Overlooked garden or corner plot?

[Beagle840]

Hi ladies, I am buying a new build house off plan and would really appreciate your thoughts on the 2 plots I am choosing between please. They are on the same eatate.

Houses themselves and garden size and orientation will be identical. One is in a nice quiet cul de sac location where there would be no passing traffic but is in a row of 6 detatched houses, backing onto another row so the garden will be very overlooked.

The alternative is on a corner with only 1 detatched house next to it and is not overlooked at all. The downside to that house is the location with passing traffic and the living room looks out onto the road. Over the road is the side of someone's garage but the road isn't too busy with only around 25 houses past it.

The house style is exactly what we want so I have to compromise somewhere but I really can't decide! Any thoughts?

I’d normally go for the corner plot unless the road is especially busy

100% would choose the corner plot which is less overlooked. You grow accustomed to general road noise straight away. Neighbours overlooking is a nightmare and can get worst depending on the neighbours.

I would go for the corner as I hate being overlooked (in all ways!).

Suggest you stake the corner House out at different times of day to see exactly how much traffic goes past. My DS and Dil had to move away from a house beside a busy road because of the noise, the fumes and the potential danger to cats and kids.

I've never been bothered by the "overlooked"-ness of a garden. If you are on a housing estate you simply can't pretend you are in the middle of nowhere with no neighbours. I would much rather have quiet cul de sac in front, and plant frondy stuff in the garden.

Go for the corner plot. That nice quiet cul de sac could soon be annoyingly full of cars of residents & visitors. Friend recently bought a new build off plan and it was only when they moved in they realised the road wasn't actually wide enough for 2 cars. ie no-one can park in the cul de sac without actually blocking it, unless there is space on a drive.

I agree corner plot. Will it have a front garden? If it does you could always plant some nice shrubs to hide the view a bit and reduce the noise. I would much rather have the corner with a more private garden

We have a row of houses behind us, it makes no difference at all (and actually I like the security of the garden as a result - it doesn't affect at all. With the corner I'd be worried about traffic (and kids hanging around on the corner!!)

I’d go for the corner plot providing the road isn’t too busy. Go stake it out at different times of day and also consider if further building on the estate might mean more traffic.

Corner plot

25 houses is around 50 car movements a day. This is hardly something to mention in the grand scheme of things. This is an half an hour/hours worth of traffic in a normal estate or 5 minutes on my road.

What will bother you more hearing a car 50 times day or hearing 6 neighbours backing onto you.

I live on a main road and the one neighbour who listens to radio 2 in the garden bothers me far more than the road.

Another vote for the corner plot.

Corner plot, with the caveat that no further houses are going to be built that would affect the number of cars passing through.

Corner plots dont always have much of a private garden and you will also have people walking past which they wont do with a traditional back garden.

Corner plot ( assume you still have back garden). Could you plant a hedge to screen the road?

As I have young children I'd say cul de sac. But I say this with the benefit of living on a quiet cul de sac with no one overlooking us at the back.....

Sorry posted too soon. I have never really lived on a busy road, but we did have people overlooking us in the garden when I lived with parents. It didn't bother me.
When I have been with friends who live on a very main road in their front room, I have realised how much I wouldn't want to buy a house in that position.

I’d be looking at on-street parking for potential visitors, and the house with the least number of neighbouring properties; fewer neighbours = less hassle from them.

How's the parking? Is there a chance people will block you in, park on a grassy verge eta? Imagine it full of cars.

Based on my own experiences I'd go for the culdesac. You can plant screening plants like bamboo to help with garden privacy and you won't have passing traffic. Also safer for kids to play in the street and no passing public on foot (privacy isn't just about the garden being overlooked). Corner plots are sometimes smaller too, our neighbours is so they can't fit their bins down the side of the house like we can. They also hate kids hanging out on the corner by their window and cutting across their lawn.
Whatever plot you decide on move quickly or the choice may not be yours to make any longer

Can you fence the corner plot garden? Can you use it as you could the cul de sac one? In my experience corner plots can actually be bigger but you need to be able to screen it effectively.

I really would not have bamboo: it’s a garden thug like leylandii. Can you screen by having a small tree or two?

Cul de sac roads on estates are designed narrow on purpose to stop speeding. What size are the drives? Parking isn’t often a problem if drives are big enough. What size are the garages? Can people get anything bigger than a go cart in one?

When I lived on an estate, no kids hung around on corners. It’s not a problem everywhere.

One word: another poster had big problems with sewage and drain manholes in the garden which were not evident when she exchanged one month after paying the deposit. She used a solicitor recommended by the developer. Big mistake. The builder cannot/won’t change the drainage. Don’t exchange until you have all the layouts and you can always check with the planning authority to see if further land is to be developed beyond the end of the road. Is it in the local development plan? If it is, development will take place at some point.

Cul de sac and plant trees/hedges along the garden boundaries.

Thank you all for your replies. The corner plot is not on a busy road at all and is actually at the T junction for 2 cul de sacs. I counted the houses past it and there are actually only 17 so should be fine. I was more concerned about it looking out onto the side of a garage but it is a lovely house for the price so I have to compromise somewhere!