House set back from main road?

[OracSays]

Finally found a house after much searching that ticks all the boxes - except one.

It's set back with a big front garden of about 70ft from a 30mph B road on the way into a sleepy seaside town. It's the sort of place you have to want to go to - it's not a big place, no big attractions, not on the way to anywhere, so mainly local traffic.

I've been there a couple of times listening to the traffic. Inside the house, it's not noticeable at all. Outside at the front, it's like a gentle whooshing, except when a motorbike or ambulance goes past. Busy (an average of three cars per minute, no queuing) times are rush hour/school run. At the weekend, there was about 1 car every three minutes.

There's plenty of room at the front of the property to put up trees to cut down the noise (none there at the moment). At the rear, the noise is very faint.

Am I crazy for considering a house on a main road? My heart says this is a lovely house in a sought-after coastal town. My head is saying the traffic noise will affect saleability in the future. Thoughts please? Head or heart?

I live on a 30mph main road, next to it is a 70mph A road. We are about 10/15ft from the road due to our front garden. Inside I never ever notice the noise, not even in the back garden. Sometimes a quiet whooshing or ambulance etc but it’s not crazy, actually quiet. Go for it

We live on a 30mph B road going into a sleepy seaside town. We're back off the road although I do t think as far as you're talking about. We can only hear traffic at night in the front rooms and that's because the double glazing needs replacing. Even in the back garden it's rare to hear anything. I've never lived on a main road before and was anxious but it's paid off for us.

@Ivy48 I'm thinking you're right. I've got this dilemma where the house I'm living at now is quiet but won't be in the very near future. On balance, I think I'd rather live in the new one. I can make it work.

@SlidesAndLadders It's the anxiety that's giving me the collywobbles as I've never lived on a main road either. Thanks for the reassurance - I'm going to be brave and go for it!

I think these days you'd struggle to have somewhere which doesn't have some form of noise. What you've described sounds fine. Upside is the background buzz will mean you'll be less conscious of any of your own noise while using garden!

As to saleability - you'll always get people for whom any road noise is a dealbreaker, but they won't be your buyer. There'll be plenty of others who are like you and don't mind the compromise

What's the road like in the summer?

We live on a similar road- 50 km/h speed limit into a smallish town. We're set back from the road and you hardly hear the noise indoors. N the back garden you hear the traffic a bit, but not hugely. It's only really busy during peak times - weekday mornings and afternoons. It really doesn't bother us, and meant we could get a bigger house and garden. FWIW, we also have 3 young kids, and it's never been a worry because there is pavement and a cycle path all along the road. We also have gates we can close across the drive in front (although we rarely use them) and lockable gates into the back garden.

So long as you've enough width at the front to turn a car so you can drive in and drive out, I really don't think it's a problem. I once lived on a similar road almost opposite a mini roundabout and opposite a pub car park. Even that wasn't hard to sell (in the right school catchment)

@PickAChew

What's the road like in the summer?

Local traffic mainly. No coaches. Bus once an hour. Visitors are mainly walkers who take the other main road into town and park near the beach. Very small high street with a couple of cafes and charity shops.

I currently live a few miles away and visit quite often. The road this house is on is not one I've ever used to get to the town and from talking to the neighbours the main road users are locals going to and from the tip.

I live on a main road, it's fine. I have the noise reduction double glazing at the front and don't notice the noise.

You get used to road noise, I've lived next to a freeway in the USA! Buying on a main road often means more house/land for your budget, the only concern is whether it would mean parking is hard if it's a clearway

On the good side the road is likely to be treated in icy weather.

If I could buy my dream home near the coast I would be able to overlook some traffic noise I think as long as I wasn't dicing with death every time I came and went in the car.

ive lived on a main road, it honestly dosent bother me, and i didnt have a 70 foot garden in front! more like 20.

my only "concern" was ever, gates for kids and animals! noise was never an issue

Are the fumes noticeable?

@Hyperion100 Only when I was standing beside the road. Couldn't smell anything beside the house. Plus no black pollution streaking on the front of the house or window sills

I live on a main ish road. Hate hate hate the road noise. Personally I wouldn't but pp is right that it's hard to find anywhere quiet in a town now.

It sounds ok and your tree buffer idea is good. Is there also a decent backyard? Secure fencing for pets and children and it sounds ideal.

I live on a 30mph main road. It’s absolutely fine

I lived on a main road, no issues inside the house with noise when the widows are shut. However, in the summer it was a pain in the mornings if you wanted to have the windows open. Traffic started to pick up from about 6am, I found it annoying and really noticed it.

Our room was at the ground of the house, we gave the rooms at the back to the kids. No issue with road noise at the back with windows open.

*windows

• front of the house

I live on a main road leading into a seaside town.

The pros:

-big front garden/driveway

• big back garden

-In winter the noise from the road is minimal

The Cons-
-The traffic jams outside my house. Not as much of a problem as you might think as people let you out but still annoying.
-In the summer, people blast music from their car while stuck in traffic.

• In the summer, having the windows open allows all the noise in. At night this is motorbikes noisily racing up the road.

We love our house though and houses on our road sell very quickly because ultimately a main road also tends have an excellent link to the next town or city etc.

You get used to the noise and now where else in our town could we have a 40m long garden at a price we could afford.

I live on a similar road. It's busy at school run times but otherwise not too bad. We are set back further than most houses. It's a very popular road where houses get snapped up. We don't notice the noise at all in the house or out the back.

Are there double yellow lines outside the house? If not, I'd go for it. Positives outweigh the negatives. There's no such thing as a 'perfect' house.

We're about 20m back from a busy town road, it's actually fine and I flippin love the front garden. I'd go for it. We only really hear sirens and the odd boy racers, not the constant noise. We have a 8ft deep wildlife rich border at the front, I think it keeps a lot of the noise out and we can barely see the road from the front rooms. My tip would be to grow a bunch of silver birch trees, they have been found to literally grab the pollution out of the air and significantly reduce pollution in your home by being in the way of you and the road.