Should we consider buying houses very very close to Train Tracks?

[BroglieBoy]

Hi All,

Need some guidance.

I came across this lovely property
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/133629803#/?channel=RES_BUY on Rightmove and noticed that it is very close to the train tracks.

All Trains running through Wokingham train would pass through this track.
I wouldn't say it is a very busy train track but reasonably busy with trains running every 30 mins.

Is it okay to consider such properties or better to give it a pass as it is too close to the tracks?

1. Will it be too noisy?
2. Will the train movements cause vibrations and therefore issues for the properties such as cracks?
3. Future sellability for such properties?

What are your thoughts?

When we bought our first house it had a train track at the end and I worried. It was absolutely fine and when I bought my next house I made sure it was on a trainline again. I find they are soothing and personally prefer them to having potentially loud neighbours behind us. They are usually cheaper in price but will be resellable.

Absolute no from me. That is unbelievably close with no greenery, sound buffering, visual screening , it's also set up high ,having just come over the bridge, so it's not like its even down a bank. Plus the bridge and traffic lights right out the front of the house.

The traffic light at the front means cars and vans will stop and start all day long, exhaust fumes etc.
That would bother me as much as the trains tbh.
Plus when people are stopped in traffic they are eyeing up your house (might just be me, though).

Trains don't bother me really. I know someone right next to not too busy train tracks with a much smaller garden than that, so no escape! They've invested in really good double glazing and you honestly can barely hear them now when the doors and windows are closed

Thanks All for the inputs. I can see some people like it and some people would not consider it at all.

Would people change their mind if the price is 20% below the current asking price? say around £650K?

We would like to consider this property if it's around 20% below the asking price
as I am worried it will impact the sellability.

Do you mean, you want to get the price reduced because it's by the train tracks? I think that's possible but I don't think they'd sell for £650 when it's on for £830? Surely they knew about the train tracks when they put it up for sale. It isn't as if something unexpected has come up in the survey

My daughter's house backs onto train tracks. I love sleeping in the back bedroom and hearing the trains go by.

It looks lovely. I live probably a similar distance to a train line. So I live right on a village high street (no front garden) , houses the other side of the road with quite a big back garden then the train line.

I never hear the trains in the day. Occasionally at night I hear a goods train but never loud enough to wake me or be intrusive. Dd sleeps at the front of the house and has never mentioned the trains. We get fast Azumas at weekends as well and I don’t hear those.

The traffic light would be the bigger issue for me, having once had a temporary set outside; aside from the engine noise and exhaust fumes, you’ll also get the thudding bass from the deaf lads with dreadful taste.

Way too many cons with that house.

My house is close enough to the train tracks that I can see passengers’ faces from my bedroom window. It wouldn’t be my dream, but the same property on the other side of the street would have cost £30 - 50k more.

You're worrying about saleability, but don’t forget about buyability too. You might get a lot more property for your money with this compromise.

They've already reduced it. I don't think you'd get that for £650k in wokingham so near the holt school, no.

Oh sorry, I was looking at the map on right move and thought you were three houses away. That’s the railway line right next to the garden, on a bit of an embankment? Yeah, that’s a bit close!

View it and make sure you are in the garden when the train goes past.
I've lived in a house that had a railway at the bottom of the garden, but it was a branch line so the trains were not fast noisy ones.
The estate agent seems not to have proofread the description.

I think it would be a big ask, 20% is a lot.

I wouldn't.

I used to live in London and there were train tracks behind our building.

Noise, vibrations and also those awful train horns...It was a real nuisance.

Another thing to consider is potential engineering work: I lived in this flat for a few years and they were constantly messing around with repairing the tracks and signals.

Never again would I live close to trains...

I lived in a house where I could hear the trains going by at night. It was lovely and soothing.

We live in a little cottage with a line much closer. Its noisier than we expected and we also didn't factor in the goods trains later on. It shakes the house a tiny bit at the back.

Despite all that we love it. We mostly enjoy the sound its quite relaxing. There has been no structural issues and it's been standing since about 1834. My plans to start a therapy practice in the summer house just in front of the line are definitely not happening though 🤣

When I was small I had a train line at the end of our tiny flat garden. I think this is why it doesn't bother me at all. Some people would hate it. The house has changed hands a few times recently and I'm not sure whether it's that or not. So in summary railway houses are marmite. Which means that they're usually cheaper

The one I lived in didn't have goods trains using the line.

I don't have experience of living near a train track but I did live next door to a school. I loved that and would positively choose to do so again. No noise or traffic on a weekend or for the 13 weeks a year of school holidays, not much going on before 8.30 am or after 4pm. It could get a bit tricky if I came home during the school run but I just had to remember not to do that.

On the whole I wouldn't mind and this is an excellent house, but I would never ever relax if I had children and would worry about them playing in the garden. Even if they were older and sensible I'd always have the fear of a train crash etc. I don't know

We have train tracks at the end of our (small) garden. We can’t see them because of foliage and trees, but we hear them. I find the sound weirdly relaxing!

I grew up in a house near train tracks so I don't notice it at all. When DH and I looked for our first house together, he vetoed it if he could see train tracks on the map without zooming out. It will reduce your pool of buyers when it come to reselling but I assume the asking price reflects that.

We have a train line at the end of our garden. It’s a branch line, trains every 30m, and it’s in a valley - so no real seeing in. 100ft garden so not an issue.

I love hearing the train. The rest of the area is so quiet, and it feels almost rural when we’re on the edge of our town. It’s also fab as we’re not overlooked, so despite the garden being north facing we get tonnes of sun!

Which line is it though? The Reading to Gatwick line? That’s not very busy and the last trains are not late. It’s not mainline with express trains on it.

We lived in a flat right next to the train tracks, which had underground trains as well. We got to know the c2c and district line timetables pretty well. We got so used to it it barely registered most of the time. It was quite comforting watching them go past as well. Mildly annoying when on a zoom call with the windows open though.