Buying house on v hilly single track lane

[Popcorn76]

Does anyone have an experience of living on a hilly lane? We are moving to Devon and have found a house we love which has amazing views but it has been on the market a very long time, I think due to the access.

It is on an adopted lane (bin lorries do collect and it has had its roof replaced so I assume construction traffic can access) but the lane has a warning triangle for a 33% gradient (I think only for a tiny stretch), I found a cycling website that said the max gradient was 17% and av 11%. In the v steep direction the lane is 500m to a bigger road and in the other direction 2.5km.

My main concern is ice in winter. Will we be stranded? I do have children to get to school and can't wait it out until the ice melts. In addition it is a traditional Devon lane with no verges, hilly banks each side so I assume will be shady and wet with run off from fields. Any ideas, are we silly to even consider this? House is perfect otherwise.

The access will be a nightmare in the bad weather. Probably why it's not already sold

It depends how much you are willing to put up with the inconvenience.

As a child we lived somewhere similar and if any bad weather was forecast DF parked at the bottom of the lane and we all trudged down to the car through the snow and ice so we were rarely actually stranded.

It was a pain getting the shopping to the house through as you had to carry it all the way back up but we just shopped little and often rather than one big weekly shop.

This was before Amazon etc but I know a few rural friends who always have to get their Amazon deliveries to lockers or parcel shops as they won't deliver to them even though the route is technically passable.

There is always a way round things it just depends if you want the hassle.

Thank you both. I have checked deliveries online and both Amazon and supermarkets at least say they will deliver there.

I was wondering about parking up the road in bad weather but there are not many great options unless the farmer up the road doesn't mind me using his yard, failing that there is a tiny layby next to a gate.

We are moving to be nearer to my parents so I could stay with them if v bad weather but I am wondering about days with unexpected overnight frosts where the road is icey which makes planning in advance difficult.

There are a few holiday cottages up the road so I was wondering about staying in one and getting some local knowledge.

I’m on a single track in the north west. Semi-rural in green belt but not in the middle of nowhere. We have a short but steep dip down and then up to the main road. We can’t drive down the lane if it’s icy or snowy, and we are at the end of the gritting list, so we just have to stay put or walk. I don’t have kids but the locals all go to local schools and walk. Having said that, it’s idyllic to live here, especially in the summer, and our icy days are in the single digits - we don’t get many snow days any more due to climate change.

Snow tyres make a big difference to driving in icy conditions. If you're set on the house and would be willing to have a spare set of tyres/wheels that you routinely change every year, then it might be worth investgating.

Trqlistically, how many snowy or icy days do you get in Devon? If it's your dream, I wouldn't be put off because of that. Just buy a 4 x 4 with snow chains/tyres and a make sure you're pantry/freezer is fully stocked. Is it on mains gas? If not, fuel must be delivered, so that would suggest a lorry can get along the road for future deliveries?

The only thing to remember is when you want to sell, the same issues will occur,.so unlikely to be a fast sale.

Could you grit it yourself? Living rurally you’ll keep a closer eye on the weather and then if you see ice is forecast you can pop out with the grit the night before?

Not to give you something else to worry about (!) but you might also want to get a chainsaw type of product for the inevitable post-storm mornings when branches have come down and are blocking the road and you’re the first one trying to pass. My brother departs at 6am most mornings along roads similar to yours and he’s found this to be very useful!

Snow tyres and a decent 4x4. And as a PP have said, a willingness to dump car and walk if necessary. The only real difficulty would be if the snow is too high for the clearance of your car but presumably the farmer might sort that out. And it's seldom these days we get so much snow.

I grew up in a similar situation. For me it was worth the inconvenience (I did hate it as a teen though!)

there are a few things to do to be better prepared!

4 x 4 with proper snow tyres in winter
fully stocked pantry always! (Including drinking water
batteries and torches at home, lightbulbs etc

in winter never let anything run low 😁 you may have to drive kids etc to bus stops

We live in a dip with a steep hill either side and do get snowed in once or twice a year. We do buy sacks of grit for icy weather but in reality if heavy snow then we are stuck. We do move a car onto the main road if we think we need to and walk up to it. Get a decent car, oh and a chest freezer!

To be fair, there won't be much ice in Devon.

A village or town would make your life easier though. You'll be driving your kids everywhere if you live in the middle of nowhere.

go knock on some doors and ask the people already living on that lane is the only way you will get a genuine answer

Does a 4x4 with snow tyres deal with icey hills though?

I would ask the locals but there are not many, just a few farms and I am bot sure if they will be biassed in their advice if they know the owners of the house for sale.

I don't know about gritting it myself, the steep bit is about 150m then it levels for 200m, then there is another 150m steep bit. Seems like a lot of work.

snow tyres will not make any difference with ice, if you think you need more grip then the answer is snow chains, but take them off immediately you react a good road surface
Snow chains: when to fit them, how to use them | MICHELIN

4x4, unless you are trained, just means you will get into a powered slide
biased responses are better than wild guesses from the internet

We live up a track and we are a lot further north than Devon. A decent 4x4 with farmers tyres will go up most things. You might have a day a year when ice is a problem. We have had only a couple of days when we have had to salt the drive to get out. With climate change there are now more days over 25c than below freezing. It shouldn't be a problem.

I live in a very hilly area and access is a nightmare when it snows even on normal
roads. you’d definitely need a 4x4… and a big pantry! Good news is that it doesn’t very often snow in devon

I have to do a half mile off road track twice a day every day. I don't live there. I have a 4x4 with mud tyres. I am in the south and we barely get frosts any more let alone snow. The only issue I have had with snow many years ago is when someone didn't have the right tyres on their vehicle and left it abandoned at the start of the track leaving no one with vehicular access and me walking it. Not an issue though.

What is more of an issue is maintaining it. Especially as it is constantly wet. This track is shared by a number of neighbours and there is a working group that deals with it. Fortunately they are all very practical and have the tools to deal with it. However, we had a water leak a couple of years ago and one person got quotes from two companies to locate and fix it. Both quoted over £20k. If the vast majority weren't skilled enough to do it, it would have been costly.

It sounds like a nightmare, surely there are other properties to choose from.

what about emergency services access - we live rurally and we would never choose a property where an ambulance or fire engine access is too challenging. Those are really important considerations not only for you but if you need to sell it.

no wonder it has stuck on the market

I can get up my very steep track in ice with a 4x4 and snow tyres. I do have a good run up though.

If you've got school age children don't do it. However idyllic it may be in the summer, it will be shite in bad weather and you be constantly driving "mum's taxi" to deliver or collect the kids. If the lane is single track, you need to be good at reversing for when you meet the bin lorry or a tractor towing a trailer coming the other way.

How old are your children? Be prepared to be a daily taxi service for schools, activities, play dates etc. This was the main reason we moved from a remote location.

Am I the only one that wants the link to see the perfect house on the hill?! It sounds great, what type of house is it op? 1930s?

There are ways of adapting, and worth it for the peace and beauty.
It just becomes a different way of life.

The idea of staying in one of the holiday cottages for a week makes huge sense.

I have lived rurally for many years and would not swap it for anything. There are some inconveniences (as defined by city dwellers) but they wash by me. I sit in bed in the mornings and look out on the big sky and the hills and count myself blessed.

It's also worth saying that villages can be very active sociable places with lots to do and a real sense of community. We have a local WhatsApp group and help each other out all the time.

There are a few holiday cottages up the road so I was wondering about staying in one and getting some local knowledge.

Yes, do that. Preferably in bad weather.

Is it an unmade track, or is it fully tarmacked? That will make a difference to how difficult access is.

I live in a rural area on an unmade track and the access is fine for bin lorries, ambulances, deliveries. But in order to work out if that particular location will work for you, you will have to visit and experience it.

Just to add that my children were brought up here and loved it. There were long bus trips to school - but they savoured the beauty of the journey. And we were happy to be a taxi service till they learned to drive themselves.

Beware the Young Farmers! - two of my DDs met their OHs there - but thankfully they are happy!