Our village houses are value £800k and have quaint nation views… however there may be one VERY huge downside that’s making our lives ‘hell’

Homeowners living in £800,000 properties on the Stansted Airport flight corridor have described it as ‘living hell’ and believe their house prices will be ‘ruined’.

They say their only break is Christmas Day but every other is ruined by a ‘constant hum’ and ‘big lights’ which beam through their windows.

Residents living in the villages of Broxted and Brick End are used to rural settings, countryside views and stunning properties, often barn conversions and cottages.

It includes one stunning home on RightMove at £800,000 that has just sold after being on the market.

But they also sit squarely on the flight path for Stansted – the country’s third busiest airport with 27 million passengers taking off every year.

It has one runway but planes fly from it to over 200 destinations at 40 different countries.

And the locals have told the Daily Mail they have had enough.

Gordon Dorset, 65, a self-employed plasterer from Broxted, has become so fed up he has even put in numerous official complaints.

He said: ‘Before, it was a flight every 45 minutes – that level of noise we could all live with.

‘But as the years go on, it’s crept up year on year and we have got to the point where we are now.

‘The 2020 lockdown was the best year for light pollution and noise, there was almost no flights.

‘You forgot you’re living near an airport.

‘Days like Christmas are an absolute blessing.

‘It is the one day of the year when you’re not constantly bothered by the aggravating noise.

‘The general sentiment within the community is that as air traffic increased, the early mornings and late nights became more apparent. It’s just too much noise.

‘You’ve just got to accept it.’

Mr Dorset said he feels his complaints have gone unanswered.

He added: ‘I’ve phoned up Stansted’s complaint hotline seven or eight times, especially about the cargo planes loading up in the early hours of the morning.

‘I don’t think I’ve ever had one callback. They never call you back. Nobody ever calls back.

‘I definitely don’t feel heard by Stansted. I don’t think a lot of the UK public get heard by the big bodies.’

He described the noise as a ‘constant hum’ which has got worse.

He has always lived in the area and moved into his new home in recent years.

He added: ‘Sometimes it’s just extremely aggravating. You never get peace and quiet, it’s a constant hum. It’s the constant hum of the airport as well as the flights.

‘Every 30 seconds there is a plane flying by every hour on the hour until noon.

‘God forbid take‑off… you see how many there are, especially when you’re trying to get peace and quiet.’

‘At night, you can see them all in the sky queuing up. You just get disturbed by these big lights in the sky.’

He said the value of his house has not hit what he thought it would and he believes the airport is to blame.

He added: ‘The value of the home hasn’t gone up exponentially. Yes, it’s gone up, but not as much as you’d think it should.

‘When the airport slows down, it feels like such tranquillity.

‘The rapid increase in flights is the worst issue. It’s a constant round of something.

‘I would love to move if circumstances were different. I’d be in another county or perhaps abroad.’

‘I should have got used to it more, but it’s aggravating, especially with the increase.

‘There should be a shut-off point from about 11 to 11:30 p.m. but then the cargo planes take over throughout the night.’

‘I constantly get woken up at 2:30am or 3am in the summer, when you’ve typically got your windows open.’

‘Sometimes you can overlook it, but sometimes it gets too much.’

Another resident in the village of Brick End the price of his detached £600,000 had been destroyed.

He added: ‘It never used to be this bad for flights. Now it’s terrible. It’s destroyed the price. It’s ruined.

‘It used to be closer to £700,000. I blame the airport.’

Sarah Cousins, 61, said the house up for sale on RightMove was sold as the owners want to move out.

They have no idea why it took so long to sell as they feel it should have gone straight away.

Sarah has been part of the Stop Stansted Expansion campaign for 22 years and says life living next to the airport has got much tougher.

She moved to the village with her husband 32 years ago.

She said: ‘Honestly, our biggest issue with the airport is them attempting to build extra three runways. We were always promised that Stansted airport would remain a countryside airport. Plonking Heathrow is unimaginable, displacing people from homes. It’s unfair.

‘The disturbance is more when we’re in the garden and nighttime. It was worse until we got the windows replaced.

‘Older villagers are more disturbed. People that have moved here are not really bothered.’

‘During my time at the Stop Stansted Expansion organisation, we received countless of noise complaints from other villagers who are more affected by it.

‘I know people that were made ill because of this issue.

‘I know people in other villages and flight path goes over them in different directions. Lots of noise complaints have been made.

‘It’s really galling because if we want to do anything to our house, we have to ask them [Stansted Airport] but they don’t have to ask us if they want to bulldoze our homes to make way for extra runways!’

Another resident called Andrew said the airport actually made his home more affordable.

He said: ‘We never regretted moving here.

‘We wouldn’t have been able to afford our home if it wasn’t on a flight path.

‘You get used to the planes.

‘Of course it’s noisy. But Christmas time is bliss.

‘But it’s actually made our house more affordable. We got it for £500,00.

‘If it wasn’t for the airport it would have been a lot more.’