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?

We looked at a house with a bus stop directly outside, it put us right off it. Toad is otherwise pretty quiet, the house is now all done up snd looks snaking. Dh and I drive past it and always say "we should've bought that house!", lol. Bus route wouldn't concern me.

There's undoubtedly many advantages to living on a bus route, not least for safety.

I used to live on a bus route in London and found it handy. The only disadvantages

1. The parking was very tight on the street so every so often when two buses were coming from opposite sides, they would get stuck and knock on the door asking me to move our car.
2. Mums sometimes picked up their kids on the bus route so would sit in their cars on the route. I would check out a route at different times of the day to see what foot traffic is like.

The noise wasn't really an issue and compared to the larks who used to get drunk in the park in the summer, traffic was very easy to zone out of.

My mum lives in a similar situation. In her area, bus routes are always gritted in winter and nobody on the street has ever been burgled - not private enough to risk it apparently. She is not concerned about passengers looking in - anyone can drive down the road and do that. The only thing that initially concerned her were early/late buses but the nearest bus stop is further down the road so that's not an issue.

@MajorNeville

We looked at a house with a bus stop directly outside, it put us right off it. Toad is otherwise pretty quiet, the house is now all done up snd looks snaking. Dh and I drive past it and always say "we should've bought that house!", lol. Bus route wouldn't concern me.

So many typos. First a foremost... the house does not look snaking! Fgs

We're on a city bus route and it's definitely an advantage for snow clearing, road cleaning etc. It was also good when our DDs were coming home at night as I could watch them get off the bus and then pretend I hadn't been anxiously looking out for them!

Surely it depends upon whether you are a bus user or not?

Bus user then brilliant access to bus stop and 3 different routes, very convenient and a positive bonus.

Non bus user then it's of no benefit and an annoying noisy pain in the arse increasing footfall past your propriety as people walk to and from the bus stop.

Other consideration is impact on parking if you need to park a car on the street. Bus stop will take considerable amount of on street parking spaces making parking nearby a constant challenge.

So ultimately whether the bus top is a plus or minus depends on your travel preferences.

@ComtesseDeSpair

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.

All the routes round my way are definitely not electric.

Maybe the central London routes are, but it's not London-wide

We live on a bus route, been here 18 months and didn’t even think about it until the other day when I realised I could get the kids into town on a bus rather than walk 🙄 still haven’t done it but v convenient option! Stop is 2 doors down. 1 bus every 15 mins or so. No issue at all.

Also I bet any house will sell very quickly at the mo if our area is anything to go by, so if things continue that way then no it won’t be hard to sell. Most buses are electric aren’t they? So v quiet. No hassle.

I used to live on a bus route. Buses passing every 5/10 mins, although the actual bus stop was around the corner. I hardly ever thought about it. It certainly didn't cause any issues.

I did once live in a flat that was above a busy tram stop. That was quite noisy, with big groups of drunk people waiting to go home from the pub. But unless you live in an area with a lot of pubs/bars, that shouldn't be an issue.

I'm currently sitting in my house about 50 feet from a road where buses pass, and the stop is not far away. They are less noisy than the average van, but they all have signs on saying they are electric/hybrid. We're not central, outlying suburbs.

Privacy not an issue. However, this is the back of our house where we just have my office and bathroom (frosted glass). They can't see our living room or bedroom. Yes, a doubledecker can briefly see into our garden, but as we are overlooked by several neighbours, as most places in London streets are, we're not going to be doing anything that personal.

It's really convenient.

I've bought near a bus stop and actually wish we were slightly closer! It's fantastic being about to get out and about so easily, especially for teens in London.

I'd only avoid it if if was really close to a bus stop, but I live in London buses are everywhere

I'm live on a bus route. You literally wouldn't know. I rarely see the bus. The bus is a single decker. I live in a village where it's one bus an hour and it doesn't stop outside my house (just 2 mins up the road which is handy tbh). So just bring a bus route can mean all sorts if things and whether it's a plus or a negative just depends.

Oh yes I forgot the gritting argument too. Our road is always gritted which is soo much better than the road I used to live on which was tiny and on an hill. Death trap in ice or snow!

Close to/on a bus route was an absolute must when we were looking. Particularly with teens so they can get to school/mates/shopping etc themselves.

I lived on a bus route for 18 years and although there must have been 6 buses an hour , I never really noticed them . They were all single decker buses. One of the bus stops was right outside my DD house but she didn't notice them much either .
More of a nuisance were the cars waiting to pick up kids from the school further down the road. Some of the parents had no consideration.

All TfL buses will be electric by 2034 or 2030 so noise will go right down.

I live in zone 4 so technically a suburb and have a single deck bus 4 ot 4 times an hour. I dont notice the noise anymore, bit of a cut through road so plenty of cars too.

I do love having a bus stop within 30 second walk, number of times I jump on it just to go 2 stops up the road to catch a train when I'm running late is a god send not to mention if its pouring with tain ill jump on bus from station to home for 3 stops and avoid getting soaked.

My house is on two bus routes. It's exceptionally convenient.

LOL at all the people convinced that "most buses" are electric now. Living in a bubble much?

The number of electric buses in the UK is projected to rise significantly to about 2,800 by 2024 (www.automotiveworld.com/news-releases/accuracy-uks-electric-bus-fleet-set-to-be-the-largest-in-europe-by-2024/).

There were about 32,600 buses in use in the UK as of March last year (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1030718/annual-bus-statistics-year-ending-march-2021.pdf).

So even after a further period of notable growth, well under 10% of buses will be electric.

Back on topic: we live on a frequent bus route. It's a benefit not a problem, for all the reasons others have stated.

I suppose a stop right outside could be a negative depending on who uses the service (e.g., do lots of school kids sit there dropping litter over your garden wall in the morning?). Otherwise, it's great.

OP, don't forget the N3 will also be running through the night.

I don't think a bus route is a problem

How close is the house to the road?
Ours is quite setback so the noise doesn't bother.
Love having the busstop right there as my teens don't need any ferrying around and there's no dark, cold walk to the bus.

Only you can decide for yourself but certainly if your main concern is making it harder to sell, then that's a good thing in a way because the price will be lower.
When we bought we searched up to a certain price and found a few nice houses in a quiet street but they were all on the same side of the road. We thought it was odd, but later when we searched the other side of the road we found that side was 50k above our budget. The difference? The other side didn't back on to a graveyard. Imagine how much less mortgage interest you would pay with a cheaper house that's just as good. Then you can invest the saved money in your pension!

Back on the bus topic, we live on a road with 3 bus routes and we worried a lot before we bought it, it's a busy A road but narrow so buses and lorries are constantly getting stuck passing each other.
We got new glazing (and London buses seem to have gone electric here, even the double decker) and we don't really notice much any more. The only real thing is the boy racers with the exploding exhausts, but they would affect anyone!