Buying a house near an airport: the complete checklist

Tick these off in order. Each item says what to check and where to look; the reasons behind them are in our main guide, how to check aircraft noise before buying a house.

Before you view

• Find the runway lines. Extend each runway on a map and see whether the house sits on or near one of the lines, or under a departure route. Is this house under a flight path? sets out five ways to check.
• Find out how often each direction is used. A house under the approach the airport uses on seven days in ten is in a very different position from one under the approach used on three.
• Check the night. How many flights there are between 23:00 and 07:00, when the first arrivals come, and whether the airport has a curfew or a quota.
• Look at the official noise map. Note which band the house is in and the year the map was drawn.
• Replay real days. On our free flight map, replay a typical day in each runway direction and the busiest night, and tap the street to count the loud planes.
• Look for changes ahead. New runways, route changes and airspace redesigns can change which streets hear planes. At Heathrow, for example, the consultation on the detailed plans for a third runway runs from 27 October to 22 December 2026.

At the viewing

• Time it for the loud direction. Check which way the airport is operating that day and book the viewing when planes are coming over the house, early or late in the day if you can. Our guide to viewing a house near an airport covers how.
• Listen outside for 15 minutes. Count the planes, and notice whether you would have to stop talking while one passes.
• Listen inside, in the bedrooms and the room you would work in, with the windows open and shut.
• Look at the windows and vents. Secondary glazing, sealed windows and acoustic vents suggest the noise has been tackled before, perhaps with an airport grant.
• Look at the roof if the house is under an approach close to the airport. At Heathrow, the wake of low landing planes can dislodge roof tiles, and the airport runs a scheme to repair and protect roofs.
• Talk to a neighbour if you get the chance: how the busy weeks feel, and whether the early flights wake them.

Before you offer

• Count the loud planes for the address, by day and at night, in each runway direction, over a whole year rather than a few days.
• Book a second viewing in the other direction if the first one fell on a quiet day.
• Weigh the noise in your offer, and in how a buyer might see it when you come to sell.

During conveyancing and the survey

• Ask the seller, in writing:
  • Have you complained to the airport about noise, or had a dispute about it?
  • Has the house had an insulation grant, or an offer of one?
  • Has the roof been repaired under an airport scheme?
• Don't rely on the standard forms. In England, the TA6 property information form asks about disputes and complaints concerning the property or a property nearby, but has no question about aircraft noise. Do sellers have to disclose aircraft noise? covers the rules in other countries.
• Ask the airport whether the address is in an insulation scheme, and whether a new owner can still claim. Heathrow's Residential Insulation Scheme, for example, pays up to £34,000 a home for about 20,000 of the most affected homes. In the US, some airports insulate homes inside the 65 dB DNL contour under the FAA's Part 150 programme; at Charlotte, for example, the home must also have been built before 1980.
• Ask your conveyancer to look for airport plans: planning applications, consultations and airspace changes that affect the area.
• Brief the surveyor on the noise. Ask about the condition and type of the windows, the ventilation, the loft insulation and, close to the airport, how the roof tiles are fixed.
• Get quotes for any work you will need, such as secondary glazing or loft insulation, before you exchange, so the cost is known.

Before you move in

• Choose the bedrooms on the side away from the flight path, or the rooms with the best windows.
• Do the building work first. Glazing and loft insulation are far easier in an empty house.
• Apply to any insulation scheme the address qualifies for.
• Save the airport's tools: its flight tracker (often WebTrak), its runway updates (Heathrow posts them on X as @HeathrowRunways), and its noise complaint form. In the UK, complaints go to the airport first, and to the Civil Aviation Authority after that.
• Follow the airport's consultations, so you hear about route or runway changes while there is still time to respond.

The checklist at a glance