Dream house by A38 buy or not

[IamD]

We have been recommended by our best friend a house on the main A38 road in Almondsbury Bristol. Speed limit is 40mph. It looks like the dream house and ticks all the boxes except that its on a main road. We have small children and although the house is fully gated and stands about 40-50 meters away from the main road due to front garden. It would be move with 15miles.

We currently live in a fairly decent house and we would have to stretch our budget to upsize to this, which we are happy to with some compromises.

However, somewhere at the back of my mind I am little apprehensive about noise, pollution and road safety. Having read similar posts, i would appreciate any experience from people in similar situations or if you have lived in similar houses. Is it worth the stretch?

Thank you!

Being set back 50m you shouldn’t have to worry about pollution. Read a statistic before that kids walking next to their parents on a road get 30% more pollution than their parents. So being an extra few cms away already makes a massive difference. And being in the car itself is twice as worse as walking alongside the motorway!

I imagine you’ll have space to turn the car around on a large drive.
I’d drive past during rush hour to see how bad or good that is.

In regards to noise. You really need to view

I’ve lived on busy roads my whole live.

Backed onto m4 about 20m to house. No issue atall just sounded like wind. Couldn’t hear it inside. Tuned out garden noise after awhile.

.30mph busy B road set back 20m

• no issue

.20mph busyish secondary road set back 20 m - absolutely horrendous deep rumble outside. Airport spec windows couldn’t keep it out. Only way to get away from it was to sit in the wardrobe!!!! So wasn’t vibration.

.Now 30mph busy through road between two 20k population areas. Little noisy infront of house but due to single glazed sashes. Heighbours with upvc have no issues.

Is it the house with the pool? I’d be happy to live there even on a main road.

No don’t do it! Unless you are someone who really isn’t bothered by road noise and pollution (which as you are bringing it up it doesn’t sound like you are) I wouldn’t do it. I live on what is a marginally busy 30mph road which has natural speed restrictions due to parked cars. So probably less busy and quieter than the road you are talking about. My road is way busier and noisier than I was expecting. When I wake up in the morning all I can hear are cars going past. At night cars zoom down it which can wake you up. In the day there are loads of cars at peak times and sometimes you can taste the pollution in the air even though I live in a village. I am have brought an air filter now for my front bedroom which regularly picks up exhaust fumes especially in the summer when you have to have windows open. I would never buy on a busy road again.

My SIL has a house on the side of the A38 between Almondsbury and Thornbury. There are lorries thundering past at all times of the day and night (M&S Food have a depot in Thornbury). If the motorway or the Severn bridges are closed then the A38 takes the brunt of the traffic.

Turning into and out of your driveway - how easy is it?

Can your children when they are older walk or cycle anywhere or are you driving them everywhere until they get their own moped/motorbike/car?

There are some beautiful houses along the A38, but it is such a busy road!

Please link to it so we can give proper reply

The A38 is a nightmare when there is a problem with the M5.

No way. The road house is a deal breaker for me. Unless it does have a pool...

That section of the A38 also seems to be badly affected when there's snowfall compared to other areas on the edge of Bristol. I'm sure it's something to do with it's exposed position on the Severn valley.

Thank you for all your insights. We have asked for a viewing this week.

@SubtitlesOn: again many thanks, the link is:
m.primelocation.com/for-sale/details/49348229?search_identifier=b4422d7ed31cb10b01fc348d24010cea

Looks like around 20m back from the road, not 40-50. Big difference.

I’d take a bet that in 20 years time most of the cars on our roads will be electric. Therefore quiet and not polluting from the car.

Depends if you can live with noise and pollution for that long!

House looks nice.

I’d want to spend some time there at different times of the day and also see how easy it is to get out of the driveway.

Can you do a viewing at a time there is more likely to be heavy traffic?

We used to live on a main A road in London, when we first moved in we both worked full time and road was fairly quiet at weekends. However, we had DC, we both then worked home and noise was horrendous, also the road got busier over the years. We moved and wouldn't ever live on a main road again.

I wouldn't...grew up by the M4 so not massively noise adverse but a large a road no way .. we are a block away from one and still feel the vibrations, even with trees in front the windows get filthy from the pollution
For that budget you can get better I'm sure near Bristol... maybe list your requirements :)

I wouldn't. I live on a smaller road behind an A road and it's so noisy all the time. And there are studies which show that the pollution from roads is a serious factor in Alzheimers type illnesses later in life.

We recently stayed in a holiday home which was about 3-4 fields away from the A38 and even with lots of trees between us and the road, the noise was just constant! Even worse when it rained. I couldn't believe how loud it was given the distance from it and I live in a city centre, so not adverse to noise. I really wouldn't go for it to be honest.

I had a house by the A38 just south of Bristol for a few years. It was only 10m back from the road due to a smaller front garden.

Everything in the house had a constant rain of black particles from exhaust fumes. It was most noticeable on window sills but it got everywhere. Even with windows shut, the air was full of it.

I would never live so close to a main road again. Especially not with children.

With 40m you have the option to create a screen by sacrificing half the front garden - lay out a zig-zag pathway/driveway with thick hedges both sides so that the wind can't blow directly from road to house. That might improve things but the children would be living somewhere that they couldn't leave unsupervised on foot till much much older compared to children growing up in a safer location.

I made myself look at the house pictures - the house has lots of wooden ceilings and artex. The fittings don't look anything special either. Can't see why it's so desirable to you?

We live in a small hamlet and when buses or larger vehicles go through you can smell them! So can't imagine what it would be like living near the A38, plus you also seem to be conveniently situated for a big M5 junction. Never in a million years would I live there, I couldn't stand the noise never mind the pollution.

This is nicer.
m.primelocation.com/for-sale/details/photos/45736831

If you are quite happy with your current house and would have to stretch your budget, then I don't think it's worth it to move. You'd be out of a lot of money and hardly better off.

I am currently weighing up whether to put in an offer on a house that is, I estimate, about 75m from the A420 in between Cold Ashton and Chippenham. I viewed a house about 20m off the same road and found the noise really off-putting. The A38 is busier than that stretch of the A420 so I'd be pretty cautious.

The A38 can be terrible if they happen to close a motorway nearby. We live about 3 miles from it, and if the M5 is shut it's not even worth trying to get out. There you are so close to the Almondsbury interchange which is horrendously busy even when traffic is flowing, as you probably know. The air quality there must be bad. Isn't it the busiest motorway junction in the country?
The dirt from main roads is terrible. I used to live very close to a rural A road, and the black muck used to find its way through triple glazing.
I would have thought for your budget you could find a better positioned property.
Sorry, but I don't like the interior either. It's very 'individual'.
So its a no from me!

Assuming that picture of the front has been taken from the front gates that is no way 50m from the road, there also doesn't seem to be any attempt at screening off the front of the house. As others have said, for that amount of money there must be other options? Also, I think it is stretching the description to describe the house as renovated - the kitchen and bathrooms are new and modern but a lot of the decor is anything but! And why on earth would they put in a new kitchen and leave those wooden ceilings in? Looks like a house with a lot of work still to be done.

If you're going to view, look carefully at how the owners use the space. We recently viewed a house that was on a road which led up to a dual carriageway, and get a pretty busy at peak times.
It had a stunning, huge period living room at the front. The dining room was smaller, but that was where their armchairs and TV were "because it's quieter" wife shoots husband a look, "I mean it's cosier..."
If they basically live on the opposite side of the house to the road, that's a huge red flag.