House on a bus route: avoid?

[Bus293]

We’ve seen a lovely house but it’s on a bus route. The road isn’t otherwise particularly busy. It’s strange that buses go down it as it’s quite narrow.

We were put off initially but having seen the house it’s lovely. Double glazed, so quiet inside, and the back garden is fine as shielded by the house.

Would it be hard to sell, though, as other people would have the same idea as us?

No it sounds quite convenient. The main issue with bus routes are 1) double decker buses being able to see into bedrooms or gardens, 2) causing traffic by stopping right outside the house 3) people queuing (or getting off the bus at night drunk) outside your front gate. If none of those apply then I'd think it was a bonus. If any of those apply it wouldn't be a deal breaker for me, just something to weight up.

Some people are cut off with no convenient bus routes!

Why would you avoid it?

If the bus stop is outside your house and everyone would sit on your wall, you may have a point.

If there is a bus shelter where large groups congregate to drink or take drugs or commit other antisocial acts, fair enough.

But if your objection is just that the house is on a bus route, then, unless the buses are nose to tail, they will only pass occasionally.

Your road will be prioritised for gritting and snow clearing.

You could get the bus sometimes, or people who visit you could use the bus.

Surely it's really convenient?

PS. My uncle lives on a road with a double loop bus route. The bus goes past his house then loops up the road behind, then repasses his house.
A six minute warning - just nice time to get your coat on and out to the bus stop.
He drives, but always gets the bus into town as finding a parking space could be almost impossible pre-Covid, and it is still a fortune for parking.
A bus route is a benefit.

We really appreciate being on a bus route in winter, as a PP says it means the road is a priority for gritting and ploughing. We are not near a bus stop, however and we’re set well back from and above the road so no issues with people seeing in from buses. It would be even better is the bus that went past our house went to anywhere we might want to go. It’s a ten minute walk to a useful bus.

Interesting points, thank you! This is London suburbs so you’re never far from roads or buses.

I live on a bus route, right next to the stop and it's really convenient. The double glazing keeps out most of the noise.

Yes people on the double deckers could technically see into the bedrooms, but we have nets up, and the extremely brief glimpse that they could get of our garden isn't worth bothering about.

One of my main forms of entertainment is changing our WiFi name to "Free Bus Stop WiFi" and watching people try to log on...

I would love to be on a bus route, as long as the bus stop isn’t right out side your house then I don’t see the problem?!

I’m also in London and would still like it, my nearest bus stop is quite a walk away! Annoying with small kids and shopping etc

Bus route is a positive to me. It means you aren't stranded if you have car troubles and the closer you are the less time you spend waiting in the cold for it.

My mum is on a bus route, but the busses are infrequent (one every 30 mins?) And her house is set back from the road so the busses can't see in and you can't hear them.

A house right on the road, with a bus going past every 5 minutes, would be very different.

How frequent are the busses along the road OP?

It would be a boost for me.

If only for the gritting and snowploughing…

There’s a bus stop right outside my house, but it makes no difference to our quality of living at all. I didn’t even notice it when we bought the house.

It will depend on

• how often buses stop there
• where the buses are coming from/going to

The bus stop next to us is rarely used and we’ve never had trouble with any drunks.

We’re on a bus route (though unfortunately he bus doesn’t go anywhere we actually want to go very often!) and only really notice it late at night / very early morning when the road is otherwise very quiet and we can hear the “doors opening” beeping noise from the bus stop about 25 metres away.

Tbh I wouldn’t like a bus stop right outside my house, I wouldn’t want to come out and there always be a group of people standing outside my house, sometimes I put the bins out in my dressing gown and slippers and wouldn’t want an audience, from people at the bus stop or on the bus 😂 also people may sit on your wall etc, but the bus route itself wouldn’t bother me like I said I’m in London but would still see it as a bonus no one wants to walk for ages in the cold/ dark/ rain, having a bus close by would help.

It’s on 3 bus routes and they’re frequent. Every 5-10 minutes?

But bus stop not outside the house.

We're currently renting on a bus route and it's fine. House is close to road but barely aware of buses passing. The bus stop isn't right outside though.

So each bus is every 5-10 mins? I.e one bus every 2-3 minutes?

I think that might put me off depending how late they go. I live on a bus route and it's mainly pretty convenient but they're once every 10 minutes only and then get much less frequent in the evenings. They are fairly noisy, and it would be that I would worry about rather than anything else. On the plus side if they're that frequent you can just go for a second viewing - if you don't notice they aren't likely to bother you? Consider also how loud they are in the back garden for the summer.

We're on a bus route in outer London suburb. Bus stop is about 5 doors up the road. It is extremely useful. Not a problem at all.

Added advantage of our road always being gritted and only once in 25 years has the snow not been cleared. But that was a problem across the while of London on that occasion!

I live on a bus route. It’s fantastic coming home.

If the bus stop isn’t outside the house then then buses passing are just like any other traffic.

All London buses are now electric aren’t they? So the actual vehicle noise is pretty minimal. As long as the bus stop isn’t right outside I doubt you’ll notice much.

We live on a bus route and didn't realise before we bought it. They go past once and hour and we very rarely notice it.

Really useful, I'm house hunting at the moment and being on or very close to a bus route is one of my main priorities. I don't think you need to worry about it for re-selling. I've rented on a few streets that are on bus routes and it's always just been really convenient and no different to other traffic. We did rent one flat where the double deckers would pause at traffic lights and be about 2 metres away from our lounge windows but we just put up nets and people generally aren't looking anyway.