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Original poster

Dream House & Motorway

37 replies

Reagol · 30/08/2022 18:52

After viewing a lot of houses have finally found one that ticks every box.

But. It's 0.5 from a motorway, not a hugely busy one but you can hear the vehicles when you're in the garden. Imagine it'd be worse when it's wet.

The noise itself was okay, I imagine it would be background noise that I'd tune out but I'm concerned about pollution/fumes too.

Would you run a mile?

OP posts:

knickersniff · 30/08/2022 18:53

What time of day did you view the house ?

Spanielsarepainless · 30/08/2022 18:54

I wouldn't buy it. It will drive you mad. I had a house half a mile from the M5 and it was the constant traffic noise that made me move.

WhatNoReally · 30/08/2022 18:55

What is between you and the motorway? Is it duel carriage?

SwayingInTime · 30/08/2022 18:56

Genuinely can’t hear it when at average levels any more! There is a roar on a wet day though you’re right and it continues long after you’d expect it to have gone back to normal.

Muchtoomuchtodo · 30/08/2022 18:57

It wouldn’t be the right house for me

eurochick · 30/08/2022 18:59

Hmm. We are about a mile from a very busy motorway. I found a pollution map and we are outside the highly polluted zone and no worse than living in a town so you might want to look into that. The noise is variable, depending on wind direction. You do end up tuning it out to some extent as you get used to it. I'm hoping that the noise level will reduce as electric vehicles take over as they will only have tyre noise, not engine noise. We bought last year and I am not regretting it.

The noise level does increase quite quickly as you walk towards the motorway though, so half a mile might make a real difference.

Freedomfighters · 30/08/2022 18:59

It wouldn't matter to me if I liked the house.

Snowpaw · 30/08/2022 18:59

Would be a very big no from me. My partner used to live next to a busy A-road with lots of lorries on and said it was awful in the mornings when he wanted to sit and have a coffee in the garden - constant noise and nowhere to go for peace. He moved because of it.

I would be worried about all the fumes. I like as much nature as possible - hearing birds and breathing in fresh air. I feel like a home should be a retreat away from noise and busy life, and you may come to really resent the intrusion of the traffic into your life.

DoodlePug · 30/08/2022 18:59

Not sure I'd worry about pollution, its worse when they're queueing which shouldn't happen often on a motorway. Are there trees/hedges between you and it?

But the noise 😢

Obviously people live on flight paths and next to train tracks so it's a personal thing. I find the 30 road running through my village irritating, especially when it's wet.

LIZS · 30/08/2022 19:02

We live a similar distance from a bridge over a motorway, but, because it is in a cutting at that point, the ambient noise and pollution is fine. The local council may well have an air quality monitor sited nearby and publish results.

SuperCamp · 30/08/2022 19:05

Go and sit outside at night when everything else is quiet.

Personally I wouldn’t want the constant background hum / grumble / roar.

Leafblow · 30/08/2022 19:20

It wouldn't bother me if I liked the house.
I live right between a train track and a motorway though, and I am close enough that I can read the numberplates and the tracks are literally the other side of my street. Can't hear it when I am in the house and when I'm outside its not that bad, no worse than living next to a barking dog and they can happen anywhere

Ohwhathaveidonenow · 30/08/2022 19:20

If there's too much noise and pollution then it's not your dream home.

You may be wowed by the actual house, but could it be that houses like this aren't usually in your price bracket and it's the motorway proximity that is making this one affordable?

APurpleSquirrel · 30/08/2022 19:22

We live about 1 mile from the M5 - we can just hear it if you concentrate. Houses located closer to it don't seem affected price-wise or saleability.
What noise are you used to? I guess if you live in the middle of nowhere, it would be loud but if you're used to normal traffic in a town etc it probably won't be noticeable after a while.
I certainly wouldn't be put off a house if that's it's only downside.

CallmeMrsPricklepants · 30/08/2022 19:22

I'd worry about the particulates more than the noise. Will your garden be shrouded in diesel?

Youcancallmeirrelevant · 30/08/2022 19:25

I've always lived much closer than 0.5miles from a motorway, i honestly don't even hear the traffic and so useful to be able to start/end every journey with the motorway bit

User287264 · 30/08/2022 19:32

I guess you wouldn't be able to afford it if it wasn't near a motorway. There are always compromises. We lived rurally for a while near the rugby ground, beautiful picturesque location. The noise from that in the evenings was awful, all the shouting and yelling, and the floodlights in winter.

Have the current owners been there long, or have there been lots of owners who only stayed for a couple of years?

Original poster

Reagol · 30/08/2022 19:34

I'm very used to noise/traffic being a townie, but want to be more rural which this house definitely is. It's just fields/hedges between the house and the motorway.

I'll try and see if I can find a pollution map, that would be helpful...

It really is the only downside. Everything else is incredible for my wishlist!

OP posts:

Labraradabrador · 30/08/2022 19:38

As you can see from people’s responses there is huger personal variation depending on what noise tolerance you have and what sets it off. I live not too far from m5 and on rainy days it is very noticeable, but for me it is white noise. Having close neighbours constantly chatting in the garden would drive me nuts though 🤷‍♀️

Original poster

Reagol · 30/08/2022 19:40

Have the current owners been there long, or have there been lots of owners who only stayed for a couple of years

They've been there 18 years, not sure about previous owners though.

OP posts:

dun1urkin · 30/08/2022 19:41

We live 0.5 mile from the M60.

You can hear the noise in the garden, if you tune into it, but mostly I don’t notice it. It can’t be heard in the house.

I do notice it when it’s not there though, so early days of lockdown, and on Christmas Day.

AlexandraJJ · 30/08/2022 19:43

I must be a weirdo. I have always lived with in quiet places, more by accident than design and I love the hum of traffic as I’m drifting off the sleep and the odd dog barking, I find it really soothing 😳

TangoWhiskyAlphaTango · 30/08/2022 19:44

I lived right by a very busy junction of the M6 when I was younger and honestly it never bothered us. I also lived in a house that fronted a very busy road and the motorway house was much more bearable - a low hum rather than the house trembling with articulated lorries.

Porridgeislife · 30/08/2022 19:46

We rented 0.6 miles from the M40. You could hear it in the back garden but not in the house. We did get LOADS of dust and the pollution map didn’t make for happy reading. It was handy being able to get onto the motorway very quickly though.

The village we were in is pretty much all within 0.5 miles of the M40 and despite being remarkably expensive on a psf basis, houses sell incredibly fast.

WhatNoReally · 30/08/2022 19:47

If it's just fields and hedges between you and the motorway and no other houses it will be much louder. Also, is the motorway downhill or uphill? If it's downhill the sound with be much louder. I looked into this for a house I was interested in once.

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