Living next to a small supermarket

[Gusthemouse]

Hello

Eventually found a house that ticks the boxes but it is next door to a supermarket. The front of the house faces west with the back of the shop on the south side, and entrance all the way round to the East. You can see the wall but to access the shop entrance it's a five minute walk around to the far side of the building and far enough way. The car park backs onto the garden but only a small one with large brick wall between us. We viewed when they were having a delivery but barely heard anything and house is quite quiet. Overall, the house is in a good location and accessible for facilities but wondered what else I needed to think about? Thanks

I'd be worried about pollution/fumes and also noise from the car park. All the stopping, starting and revving could be pretty horrible and intrusive.

Could you go and park there at different times to see how busy it is? What are the opening hours? Does the car park get locked after the shop shuts or could it end up being loud after hours if it's used as a meeting place for kids, skaters, cars revving etc?

I have had really noisy/scary neighbours before so maybe I am paranoid as I tend to stalk a neighbourhood a lot before I move anywhere now.

Is there a cashpoint? A few have been ram-raided at night in villages near us. Must be terrifying to hear the commotion.

I would just be thinking about the noise from the carpark and if that would be annoying when sat in the garden during the summer.
What are the opening hours of the supermarket? Do they get very early deliveries every day that might wake you up if you have the windows open?

It’s really a case of what you can put up with. If the supermarket being there is something you’d barely notice after you get used to it then fine - but if it would constantly annoy you then think again!

Often houses have a downside, and what’s a dealbreaker for one person isn’t for another especially if the house is right!

We are looking at a house next to a petrol station, having to weigh up the pros and cons.
Like you say an individual decision but at the moment we feel for us the benefits of the house, mainly that it is close to the best secondary in the county, outweigh the disadvantages.

Night shift. 4am deliveries. Rarely shut. Handy for forgotten milk though.

Good morning :) thank you for all the replies :) delivery wise its 10am 3 days a week, and shop is open 8 til 8pm. The car park is secured at night and not known to attract people (but this could always change). The fumes did worry me and noise, couldn't see or hear the car park during the viewing it has a high secret garden type wall and current owners have trellis and a tree there too.

@2catsandhappy

Night shift. 4am deliveries. Rarely shut. Handy for forgotten milk though.

My memories of living right next to one are the deliveries and the security shutters/doors being opened at stupid o'clock on the morning and the alarm going off really frequently for hours on end and the manager taking ages to come and turn it off!

@Gusthemouse

Good morning :) thank you for all the replies :) delivery wise its 10am 3 days a week, and shop is open 8 til 8pm. The car park is secured at night and not known to attract people (but this could always change). The fumes did worry me and noise, couldn't see or hear the car park during the viewing it has a high secret garden type wall and current owners have trellis and a tree there too.

Did the seller tell you it was 10am deliveries? I'd be surprised if they open at 8am and don't get their morning delivery until 10am...

I'd definitely check with the supermarket itself if you haven't already.

Hi OP, I live behind a supermarket open 8am-10pm. Our garden backs onto the area where they have their home delivery vans picking up orders from. Our garden is really long and there's a large wall and trees at the bottom for privacy. You do hear noises but it really doesn't bother me, and we're not overlooked at the bottom. The noise starts from far earlier in the morning but wouldn't be loud enough to wake me up, even with the windows wide open in summer. As people have mentioned we've had the occasional noise from kids driving around blaring music but it's really rare, maybe twice per year? It's a compromise that meant we were able to afford an awesome house in a lovely school catchment, and I like being close to the shop and other local amenities! You probably need to weigh up the size of garden and which bit of the shop you back on to carefully.

I love living near a supermarket. So convenient. You get used to any noise.

It might be worth you checking if there's a planning permission for the supermarket and, if so, whether that has any restrictions on times, deliveries etc. The current supermarket may have those times now but they could be changed in the future if the permission allows

Our town has a large-ish supermarket within a residential area. I know that the Council have imposed restricted times for deliveries, to avoid noisy lorries at anti-social times.
Can you check your supermarket's planning regs to find out if the "10am delivery" is voluntary or enforceable.

A second small express supermarket opened across the road and up a bit from mine and I HATE IT.

They get the first delivery at 6am each day and I get woken up, deliveries are much louder when you are dead asleep. I usually wake up at 7:30am so lose the last 1.5 hours of sleep.

Traffic is now appalling at rush hour, it’s not going to be very long before there is an accident. We have to drive to school and I dread it. As I am typing this 3 car horns just went off... I am seriously considering putting my house on the market.

Our quiet area is now full of anti social behaviour as they open till 11pm, we have had cars full of people drinking, buying booze from them and dancing the car park with music playing throughout all lockdowns and most weekends.

I say second supermarket because there is actually already an express supermarket here, that is closer to my house, but their company policy is to get deliveries during the day in residential areas, and close at half 9. I have lived in harmony with them and a pub for years. But bastard new supermarket is making my home a nightmare.

I would try and find out what time they get deliveries and visit at various times in the day to get a good feel for traffic and noise. It is possible to live near a small supermarket, I have done for years, but various ones have different policies/opening hours.

It wouldn’t be my first choice.

It’s not just deliveries but the commercial waste removal (packaging) as well. This is usually done in the early hours.

It would be vanishingly unlikely that a supermarket has just 3 deliveries a week particularly if it’s part of a big chain. Bread and milk alone are delivered far more frequently than that. The cages are incredibly noisy when they’re unloaded from a truck.

Also don’t underestimate the capacity for shoppers to part like absolute idiots, people seem to lose all ability for rational thinking when the nearby parking is full. We live in a quiet village with plenty of space and yet my local Tesco Express has all manner of weird parking (street corners, over pavements) because people won’t park 50m away on the road if the car park is full.

Beware big industrial chilllers humming all day is all I would say!

• l

Having said that - my last property backed onto a full size Waitrose with a similar layout to what you describe. Our (long) garden backed onto the car park, with the loading dock on the other side which minimised delivery/refuse noise. We couldn’t see the front entrance from our house.

We barely noticed them and they were fantastic neighbours, far quieter than having another residential house opposite us.

Not all supermarkets can possibly have early deliveries! Lorries stagger deliveries. I often visit my M&S food store and they have deliveries when I’m there during the day. Lorries are scheduled at various times because not all stores can have the early delivery. It’s also mostly the big stores that do.

I would say it depends on the size of the store. If the house ticks all other boxes I would try and speak to the store manager. Are there other neighbours? What do they think? Sometimes small stores don’t get many deliveries anyway!

I am not sure I'd want to live that close to a small supermarket because it would be too convenient!!

Run out of snacks / chocolate etc. Ah just go next door get some more rather than waiting til your next shop.

Run out of x. Ahh just go next door and buy it at extortionate elevated price rather than waiting and buying at sensible price.

Feel knackered after work and can't be bothered to cook what's in the fridge from scratch. Ahh just get a microwave ready meal from next door.

No thanks. It would be bad for both my wallet and waistline. And I've not even considered the impact of other shoppers or deliveries.

I live 3 doors away from a similar set up. When we moved here it was a 9pm closing time, now its 11pm. People sit with their cars running for ages. Deliveries at 6am, industrial bins getting emptied at 5am. Wouldn’t be my first choice.

But very convenient if I run out of stuff. I joke I use it as an extension of my kitchen cupboards

Early morning newspapers and deliveries, cars with engines running, fumes, if they have a Jet wash, constant noise etc.

I wouldn’t be interested in a property next to a store/petrol station, huge negative should you want to resell.

But if you can get it for the right price and you like it, perhaps you should consider it. Good luck with whatever you decide.

I would rule It out. Once the building has business use them who know what it might be used for in future. Deliveries, clanging rubbish and humming refrigerators/air conditioners would annoy me.