We live on the UK’s ‘busiest’ road – people say we’re mad to live here but we love it
RESIDENTS living next to the UK’s busiest road say despite what people may think – life there is really not that bad.
Edgewood Mews in Finchley, North London, sits on the North Circular, which at its busiest has 10,000 vehicles an hour chugging along it.
But despite relentless noise and pollution from the 25.7-mile-long ring road – residents say they “can’t hear a thing”.
Hannah Marshall, 32, who lives on the roadside of the development, told MyLondon: “The insulation is done pretty well and on this side of the street, it’s fairly quiet.
“I think when you’re moving, [you are] pretty obviously moving onto a main road so that’s one of the things that you’ve got to consider yourself.”
The Persona Homes development offers triple-glazing windows in it’s mixture of two, three and four-bedroom flats and some duplex apartments too.
The building looks a bit like a castle with turret-like apartment modules and a path running through the middle.
The development is popular as it offers shared ownership opportunities starting from £136,250.
While the full price for a two bed flat will set you back £545,000 with the cheapest rent at £851-a-month.
Abdul Elmi, 37, has a ground floor apartment that backs onto the fume-clogged road.
Despite being at the coalface, he says it’s the “best place” he’s ever lived, with the triple-glazing shielding him from the road’s worst attributes.
But not all residents agree.
Morris Klein, 34, also has an apartment that backs onto the road.
He has to keep his windows shut to block out the noise.
But this turns his flat into a “greenhouse” in the summer, leaving him with a bit of a conundrum.
He explained: “They’re ready to open but once you open them the noise is unbelievable, and the pollution which is a bigger problem.”
Morris explained the state of the housing market left him with few other options but to buy his shared ownership roadside home.
He explained that finding a flat at that price which is suitable for his family of four was “very, very difficult”.
Scientists have previously warned living next to a busy road is as bad for you as smoking ten cigarettes a day.
Research has also found pollution causes an estimated 4,500 premature births a year in Britain.
While The Royal College of Physicians warns air pollution kills 40,000 people a year.