Would you buy a house with an electricity sub-station attached???

[artichokes]

This morning we viewed a lovey house. It is everything we want in a house but it is on the market for about £150k less than similar houses in our neighbourhood. Partly this reduction is because the sellers are desperate but in teh main I suspect it is down to the attached electrivity sub-station.

The sub-station looks like an attached garage from the street - the only difference is that the garage door has bars in front of it and a sign saying "DANGER OF DEATH". Its depthis half that of a garage and apparantly nobody ever goes in or out except for 6 monthly short inspections. it makes no noise so other than the sign you would never know it was there.

However, I know some people are worried about the effect of electricity generators on children and this would be below the DDs' bedroom windows. What are those worries based on? Is there evidence of damage to children from electricity generators.

I am personally worried it puts the house at increased risk of fire/explosion. It might also put future buyers off when we come to sell.

What would you do? The house is perfect in every other sense.

My pil have one attached to their garage, It has never caused them any problems at all. They store their bins next to it, so you can't really see it (although access to it, can't be blocked).

It does have some advantages as the electricity people did some work on it and pil got a brand new driveway from it.

We stay with my pil in the summer time and it has never give us any cause for concern. It is not part of the garden and my dc have never gone anywhere near it.

I would be put off but I have very young children who would make it their mission to get inside the exciting looking hideout!

How old are your children? Would you feel comfortable l;eaving them to play in the garden with this attached? What about visiting children who you didnt know as well as your own about what they ,might get up to?

I don't think it would bother me - I've not heard of health worries in relation to electrical sub-stations (mobile phone masts/nuclear power stations/pylons, yes) so it wouldn't occur to me to be concerned. I would also be thinking that sub-stations seem to be decommissioned quite a lot and, if I stayed there long enough, it might end up being mothballed. The £150,000 reduction would definitely prick my interest. Do some research on potential dangers but if it just comes down to an alarming sign, I would not be put off.

In terms of whether a sub-station is more dangerous in terms of explosion etc, why not ring up your insurers and ask if the premium would be much higher? They are the ones that will have factored in the risk. If they say that they wouldn't insure it, then walk away.

forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?s=93c96c02d70c272f4b1f83ee41614e69&t=512992&page=2 has lots of comments

i wouldn't buy it tbh...sorry.....i'm not sure about the evidence re; risk (i'm sure if you googled you could get some info)...but the view alone would put me off....it's £150k cheaper for a reason.

It would put me off as a buyer - I would be terrified that my child or visiting children would make it their life's work to break in.

I know the issue on power lines causing cancers is still hotly debated, but a few years ago I looked at a house under a power line that was otherwise very suitable and thought no way am I going to be the guinea pig in that particular trial.

I think there is some proven evidence regarding pylons and risks but not sure about the sub-stations. Although even the pylon evidence is so, so slight to be fairly non-existent.

Is it the situation that you couldn't afford the house if it wasn't on for £150k less because of the state of the market/possible blight? If that is the case and it is your dream home then go with your own gut feeling.

Having said that, it would definitely put me off. Same as a very busy road would. It will be harder to sell on I am sure.

Thanks for all the replies so far. I will study the two links properly after work.

I just wanted to repond to 2.4kids' point about whether my children would try to get in to the sub-station - there is no way they could. The two sides and the back are all brick with no windowns or openings, the front (the bit that looks like a garage door) is completly fenced off with an 8 foot high locked fence with spikes on top . It does not lead onto the garden as it is at the front of the house leading onto the pavement.

I am not well informed on this but my gut feeling is that I would not like to be near a sub station.

no

Looking on the positive side, an electricity sub-station is not going to be holding late night rowdy parties or playing heavy metal music at all hours .

absolutely not. There is loads of evidence that pylons cause health problems, substations have the same issue.

no

No I wouldn't. Even if you don't think there would be any harm from it there are enough people who do to make the resale very difficult.

Despite the reassurances, it would always be in the back of my mind...

No. We pulled out of an offer on a house when we realised an electricity substation was over the fence. Had a baby at the time, and also felt if we were put off, others might be aswell when and if we wanted to sell.

I am still so stuck on what to do. I spoke to the estate agent again and she said that the current owners had all sorts of tests done on the radiation levels in the house. Apparantly these tests showed the sub-station was emmiting no more than a standard kitchen appliance. The owners are happy for me to see all these reports.

The thing is that whatever the trust about radiation this thread clearly demonstrates many people would have a gut reaction against the house. This will clearly affect our ability to sell it on and might even affect whether people want their kids coming to our house (the danger of death sign could be off-putting!).

But its such a lovely house.

ARRRGGGHHHH.

Any more words of wisdom out there.

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No

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My friends bought a bungalow like this with young children, they weren't worried about health risks.

However, they sold it after 6 months as the DH couldn't live with the constant low level hum he could hear. Just him though, didn't bother anyone else.

If you like the house and are not worried, buy it - you know that it will probably be difficult to sell and will never reach the neighbouring prices, but if you love the house and are not bothered by this give it serious consideration.

Best of luck

No, not after a friend having some sort of electrical thing in the back garden. They moved, but her DH has been diagnosed with cancer. They then found out that the guy who had lived therefore before had died. Coincidence I am sure, but has put me right off.