Buying a house on a street that is mostly businesses?

[DontSuitAJumpsuit]

Leaving aside whether it is the right time to buy or not, I wondered whether anyone had a view on buying a house on a mostly commercial street?

A rare, large detached house has come up for sale in our town which we're going to view. Most of the buildings on the same street have been turned into businesses - there is a vet next door, across the street are a surveyor, cosmetic dentist, various other 'office' type buildings. Out of maybe 20 buildings there are about 6 homes dotted along the street.

Would that put you off? I see it as a nice quiet street but DH sees it as a lot of carparks for neighbours... We currently live in a very nice residential area with lots of lovely neighbours including children the same age as ours and a lovely retired couple next door who help us out a lot. Not sure if we're mad to give that up!

I can see your dilemma. Probably few neighbours as you say. Does the dentist etc have off street parking so you won't be bothered by that. I would drive up and down the street a few times at different times of day and see how it is. 6 / 20 is fairly few but if they are nice it may be enough neighbours. Is the house less expensive than one on a purely residential street or do you think another business might be looking at it

Whichever way round I wish you well. ( not sure I have been helpful there )

Thank you!

I think most of the businesses do have their own small car parks. There is a church on the street as well which doesn't have parking so it may be busy on a Sunday.

I think the price is pretty competitive for the size and proximity to the town centre, so I wonder if it is suppressed by the location. It's close to amenities but possibly not as desirable as a residential street would be. I guess we'll view it and see! Hopefully get a gut feeling.

If there's any type of shop there avoid it like the plague. I rented in a similar setup as you are describing and businesses such as the dentist won't be a problem because they operate on a typical 9-5 so if you are working you'll probably be in work when they are open.

For me the local shop was the problem, parking was a nightmare to the point where we knew if we went out in the car we were unlikely to get a parking space on return until the shop closed for the day.

The upside is you'll have things on your doorstep but for us we personally couldn't wait to move and I wouldn't buy a house in a commercial area. Try visiting the area at different times to get a feel how busy it is.

Oh another factor I forgot was deliveries to the businesses. The shop would have newspapers dropped off between 5-6am and they were not shy about making their presence heard. If you are a light sleeper be prepared for noise, the good thing is my 2 children can sleep through anything after living there because they were young and knew nothing different. Definitely visit the area a few times to get an idea how noisy it is, if the house is priced low it's usually for a reason.

Do you want to move?
you sound like you love your place now and don’t actually like this new one?

I’d be concern about the potential future businesses which could cause noise or disruption-the current businesses sound fine but there could be others in the future (thinking possible late night takeaway, betting shop, or bar!)

Do you want to move?
you sound like you love your place now and don’t actually like this new one?

Yes and no - we love our current location but we have outgrown our current house a bit. It's not the easiest to extend so have been looking for large/detached for quite a long time and viewing anything suitable, which have been very few and far between. It's very rare for something of this size to come on the market in this location which is why we're giving it some thought.

Good point about the businesses changing - it's one street away from a street of bars and restaurants, I'd need to have a look to see how likely it is that could spread.

Thank you all!

I'd be cautious about noise from industrial bin collections; used to live opposite a dentist, and would get woken up by the clinical waste lorry going 'beep-beep-beep' at 4.30 am...

I’d worry about businesses changing to something more antisocial (you might want to check what other businesses could be in the same “class”), bins being collected noisily at odd times (we once had a mini supermarket at the end of the road and I swear they got bins collected at 2am by a massive beeping lorry), potentially more vulnerable to car crime/ burglaries as more people would be passing by the house and there would be fewer neighbours to keep an eye on the place, and also less of a community spirit. That said it wouldn’t be a massive no no for me if I loved the house.

My daughters uni house is in a similar position and it’s fabulously quiet at weekends and evenings.

I am in progress of buying a house too. it is commercial/residential mixed area, our street does not have stores but next street are take away/laundry/small restaurant.

It sounds a bit like the street we live on. Our street is maybe 50/50 residential and businesses like solicitors, dentists, accountants, churches, hotels. I never found this a problem, if anything it makes for a quiet neighbourhood, especially on weekends. It seems to make property more affordable. Our home was used as a business before, so it cost quite a bit less than a residential property,, but we had the faff and risk of getting change of use approved. If the location is not unsafe but a way of getting more house for your money, and you need more space, I would definitely consider it.