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Original poster

Living by a motorway

56 replies

needmysleep · 02/09/2022 22:16

We are looking at buying a house close to the A1(M) The back garden is 200 meters from the motorway and although there are gardens in between the road noise is very noticeable. Every time we have been to view a been different I guess because of the weather

I am wondering if it's something you could get used to ... the house is lovely but I don't want to regrets a big decision ... advise please

OP posts:
Sprig1 · 02/09/2022 22:18

Absolutely not. Apart from the noise the air quality will be terrible.

desperatebutnotserious · 02/09/2022 22:19

I live a close to a Motorway but there js a line of trees which seems to COMPLETELY absorb the noise. Never hear it.

BIWI · 02/09/2022 22:20

It's way too close.

We have friends who live about half a mile away from the nearest motorway. You can always hear the noise, even if they're not suffering from the pollution.

Don't do it!

tunnocksreturns2019 · 02/09/2022 22:20

I really really couldn’t

SafeHeaven · 02/09/2022 22:20

Air pollution would be awful, plus the house would be really dusty

ScarlettnotOHara · 02/09/2022 22:21

NO, NO, NO ! You will not get used to it, we made this mistake and are counting down the days to move . It’s very annoying and I long for quiet .

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 02/09/2022 22:24

Is this the house?!

You'd probably get used to it after a while, but I'd invest in triple glazing if you can run to it. Is there a nearby hotel you could stay at for a couple of nights first, to see what it's like in practice?

Motorway noise can travel quite a distance, though. The busier/more built-up the area is, the less you'll notice it. We're about a mile or so away from a motorway and we can always hear a hum in the background, but we only live in a small-ish, quite sleepy town.

Living by a motorway
Muchtoomuchtodo · 02/09/2022 22:27

Didn’t you post this a couple of days ago?

Original poster
needmysleep · 02/09/2022 22:27

No I only posted it tonight

OP posts:
TwigTheWonderKid · 02/09/2022 22:29

You can get used to the noise. It's a constant kind of noise so you'll stop noticing it after a while but why would you want to endanger your health by exposing yourself to the pollution? 200 metres is incredibly close and there are proven links to a range of conditions from miscarriage, stillbirth and premature birth, to teenage psychotic episodes, cancer, asthma, stroke and heart disease, diabetes, and most recently, dementia. There's no way I'd live that close to a road like that.

Melonportal · 02/09/2022 22:29

I used to live a similar distance from the A1 and it was fine. Because the noise was constant, it faded into the background and I didn't notice it at all after a while. The house wasn't dusty either. Having said that, after I had a child, I was concerned about air quality and moved away.

Ragged · 02/09/2022 22:30

The motorway will be part of the price you pay. If it doesn't bother you, someone else won't be bothered, either, and will be glad of the reduced price for nice home, too.

Muchtoomuchtodo · 02/09/2022 22:31

Have a read of this thread. www.mumsnet.com/talk/property/4622927-dream-house-motorway?reply=119640172

it’s down to personal taste but would be a dealbreaker for me

NameChange329435 · 02/09/2022 22:44

I live about 200 metres away from a motorway and it doesn't bother me. We are only 3.5 miles from the city centre so it does get really busy but I don't notice it the majority of the time. I'm lying in bed, with the windows open, just now and I can hear it but it's like listening to white noise. There have been times at night where it sounds like people are racing on it but it doesn't happen often.

FruitPastilleNut · 02/09/2022 22:50

Personally I can't think of much worse. I wouldn't buy a house where you could hear any busy road constantly, and definitely not a motorway!

However there must be thousands of houses bordering motorways up and down the UK and they're not all sitting empty - so obviously there are lots of people that it doesn't bother.

tara66 · 02/09/2022 22:51

No - that is particularly bad for children's health.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 02/09/2022 23:20

Is it only motorways that people have a problem with, though? If we're talking about the pollution and associated health problems, rather than just the noise, is living 200m away from a motorway worse than living 10m away from a busy main town-centre road, with constant stop-start traffic, like hundreds of thousands of homes up and down the country?

Curlyfifteen · 03/09/2022 05:13

It’s personal preference. Is the house a lot bigger for your budget?

Personally I try to be healthy where possible, i believe in the power of nature to heal. For me I can’t do it because it goes against that. Pollution can have effects later in life.

Maybe research if you a hedge will offset this or if there is anything you can do to insulate yourself from some of the fumes.

Like I said, for me its a no, but for someone else it might be a good option.

Hawkins001 · 03/09/2022 05:15

needmysleep · 02/09/2022 22:16

We are looking at buying a house close to the A1(M) The back garden is 200 meters from the motorway and although there are gardens in between the road noise is very noticeable. Every time we have been to view a been different I guess because of the weather

I am wondering if it's something you could get used to ... the house is lovely but I don't want to regrets a big decision ... advise please

It's certainly different, but it is possible to get used to, although there is usually always the traffic.

Hawkins001 · 03/09/2022 05:16

needmysleep · 02/09/2022 22:27

No I only posted it tonight

I never understand some posters that have to ask if you already posted about x, even if it was a repeat

RumpleDumple · 03/09/2022 05:20

The pollution alone would put me off before even considering the noise.

StClare101 · 03/09/2022 05:22

We recently stayed in a holiday home in a quiet area, apart from the motorway approximately 500m away. We only noticed large trucks and even then got used to it very quickly. 200m away would be loud.

Cupcakegirl13 · 03/09/2022 05:35

We live in village next to the A1M. As the crow flies we are a similar distance away to the house you are looking at. I can honestly say it has NEVER bothered me , if I tune in I can here a low rumble / hum noise. At night it’s barely audible , I use it to tell the time in the morning as it picks up a little as the morning comes. I hear the odd lorry beep from a distance , but it has never disturbed me.
In terms of pollution millions of people in towns and cities up and down the land will be living with similar / worse levels.

TooHotToTangoToo · 03/09/2022 05:38

I live about 200 meters away from the A1 and you completely get used to the noise. We put double glazing in as soon as we bought the house and it made a huge difference. But we've left the back door open most of the summer and I don't hear the noise now. The first year we were here I noticed that it was noiser in the winter as there were no leaves on the trees, and if the wind is blowing in the direction of the house it can be noiser. We also live close to a main railway line and don't hear that either nowGrin even the train horns, which probably sound every 20 minutes are unheard now. I can go all day and realise I've not registered hearing any.

Wheretheskyisblue · 03/09/2022 06:13

I would check the defra pollution maps. Depressingly road pollution is much lower than that from bonfires and wood burners. We lives in a rural area far from roads and the amount of wood burning here means pollution is much higher than where our relatives live 400m from the M1.
www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/environment/2022/feb/15/wood-burners-emit-more-particle-pollution-than-traffic-uk-data-shows