything is stop start and queueing which makes far less noise than when it flows freely.

Chottie · 06/09/2017 06:09

For me, this would be a no, no.

How will it be for parking and driving off your drive or joining the traffic?
Is there a bus route along the road and how far is the bus stop from your home?
How close exactly is the road, will you be able to have your windows open?
Where does the road go to?
is it the main feeder road to the town, motorway or hospital?
Will you have emergency vehicles travelling along the road or cars / motorbikes / cabs late at night when the clubs and pubs close?

JackietheBackie · 06/09/2017 06:15

We live on a busy road and I hate it (first floor flat, two 24 hour bus routes past the window). It isn't the noise, cos you just don't hear it after a while, but it is the filth. The oily dust from car fumes on everything. Cannot wait to move. Would avoid living on a busy road as much as possible in future. The plus side is that it is really well connected for public transport.

superram · 06/09/2017 06:44

I have lived next to a40-too noisy to open windows-which were triple glazed. Also lived on smallish residential road that is a bus route-again wouldn't do it again as busses hiss! If it has a huge garden it might be different.

greendale17 · 06/09/2017 06:51

Would be no for me too

OhTheRoses · 06/09/2017 06:58

Depends how much more you are getting for your money than otherwise. Life is a compromise. Check carefully realised prices in the road compared to roads a little further away. You should be paying at least 15% less than market rate. Make sure you haven't been lulled because it's nicer than other properties you have seen because it's been done up cosmetically and seems same price.

Etymology23 · 06/09/2017 07:02

I live on a busy town road - just one lane each way but a main route into the centre. The thing that frustrates me: the dirt. Windows and windowsills get dirty so easily.

Sometimes the noise annoys me, but I have good double glazing. Next doors double glazing is less good - so consider that. I had lived in Really Quiet places all my life and was worried about the noise but it hasn't been the bugbear I was expecting. The house is set back 15ft from the road, which helps. Check out the noise in the back garden - ultimately you can shut your windows but you can't keep the noise out the back garden.

Consider parking and whether or not you can put a front fence/gate up.
I can't park in my front garden but there is ample on road parking on nearby side streets. This doesn't bother me - it might some people. The location of a junction makes it easy to get out the side streets - otherwise I think this could get frustrating. I live right opposite a bus stop and that doesn't bother me.

Ultimately it will limit the saleability of my house - but it also limited the price. If it's not an extremely unusual house where you think there'll already be issues finding a buyer then I doubt it'll be too much of an issue in sale.

TizzyDongue · 06/09/2017 07:03

Two things I'd consider would be:

Is the house set back off the road (noise wise)
How difficult would it be getting in and out the drive - Not necessarily in the busy sense (because waiting wise it's like leaving a side road into a busy road) but more would you need to reverse in or out of the drive.

coriliavijvaad · 06/09/2017 07:09

Depends how busy and what sort of road, also how close to a junction. Also how insulated will affect things as how well could you cool the house without opening windows at the front?

Our first-time-buy house was just by traffic lights on a busy road. There was excellent double-glazing and we didn't hear traffic noise with the windows shut. After we moved in we found that the traffic fumes constantly deposited a nasty black soot that covered the front of the house and also got inside and made everything grubby - we were probably breathing pollution particles all the time. Also in summer because of poor loft insulation the house became unbearably hot and the only way to get it to cool down was by having all windows open letting in noise and more fumes. Also because of being by traffic lights emergency vehicles always have their sirens going when they pass.

GRW · 06/09/2017 07:13

I wouldn't buy a house near a busy road because I wouldn't be able to have outdoor cats.

ASqueakingInTheShrubbery · 06/09/2017 07:17

We lived on the main road into town, 3 doors up from traffic lights and almost opposite a bus stop. It was busy but not unmanageably so. There was enough space between the house and road (waist-height wall and parking for 2 cars) and the windows were double glazed. The cats weren't allowed out the front and didn't bother to climb over from the back. This was a medium-sized town though, would be worse in a city.

Zampa · 06/09/2017 07:20

If diesel and maybe petrol cars are to be phased out and electric cars become the norm, living on a busy road will become less of an issue. I imagine we're tens of years away from that though so depends how long you're planning to live there ...

NerrSnerr · 06/09/2017 07:21

We live on a busy junction with a bus stop outside our front gate. The only problem noise is idiots racing at night. Everything else we don't notice. We got it cheaper so have a much bigger house then we could afford elsewhere.

AJPTaylor · 06/09/2017 07:22

I have rented 2 places on busy roads. I wouldnt again. Dirt, fumes and noise. We have just bought next to a railway line and the noise is no problem

Derby86 · 06/09/2017 08:04

We moved from a house on a 24 hr bus route to one at the end of a long cul de sac, and the difference is amazing. I didn't realise how much the noise of passing buses kept me awake at night. Wouldn't live on a busy road again.

Lucisky · 06/09/2017 08:21

I used to live on a road that was busy during the day, ( 'A' road, but small country town) so much like yours sounds. You get used to the noise, but - I did have triple glazing at the front, and never opened those windows because of the noise, and also security (I was right on the pavement). The front windows were cleaned every week for me because the black muck from cars gets everywhere, and amazingly it mananged to work it's way in through the windows as well, so the curtains got dirty quicker. I regularly had to wash down the front door too.
I had on street parking and had my car damaged several times when it was outside my house.
At one stage the road became pitted outside and large lorries going over the bumps used to literally shake the house.
Deliveries could be a problem as vehicles stopping to drop something off would quickly cause an angry traffic jam. If you have a driveway this wouldn't be a problem, obvs.
I loved the house- just wished I could have picked it up and moved it. When it was built it would just have been horses and carts!

LillianGish · 06/09/2017 08:32

I think it depends. My mum lives on a busy road

LillianGish · 06/09/2017 08:37

Sorry posted too soon! My mum lives on a busy road, but in large house with loads of parking on drive. She can also walk into town and to the station so very handy - in her case the pros definitely out-weigh the cons. She's on a dual carriageway, but there are sports fields on the opposite side of the road so a fairly open view which is another upside. It is noisy, but you get used to it and double glazing obviously helps. I think a busy road, with no off road parking and in an inconvenient location would be a different kettle of fish. Sometimes a busy road is the price you pay convenience - if that is the case I'd say it is no problem.

BumWad · 06/09/2017 09:33

We are on quite a busy road but it is in a very nice village with no houses in front or behind us.

Road is noisy 8am ish and 5pm every day, other than that it is quiet.

We have a beautiful large period house which are far and few between in our area, so living on a main road has its pluses and minuses

Flip