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Original poster

buying a house on a road thats national speed limit...would you?

32 replies

mklanch · 05/09/2020 17:19

hi, so ive been looking for a house for a while that comes with land so i can expand my smallholding. my budget is between £330-£350k. i have been unable to find much for that budget even though im open to most area, mainly because i have to be in catchment for good schooling.

so there are 2 houses i like...(although have not viewed yet)
house A comes with about 1 acre is 4 bedroom, but is on a nation speed limit road. (option to purchase further land)
in donington priced at £345k
House B is 3 bedrooms, sits of 2.5 acres and is on a 50mph road
was previously one the market for over a year and didn't sell due to the road, but relisted. this is located in utterby and is on for £360k

ideally i want to live down a nice country lane but it seems that you pay the price for that. i also see the positive of living on a road as with the smallholding i would need to bring in customers to buy chickens, veg etc. as i could put a board up and more people would see it. this will be our forever house. so i dont want to make a mistake

can anyone tell me if it would be the worst decision to buy a house on such a busy road?

thank you

OP posts:

Lindy2 · 05/09/2020 17:26

I'd want to know how close to the road the house is. If there's a long driveway it could actually be a fair way from the actual road.

I'd want to know how much traffic noise there is. Not all main roads are busy. Some however, are very busy and very loud. The type of road surface also matters for noise levels. I'd visit at different times of the day to have a listen. Also in different weathers - rain can make a usually quiet road very loud.

I'd also want to know how easy it is to pull in and out of the entrance at different times of day. If you're going to take your life in your hands every time you leave home I'd not be keen.

If you are running a business though a good level of passing trade and a good place for an advertising board could be a big enough bonus to counteract the disadvantages.

Original poster

mklanch · 05/09/2020 17:32

HOUSE A - www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-80524033.html

HOUSE B - www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-80126597.html

you have to google map to see the roads properly

OP posts:

Beetle76 · 05/09/2020 17:38

I guess it depends on how busy the roads are and how far back the houses are set off the road and whether there are hedges or other buffers to absorb the road noise.

I’d look at where the majority of the sun is in the front or back from enjoying the garden perspective.

I’d look at how easy it is to get in and out of the property in a car - any tricky blind corners? I lived just off a 50mph road and turning on to that road was a nightmare. Every time you’d just have to hope nothing was coming at speed as you simply couldn’t see. (Long straight stretches are equally problematic as that’s where people speed to overtake)

I guess it also means no free ranging cats and good fences/gates for dogs.

It’s not an outright no from me, but I’d look at the merits and location of each carefully. A small holding sounds lovely!

HappyDinosaur · 05/09/2020 17:40

B looks fairly set back, harder to tell in A. Have you been to the areas to see what the traffic is like? Where do the roads go? Our home is only a couple of meters from a road, but it's 30mph and generally quiet as the road doesnt connect any major places etc.

Bluntness100 · 05/09/2020 17:51

A would be a total and utter no go from me, and I’d not buy b Either but at least it’s not on as bad a stretch of road as A.

We bought a house on a busy A road, the traffic was thirty outside our house but I’ll never do it again,,,the noise, the pollution, honestly it gets too much, you can’t open your windows in summer or the noise becomes intrusive, everything gets sooty fast.

However we did it for the reason you’re considering doing it. You get more house for your money as the properties are worth a lot less in those locations.

For us in hindsight it was not a sacrifice worth making, and when we moved we went rural. We went mistakenly to see a house on a main road and as we turned up we both said oh no..

Beetle76 · 05/09/2020 17:59

I’ve just seen the links. I like house A more than house B, but I think house B might be better than house A in terms of the road.
House B’s grounds etc sound more suitable for what you want to do than house A. Would you use a tennis court?

notangelinajolie · 05/09/2020 18:07

I'd pick B.

MrsPworkingmummy · 05/09/2020 18:09

Hi OP, up until recently, we lived in a stunning farmhouse on a 20mile an hour B road through a popular village. About 4000-5000 cars went past every day. The house and garden were AMAZING. However, the road, despite only being 20mph, REALLY did my head in. We couldn't open windows at the front, I was always conscious guests were judging the road noise when they visited, I was worried about pollution, occasionally diversions were put past the house when there'd been an accident on the A19. Trucks and massive lorries would fly down our narrow village road and the speed would shake our windows. Since moving, I'm still pining for the house (I actually posted about it on here) and now I'm living somewhere without the benefits (masses of character, detached and huge garden) of my old house. Weigh it up.

MrsTWH · 05/09/2020 18:18

I’d pick B of those two.

Spanglybangles · 05/09/2020 18:58

I have zero knowledge of the area so can’t gauge the level of traffic, but out of the options listed, I’d definitely opt for house B.

The home itself is a little further set back from the road and much of the land is even further from the road as over the other side of the house. The access looks better as well.

The much larger and more useable plot for your needs means plenty room for property expansion if required also.

babyname8993 · 05/09/2020 19:01

House B

Original poster

mklanch · 05/09/2020 19:16

thank you everyone for your replies. we currently live on the corner of a busy road buts its only 20mph and its pretty noisy in the mornings.
i dont think i would mind the road so much if it was a smaller road and perhaps 20mph-30mph.
i know my kids would use the tennis court on house A for sure as we always go to our local tennis court and they roller skate on it.
we are going to try and book a viewing next week, as my husband thinks both houses are great because of the outside space. he is kind of ignoring the road. but i know when we get there he will change his mind. as we had to change bedrooms in our current house because he is a light sleeper and the road traffic kept him awake.

OP posts:

Newgirls · 05/09/2020 19:19

Make sure you visit on a busy Monday morning - if ok with that then all good 👍

Original poster

mklanch · 05/09/2020 19:22

@Newgirls

Make sure you visit on a busy Monday morning - if ok with that then all good 👍

thank you for the advice i i will make sure to visit when its busy. House A is 1 hr 40 minutes drive from us and house b is almost 2 hours! we would prob get there for the lunch time rush

OP posts:

RubyJack · 05/09/2020 19:24

I would go for B

tentative3 · 05/09/2020 19:25

A looks to be close to 2 turnings, so you'll have people slowing down and speeding up, plus the house is very close to the road. I think that would be a no from me.

Is B the one behind waist level gates on street map?

popandsqueak · 05/09/2020 19:27

Utterby is nice, but busy, especially in the summer when people are going to Mablethorpe and Skegness. I don't know the area where the other house is, however I live in Lincolnshire and am not as keen on the southern part of the county. If I had to pick between the two, I'd pick Utterby as it is near Louth, which is lovely

Original poster

mklanch · 05/09/2020 20:03

@tentative3

A looks to be close to 2 turnings, so you'll have people slowing down and speeding up, plus the house is very close to the road. I think that would be a no from me.

Is B the one behind waist level gates on street map?

i believe do...but there are also alot of shrubs and trees along the fence line

OP posts:

Original poster

mklanch · 05/09/2020 20:03

@popandsqueak

yes ive heard that the louth area is a bit of a problem in terms of traffic but that doesnt put me of to much

OP posts:

SoloMummy · 05/09/2020 20:09

I preferred the potential of additional land with A. It is also set further back off the road and not in such a busy location.
But B is a much lighter house, is already set up to work as a small hold and a much nicer home.
The distance from the road of A would mean it probably isn't that noisy. And being next to the 50 means it's slightly slower. It looks easier to get out on to the road which would also be a factor.

Around here - we're very rural, everywhere you'd look would be a 60mph road because they're all in the middle of nowhere and par for the course.

Have you driven by them?

JacobReesMogadishu · 05/09/2020 20:19

I know both roads. House B more than A. Both roads are busy. I wouldn’t have said there was any difference in busyness or noise from the 60mph to the 50mph in fact I’d say the A16 is the busier. But I think traffic would be near constant for both, certainly in the day.

House B looks set back a bit more.

Original poster

mklanch · 05/09/2020 20:37

yes house B set back more from the road. i'm thinking perhaps we should just wait until after Christmas and see what comes up! since this stamp duty thing has happened all the house prices just went crazy! i was so excited in February at the idea of moving and starting my smallholding and now i'm a bit deflated! i missed out on some really good houses in February and march and now i cant find anything for my budget.

OP posts:

sbplanet · 05/09/2020 20:45

House B. Looks better situated and a nicer house.
But A has nice floors, lol. No way to the A52 for sure, but less isolated?

Daisydoesnt · 05/09/2020 21:02

OP if you have children aren’t you worried about the road from a safety point of view? The rural life of a small holding is all well and good, but not if your kids can’t go out for a bike ride, or walk the dog.

Don’t get to tied to the idea of being near a road because of passing trade; if it’s a fast road people might be nervous of turning in and pulling it out. And there will be other ways you can sell your produce (local shops, market etc).

Good luck

jiskoot · 05/09/2020 21:13

Our smallholding is on an A road and the house is about 200 yards away with our field in between us and it. To be honest I see it as a benefit. We viewed various other houses before buying this one and the ones that had a two mile windy single lane road would have been a nightmare. The daily meeting of cars coming the other way and having to wait/reverse back, no-one being able to find it, a nightmare to get out in winter, poorly maintained or up to you to maintain...

We hope to have holiday lets in the future and the fact that ours on the main road to town is a plus. Our lane comes out onto another lane which meets the main road and we can luckily see and hear far enough to get out easily. Plus the main road is always gritted so we never have to worry if it snows.

The road we're on isn't massively busy though, maybe a car every few minutes during the day and very few in the evening and at night. We don't even notice most of them now. I don't think I would like a really busy A road however.

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