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Original poster

Buying next door to construction

23 replies

mamatime · 25/03/2018 22:21

Would you buy a house which is about to have a few houses either side of it knocked down and rebuilt? We love the house but currently trying for a baby so worried about the impact of noise (never lived near construction before).

The street is full of old bungalows which one by one are being demolished and turned into big new houses.
Thanks in advance for any replies.

OP posts:

JoJoSM2 · 25/03/2018 22:59

I lived next door to whole development going up and didn't hear a thing. However, I was out at work most days. If you're likely to be at home with the baby every day, it's more likely to be perceptible if going on right next door. You probably wouldn't hear a beep if it's a few doors down.

DancingLedge · 25/03/2018 23:03

Visit a couple of times during the working day.
Parking can be an issue when there's lots of workers on a site.
Also loud radios. But not on all sites.

springmachine · 25/03/2018 23:10

I moved in next door to a new house being built just as I started on maternity.

It's been very stressful at times.

But it did force me to go out at least.

Original poster

mamatime · 26/03/2018 11:34

Would you worry about breathing in dust from the construction when pregnant or the baby breathing it in when born? That's also a concern ...

Thanks for your replies! Very helpful to know what others would do ...

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SleepFreeZone · 26/03/2018 11:39

I wouldn’t no.

ShotsFired · 26/03/2018 11:47

Aside from the construction, I'd have some concerns about the impact of "big new houses" going up in a road that was designed for smaller bungalows.

How much more traffic/car parking/living noise etc do you think there might be? (I nosied round a new estate near me yesterday and even with only half the houses built and even fewer occupied, parking is already an issue!)

Will you end up being the worst house on a nice street (or are these crappy builds so you might be the best house on the worst street?)

JoJoSM2 · 26/03/2018 13:24

I think that replacing bungalows with bigger houses is bound to make the street more expensive and more desirable. Presumably they have offstreet parking anyway if permissions for much bigger properties get granted. Might be a different story if two bungalows are knocked down to make way for a row of 10 jammed in terraces.

Dust - hardly any on the outside ever. So you'd a max of maybe a few days that there's any + gettno blown your way. Dusty stuff happens inside but it's unlikely to travel across to your house.

Original poster

mamatime · 26/03/2018 18:58

Thanks ... hmmm re-thinking this. Such a shame as we love the house.

Yes space is a bit tight .. a metre between houses. Visited today and builders radio was on and lots of shouting, which I could imagine be annoying when trying to get the baby to nap .. the road the house is on is also a cut through so will get busier.

That's interesting, as I thought there would be more dust from cutting stone / tiles ... I suppose the demolition would of the old bungalows will be the worst of it?

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dieselKiller · 26/03/2018 19:39

Being on the same street as construction is awful. Not only dust but just a bunch of noise and fumes from generators and compressors. Drilling, pounding, cutting, vehicle movements, cement mixers, nail guns all make noise and stink. And it isn't predictable exactly what level of noise or smell you'll get at any particular time. You won't want to have your windows open in the summer, let alone hang out washing or sit in your garden.

springmachine · 27/03/2018 09:31

We went for it as our house needed work too and when we moved in was told the build next door would be complete by the June.
In reality the build wasn't complete into September so the work was going on through summer.

My DP didn't experience any disruption as he was at work all week and by the time he got home the builders had left.
They wouldn't work on a Sunday but Saturday was sometimes a half day.

Thing is, I could have moved somewhere without a new house being built next door, and then instead a neighbour builds an extension.
It can all cause disruption.

There will always be annoying noises if you live within a town or village where neighbours are nearby.

And yes, we had our house valued a few weeks ago and the house price has increased considerably, and this is partly due to the improvements going on in the street including the knocking down of ugly old bungalows thy have been replaced with nicer houses

Original poster

mamatime · 27/03/2018 11:01

How did you cope with having a newborn and living next door to construction?

I think I can manage the noise, it's more the worry of dust / fumes / possible asbestos, lead dust which I worry could be bad for the children especially.

OP posts:

springmachine · 27/03/2018 11:32

@mamatime

I honestly had no problem with dust, smells or dirt.

There were some noisy moments if we were out in the garden, but a lot of the time I was going for walks, visiting family or had some time indoors napping.

It was mildly irritating, but I'm looking back, and it was only last year, it really wasn't so bad and the house there now is a darn sight better.

The builders also replaced my fence for free too (which they had to do because mine was past it and I wasn't bothered enough to do it myself )

There was the odd occasion they asked for access through our garden or wanted scaffolding up on our side of the fence and a few times we said no (didn't want to have the disturbance) and they were fine with it.

I've had more trouble from the neighbours two doors down who are just general busy bodies than from the builders

Original poster

mamatime · 27/03/2018 12:01

@ springmachine - That's good to know, thanks for giving me your experience, it doesn't sound so bad. How long did it take?

Could your newborn nap with the construction noise? I only ask because when my DD1 was a baby could not sleep through any noise!

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SoupDragon · 27/03/2018 12:04

How long are you likely to stay in the house? If it is likely to be a “forever” home or at least very long term, it would be a chance to perhaps get it cheaper than if there was no construction and worth the short term hassle. If it’s a short term home, I wouldn’t touch it.

Original poster

mamatime · 27/03/2018 12:10

@SoupDragon It is a short term home, probably just a couple of years. We're living with my Mum and just can't find anywhere suitable for all of us. This is the most suitable house in terms of the utility room would be a small kitchen for her. We're so sick of house hunting etc, we just want to move in somewhere, hence this house which is empty.

However it's been on the market for a year. I wonder whether what is putting people off is that every bungalow on the street near this house (including next door) will eventually be knocked down and this is a worry to people?

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renose18 · 27/03/2018 12:51

It might be worth asking the builders how long they reckon the building work will take. If you are lucky they might expect the work to finish in 8/9 months (or at least finish all super noisy exterior works) - obviously building timelines often go over, but it might give you a better understanding of what you might face.
Sounds silly, but if you only want to be there for a couple of years you should probably factor in if you would be happy there longer if situations change - shelling out for stamp duty, estate agent fees, and property increases can make moving harder than expected - especially if one of you decides to change their working situation when a little one appears. If worst came to worst could you extend or change the property in a manner that could suit your family better.

MovingAgainOhWhy · 27/03/2018 13:01

We lived right next door to major gas works after having a baby a few years ago.

They had to dig up the roads all around and relay pipes etc, took 5 months.

It.was.utter.hell.

The loud construction vehicles vibrated the house, men shouting, drilling, cutting, cement mixers, radios, 8am-5pm 5 days a week was horrible. We couldn't open windows in sweltering heat due to noise and smells and my baby DS was constantly woken up. I could never relax or nap and it impacted my health and postnatal recovery.

I don't know how different digging up roads and the laying of pipes would be compared to the construction of houses, but I would never chose to live near construction again. It just kept getting extended too, they kept running into problems and had to do emergency work on Saturdays all the time. Utter nightmare.

springmachine · 27/03/2018 13:44

@mamatime

He was born a week after we moved in so was used to it from the start.

He slept through anything at that age.

Not so much now.

The built went on for probably 6 months from start to finish in total.

Original poster

mamatime · 27/03/2018 16:46

Thanks so much for your replies, much appreciated.

@MovingAgainOhWhy - gosh that sounds like a nightmare .. sorry to hear you went through that. I had noise problems in my last house with neighbours so can sympathise. Did you have to move because of the noise?

I did ask the builders today and they said it's going to take until the end of the year, they're due to put the roof on in a month. Then the house next door will start their extension which is due to take another year. I'm starting to re-think the whole thing. However the other house we like has got planning to have a small housing development at the bottom of the long garden (80 metres from the house). So not sure which is worse! Not having lived through either I'm guessing probably immediately next door ...

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springmachine · 27/03/2018 19:39

80meters from your house is practically next door.

If they have to put in new drains and roads etc it will still shake and rattle your house with the industrial drills and compactors

The end of the year is a long time and it will go over (they always do)

But if the development 80feet away hasn't even started yet, that will likely be going on longer.

Extensions happen all the time and can crop up without any planning even so try not to worry about that too much as you can't protect yourself from it wherever you move.

MovingAgainOhWhy · 28/03/2018 09:51

mama we didn't move because of the noise, as we were planning on moving anyway but it sure did speed our move along!

AlexaAmbidextra · 28/03/2018 23:09

You will get huge amounts of dust. You will be sick to death of this after a year.

Original poster

mamatime · 29/03/2018 10:38

I've just been on our local council planning website ... there are a total of 8 houses who have applied to have extensions / alterations on the road just this year! That seems like a huge amount of construction on one road ... I'm starting to imagine that it'll be year after year of constant noise and dust ...

Perhaps a small development of houses at the bottom of the garden of the other house would be a better option ... at least it'll all be done in one go!

Would anyone here be put off buying a house if there was potential for next door to be developed / or planning permission for a development near by? (I'm just thinking if we come to sell in a few years and the developments haven't happened yet ... but still might at some point). Would this put of potential buyers?

Thanks again for your replies

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