People who know about property always say that there is nothing more important than “location, location, location”. You can usually change a house but not where it is. It is best to buy the worst possible house on the nicest possible street.

But as property prices plunge, buyers who stick to that mantra could be missing out on some astonishing bargains because there are plenty of great houses marred by busy roads, aircraft noise or that are stuck in unfashionable areas that are looking increasingly good value.

“Blighted properties should always sell at a discount,” says Yolande Barnes, director of Savills Research. “The size of that discount shrinks when the market booms. If the market is really mad it may even disappear, but it always grows in a downturn.”

With average prices down by 2.5per cent over the first half of the year, according to Hometrack, the gap in price between the best properties and flawed houses is widening. Research from Savills shows that while the best homes have dropped in price by an average of 5.2 per cent since the market peaked this time last year, blighted properties are now selling at a discount of 16 per cent. The greatest bargains are to be found at the lower end of the market, with blighted properties under £500,000 trading at an average discount of 25.8 per cent. Imperfect homes worth between £500,000 and £1million are 18.3 per cent cheaper, while properties between £1million and £2million are now selling at an average discount of 13.5 per cent.

Reductions such as these could bring the cost of some great houses down to a lower price bracket. In this market, road noise could mean the difference between living in a small terrace or a bigger semi with a large garden. It means that for the price of a pretty country cottage in a quiet lane, you could play lord of the manor.

Take The Oaks, in Ospringe, Kent, for example. The main part of this massive Georgian country pile has five bedrooms (two of which are en suite), a large drawing room, dining room, kitchen, double garage, bathroom and cellars. The wing at the back has been split into three flats that are let, generating an income of £15,000 a year, but which could easily be reintegrated into the main house. There are two acres of garden, much of which is walled and overflowing with flowers. Faversham is only two miles away, from where trains whisk you to Victoria station in slightly more than an hour.

It is the type of home that would cost £1.5million were it not for the M2 streaming along at the bottom of the garden. As it is, the price is £1million. Buyers can also have an extra two acres of paddock plus a studio for a further £150,000. The price of the property, which has been on the market for a year, was reduced from £1.45million and the lot split in two in June, to boost interest. “It's a very fine house, with elegant proportions, which is rare in this part of Kent,” says Edward Church, of Strutt&

Parker, one of two agents selling the house. “But these days buyers do their searches on the internet. They look up a house on Google Earth, see that it is near a motorway and don't bother to view it.” He adds that because the motorway is set in a cutting, it cannot be seen from the house. The trees at the bottom of the garden also muffle the noise, he says.

The proximity of the motorway has never bothered Colin and June Neame, who have lived at The Oaks for 35 years. “We knew that it was there but the house appealed for lots of other reasons,” says Colin, who ran a microfilm business from home before retiring and now wants to move to a smaller property. The generous amount of space that the house offered was the main attraction for the couple originally. With three children, now in their forties but then aged between 5 and 10, the room came in handy. There was also scope to house elderly relatives in one of the flats and enough space for an office.

Mike and Joanne Brown made a similar compromise ten years ago when they bought 1 Hawks Tor View just outside Launceston on the busy A30 linking Exeter to Truro. “It gave us so much more for our money,” he says. “When you have got a certain amount to spend on a house there's always a balance between the location and the size of the house and garden. We opted to go for the bigger house, but in a less attractive location.” The semi-detached house has three double bedrooms, a large sitting room and separate dining room as well as a breakfast room. The couple's daughters, Sadie, now 20, and Jessica, 18, were young at the time and enjoyed the 60ft garden. “It's been a great family house. But we know we're not going to get the sort of prices other properties reach,” Mike, a salesman, says.

The house was put on the market at £219,950 in February; the price has just been cut to £204,950, which would buy a small cottage or terraced house locally. There are similar homes away from the road but they cost £20,000 to £30,000 more.

According to Edward Church, perfect houses do not exist: “Buyers always end up compromising on something on their wish list, otherwise they will never buy a home.”

The Oaks: Strutt & Parker 01227 451123 and G.W.Finn & Sons 01227 710200

1 Hawks Tor View: Webbers 01566 776211

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