Would you buy ideal house if opposite a school? *rightmove link*

[fancyaflatwhite]

A house that looks ideal for our needs in many ways has come on the market. The caveat is, it is directly opposite a school.

It does have its own driveway, but would the school parking issues/idling cars/deliveries etc make living there a right pain.

Has anyone got experience of living quite so close to a school?

Not for residents with a permit, but for any visitors to them, workers on the house eg boiler servicing, delivery drivers, anyone feeding the cat whilst you're away...

@Needmorelego

i was going to say that surely you'll get a residents pass, but I guess it would still be a pain in the arse for visitors, deliveries, taxis etc.

I don't know what the answer is though as people need to park to take kids into school. Those that can walk, should, but I guess most go straight off to work afterwards (or for the afternoons don't have time (or inclination) to drive home & walk to the school for afternoon pick up.

@fancyaflatwhite I wouldn't have thought about it until reading @Needmorelego 's post, but yeah, that would be an issue (& one that could be brought in any time) but ignoring that for a minute, I'd be fine with it. But you need to know your own nature! I like seeing the kids go to & come out if school. I can pretty much arrange my own work timetable so I'd be able to work around school drop off/pick up times if I needed too. I don't mind people hovering across my driveway if they're staying in there cars. I'd only get a bit annoyed if they park across it & are a long time. But that's because I can work around it & don't mind doing so, now that I can. I live on a street one over from 2 schools. The school road is all yellow lines, so yep, they all
Park here! & I don't really get to see the kids walking to school etc so I'd rather your house!!

it's a nice house, I'd buy it! (No idea of the pricing in your area though, it would be about £200,000 more here SE).

No. Some of the most inconsiderate drivers will be outside your house 2 x daily FOREVER.

The way some parents behave at my DC school is shocking and the school and estate was purpose built, so it's better than most.

Near a school and opposite a T intersection are my absolute hard No.

I live right next to a school and it doesn't affect me in any way, but I don't drive (OH does but he's at work ) and I'm at work during school hours . The school run is great.

Good points everyone. I WFH and don't mind kids walking by and hearing them play, I really quite like that..

However, my kids are wouldn't go to the school, and I'd need to get in and out at school run times - that's my main concern.

DH also needs to get out to drive to work in the morning.

Do parents really park over people's driveways?!?!

I live opposite a primary school, have done for 15 years. My dc went there. In all honestly the parking isn't that much of a problem because if we were going into an office we'd leave well before the 845am congestion time and come back well after the 3pm one. The only time it used to be a pain was parents evening but that's all virtual now so all good.

House looks gorgeous. I live opposite a primary and it's also a bus route and the quickest way from the big housing estate to the main road out of the village so fairly busy. We do have a 20mph limit for the whole village but no one takes much notice. It was very quiet when we moved here because it was mostly village children who walked to school but now lots come from farther afield and in cars. Afternoons aren't too bad its just awkward between 3 and 3.30 if you forget and need to get in or out but we rarely have people actually blocking the drive (school are pretty hot on being good neighbours and PCSO comes round regularly). Mornings it's much busier and noisier from about 7.30 when breakfast club starts. Sometimes we get deliveries and bin lorries earlier than that. Can't hear a thing in the back garden. We have evenings and weekends too as there's four football pitches that are very well used. It's really not a problem.

Lovely house, I wonder if the owner is a fan of the home edit.
Looking at this after I’ve spent half the morning cleaning mould from around the windows makes me wonder where I went wrong.

I think it depends on the set up of the street, how wide it is, etc.
We considered buying a similar house but ended up turning up at pick up and drop off times to get a feel and that put us off. The house was in a dead end and parents' cars would completely cut us off .
The school we are using is completely different though- wide ISH street, easy to park so it wouldn't be an issue.

If you do go for it I would suggest to reverse into your drive when parking up so you can just drive out into the traffic. I do recall one day having to reverse out in the pouring rain one gloomy day and almost hitting a random small child while I was trying to see past the parked cars and keep an eye on those that were still trying to squeeze through instead of just going round the block.
We widened the gate and reversed in after that.

Great house!

Being right opposite you are opposite the No Parking zig zags which is probably better than being a bit further along where there are no restrictions.

Our garden backed in to a primary school playground. When working from home I liked hearing the rhythm of the day and the happy noise at playtime. It wasn’t jarring or intrusive.

Visit during morning and afternoon drop off periods.

I would yes, but only if it had a driveway. Traffic/parking will only be an issue during pick up times. Be prepared for people potentially parking across your driveway though and on double yellows, this happens at my child's school, despite repeatedly being told not to by the school. I expect living so close to a school bumps the house price up by a lot, so would potentially be easier to sell in the future.

Do you know the area well? The house is lovely, but not sure about the location.

It's a no from me.
We used to live near a primary school and I had to leave in the mornings to take DC to nursery elsewhere.
I would not believe the behaviour of school parents if I hadn't seen it for myself. Nearly every morning we were blocked in, with some people actually parking on my drive. I was called all sorts of names when I politely (at first) asked them to move. One lovely lady called me a selfish cunt for asking her not to park on my driveway, then proceeded to start parking on my lawn.
We moved house because I know I would have ended up in prison for murder..

@SuckeringSam haha thanks for the honesty that's helpful to know.....I'm very quite irritable in the mornings and wouldn't deal well with this!

we viewed what looked like the perfect place and did so right at school leaving time. The neighbourhood was gridlocked. There was no place for us to park and it took about an hour to just drive by the place so we didn't even get to look inside. The estate agent was a fool to book anyone for that time of day but it worked out well for us as it was a disaster of a location.

l live very close to a secondary and primary school.

traffic is tough from about 8am and I avoid nipping out between 3 and 4.

but I use public transport to get into work and because I am right beside a large secondary school the transport links are excellent. Never had an issue with parents parking 1 but a lot of them do drive like maniacs. They seem to favour large range rovers that they can’t really control!! On parent once mounted and drive down the footpath to avoid a queue of traffic!!! Nearly ran over about seven kids along with me.

I lived opposite a primary school for about a year (rented house, moved as we bought). Yes, traffic and parking would be bad for a period of time morning and afternoon. We had a driveway and only once had a cheeky person park there. If we could have bought the house we would have.

Some parents will actually park ON your driveway, people really are that entitled. I lived at the side of a primary school it was absolutely insufferable, never, ever again.

I like the house. Had a look on street view, don't think it would put me off.

What inconvenience there may be would be offset by the ease of school pick ups / drop offs, in my opinion.

That house looks immaculate, very nicely done. I lived opposite a primary school and was at work before the morning rush and home after the afternoon but when I was on holiday etc it was quite annoying but as it was the only issue I would have lived there again. However, where I live now the primary in the next village is terrible at pick up and drop off. Parents park all over the place, although bollards have now been installed to stop them parking on the pavement they still cause chaos and arrive up to 1.5 hours early and park in the petrol garage/shop as well as on the zig zags, so it's very annoying if I forget and try and drive through at those times or even worse try and get fuel. So definitely check on several different days.

I personally would be cautious TBH. Experience of pick up and drop off very hectic.Also noisy in the Summer and dry days in winter too, with playground noise.Seems reasonably priced for the area ,maybe thats why? I would go along for a couple of morning /Aft drop offs and see what its like also lunchtime/after school Times as well!

No I wouldn't unless you got a massive discount on the asking price.

How often will you be home and do you value leaves and quiet?

I live by a primary and a secondary. It's really busy at pick up and drop off. We have a problem with litter, kids ignore the bin that is on the corner and it ends up in my garden.
I can hear the children playing outside at lunchtime so there's noise during the day too.
Parking is the major one, drives my neighbour potty. If I'm out I try to get back by 1.30 or there's no chance. Someone parks up an hour before pickup to secure a space. He then gets into his back seat and works on his laptop! People will park on your drive or block it and feel they are entitled to do so.

There are regular pleas/letters from school asking parents to respect the neighbours when parking but nothing changes.

Having said that, we've lived here for 5 years. I get on with it and it's fine in the main. Before I WFH it was even less noticeable as I wasn't in at busy times.

I'd say park up and observe at pick up and drop off, even a bit earlier and assess what you see. Research will be key for you.

*peace (leaves only in autumn 🤣)

Parents park all over the place, although bollards have now been installed to stop them parking on the pavement they still cause chaos and arrive up to 1.5 hours early and park in the petrol garage/shop as well as on the zig zags, so it's very annoying

It's also lazy and selfish. There's 3 (primary) schools on the same street near me and they built a (free) car park that literally takes a minute to walk to school from, with plenty of spaces. Parents will still arrive an hour early so they can park directly outside the school or just park on the zig zags if they fancy it. Most live within a ten minute walking distance as well.