would you buy a property on a busy road?

[supercalifragilicious]

It is literally our dream house, but the major downside is that it is located on a busy-ish road - not terrible, but more busy than I'd normally be comfortable with. There is only one lane each way, but it is a drive through road that many people use to get from one point to another quickly, without having to bump about on humps in quiet residential roads. There is also a bus passing through - only one line.
The windows of the lounge and one of the bedrooms would be on the road's side.
Generally, there's plenty of greenery in the area, but not immediately adjacent to the house.
I am not sure as this would be a long-term purchase and I am worried about long-term effects of pollution on DCs health. What would you do?

Currently live on pretty much what you've described. There certainly is a large amount of traffic dust on our cars in the drive so not sure the damage to young lungs but I probably wouldn't risk it.

I wouldn't. The noise would put me off.

Unless house is set fairly back from the road?

The house is set back by about 10-15 m as there is a small front garden/area.

With all the fuss about diesel particulates being small enough to cross membrane barriers in lungs I wouldn't. If you've got traffic dust on your car after a week/month/year imagine what your (and your childrens) lungs will be like. Wouldn't be much of a dream house if your health suffered would it?

For us, never again. We lived on a busy B road and the lorries/ buses and ambulances screaming past and shaking the house was awful. We moved to a quiet estate and it's lovely, we can hear birds and it's safe for the kids to play out.

No, this is one of the major things that would put me off a house. I wouldn't even view a dream house if it was on a busy road. I think it would really get me down.

No I wouldn't

No way. This is the one thing that I wouldn't compromise on when looking for a house.

It really depends on the road. Do many heavy vehicles use it? Is there a hill? What's the speed limit? All affect noise levels differently.

Some other things to consider:
Would the bus stop nearby be useful to you?
Do you walk home e.g. from the train at night, in which case you might feel safer with more people and cars around?
Will it be difficult to get in and out of the driveway?
How solid is the house, are the windows double glazed?

Nope

We do, it's technically a C road but plenty of HGVs and ambulances as well as cars. However it's much quieter generally in the evenings and at weekends. We've been here over 20 years and no plans to move yet, it's a nice place to live and people stay a long time.

Probably not. But not as bad if the main bedroom is overlooking the garden at the back rather than the road. If you’re a light sleeper like me you need a quiet road if possible

Thanks all. @CrotchetyQuaver what is a C road?

@DailySheetWasher It is on a hill - sort of. Does that make a difference? The bus stop is not close to the house so there would not be additional pollution from the bus idling the engine. The windows are double glazed, and there is no driveway.
I was thinking that maybe planting some pollution-absorbing plants in the front could help... Has anyone done that and noticed a difference?

It’s up to you though OP - busy road is a dealbreaker for lots of people but not for others. It’s a compromise obviously but I tend to be of the opinion that if it’s a pollution worry, there are other factors that influence pollution. Some of the lovely leafy roads near me have worse air quality than the less glamorous ones as they’re downwind of an actually quite distant rubbish plant.

Id go and sit outside the house for a while with the traffic running and decide how you feel about it over a longer period.

No.

We did and would do again but I’m never moving!
Like you, we accepted the compromise for a house we couldn’t otherwise afford and it really isn’t an issue. When the windows are closed, we don’t hear anything but having the windows open isn’t an issue and we are used to the noise. We don’t hear noise in the garden.
We have a gorgeous house in the perfect location in terms of amenities and schools.
Similar houses on the quiet road near ours sell for 70/80 k more and they actually have the road noise from the garden even though the houses itself are on a quiet road.
We’ve been here 10 years.

Yes. Done it once and about to do so again.
Pollution wasn’t a problem. It was lovely living somewhere you knew you could get in and out of in the winter (gritting/snow plough) and received at least basic maintenance being on a bus route.
Privacy was my issue though, even when set back with a small front yard. This time I’m having one way glass film. Nets and blinds didn’t really work for me.

You really like this house! You have lots of people saying they wouldn't, yet you clearly love it. Why not visit the area again?

I live on a very similar road to what you describe, except no buses. My lounge is the only room which fronts the road (we don't have much of a front garden so it is probably closer to the road than yours). I thought I wouldn't care about traffic noise as I'd have the tv on, but it really did bother me. However I got secondary glazing put in (in front of the existing double glazing) and the room is now silent! Sometimes I feel a slight vibration but not often.

No, I wouldn't it was one of the main things in our list while looking, not to be on a busy or cut through road.

I wouldn't do it again, we live on very similar road and think the kids missed out when young as they couldn't play out or ride bikes without a planned trip to the park.
Now they're grown I'd still like to move as the road noise drives me nuts especially now as we've got windows open.

This is definitely a a deal breaker for me. We rejected a few houses when we were looking based on the road. I would hate the noise , and yes, the health risks are very real. A big no from me.

We did! We wanted to be on a bus route and somewhere where it's easy to get out in the winter. We spent many years rurally driving down icy lanes and having huge tractors thundering past. We're late sixties, so wanted to future proof ourselves. We're a level walk from village shop, post office, hairdresser, two pubs and fish and chip shop in our lovely village. Our house is set back from the road and has good double glazing. The back garden is private, south facing and safe for our grandson to play in. It's only twenty minutes or so on the bus to our nearest city and a small market town with doctor, library, dentist etc is only a mile away. It was the one compromise we made and I would do it again any time.

A hill will make a difference if it's steep enough that cars are revving harder to climb it.

Yes the house we just bought is on a busy road,no hgvs allowed though,
it’s set back with a nice size front garden,like you have mentioned I have planted some bushes,
I love it though as you can’t park on the front,
its quiet after the rush hour.