To ask about north facing gardens and estates?

[evergreen7]

Sorry posting for traffic.
We are very lucky to live in a great sought after area and we want to stay here but due to its popularity (= high prices) we know we will struggle to upsize.
I really love our little house, we have a lovely good sized south-east facing garden which gets lots of sunshine and it's one of the best features of the house, we have no neighbours behind us and it's just blissful and peaceful and if only it was bigger I'd never want to move.
We've been looking into upsizing and as much as we don't need it right now (although it would be useful) we know we need to move within the next 3-5years max as with our DCs (toddler & baby) growing up there is no way we can fit in here longterm.

We've seen a property that would be within our budget, which is a real rarity in this area but the downside is its a north facing garden about half the size of our current one and I'm not sure what to expect from it? I don't know if it would be a big difference to go from our small quiet tucked away terraced cottage with views of the countryside and a big garden to a considerably larger and darker property with smaller bedrooms and small garden and views of the neighbours houses.

I'm not sure what I'm asking here maybe views/ a bit of insight if anyone has ever made a similar type of move and if it's not as bad as my mind is making it out to be?

[Osopolar]

I can't comment on the house bit but with regards a north facing garden we have one and I'm a fan especially with a toddler. The patio and most of the grass get sun in the morning which is lovely and then the patio is in the shade in the afternoon but the grass remains in the sun which is perfect as we can sit out and eat meals etc without being in direct sunlight which I can't stand in the heat of the afternoon. The end of the garden becomes south facing as the sun reaches over the house so we are planning to put in some sun loving plants. There is one area of the garden that gets no sun so we put the shed there. The key thing is whether the sun makes it over the house into the garden or whether the house is too tall or the garden too surrounded for the sun to hit it if that makes sense?

[FreshStartToday]

Was going to say the same thing. If the garden is long enough, then you can have benches and a patio at the top and you have a south facing area. If the house is really close however, so that the garden is perpetually in shade, that may be an issue. We chose not to move to a lovely house for that reason.

A dark house is interesting. Ours is east/west facing, but a big tree prevents sunlight from coming in during the evenings so our through lounge is very dark. It is, however, lovely and cool in hot weather, and fine in the evenings. We have a small conservatory/lighter kitchen at the back, which we live in during the daytime.

[fussychica]

Depends on how tall the house is and how big the garden is. We had a bungalow with a large north facing garden, no problem. We rented a 3 story town house with a tiny north facing garden for a few months, awful.

Your house sounds perfect for you at the moment. Try not to rush into buying a property that you wouldn't like just because it's bigger. You have plenty of time to find something right. We currently have a garden surrounded by others. My neighbours are lovely but I still don't like it. I'm used to a view.

[OhTheTastyNuts]

We have a small, north facing garden. It's does get a bit of sun, but not loads. It's not ideal but wasn't a deal breaker for us - stunning views plus a grassy area out the front we can use.

Our house isn't dark - the living room gets the sun all day, the bedrooms at the back stay lovely and cool.

[WhatATimeToBeAlive]

It really depends on what else is around it. You can have a south-facing garden that's blocked by trees or another house. If it's a bungalow it will get more sun as the building won't block it. I currently have a south-facing garden which I love, and we're moving to an east-facing as we love the house. It won't be too bad as the garden is wider and not overlooked by any houses.

[user1457017537]

I like mine it’s cool inside in the summer but sunny in the garden and patio area.

[ShellsBells76]

We came from a south facing garden to a north facing. Our garden is large, 100ft, the first bit of our patio gets no sun and the rest of the garden is sunny, it works really well for us. The back of our house is lovely and cool in the summer and the house isn't dark at all however we have large rooms with large windows so that probably helps.

[GrowThroughWhatYouGoThrough]

It's a deal breaker for me. When looking to move to a bigger property I wouldn't look at north facing and eventually we found a south west facing house that fit the criteria and it's amazing! We have sunshine all day we also have trees which provide shade and my kids would be out from first thing if I let them lol till bedtime. I lived in a north facing garden before we moved and it was very dark! I also don't think loosing half the size of your garden would be a great idea with two littlies. You have plenty of time to look or could you extended? I wouldn't rush into it particularly if it's going to be your forever home

[MatildaTheCat]

Is there any way you can extend your current property? If not and you have loved your sunny garden thenninwouldnsave yourself the pain and stop even looking at nice houses with poor gardens.

[RavenLG]

I agree with PP about rushing into buying something. You sound a bit down on it anyway with your description a considerably larger and darker property with smaller bedrooms and small garden and views of the neighbours houses Also, is it really worth sacrificing bedroom size? As children get older (teens) they will want to spend more time in there etc.

[PrimalLass]

Is there no way you could extend instead?

[Tringley]

It depends on lots of things. I have a north facing garden but it's 340ft long and my house is an L-shaped detached bungalow. In summer less than 3ft of my garden is in the shadow of the house and none of that is my over my kitchen nor the patio leading off it, which are mainly west-facing. It's actually much better that my garden is north-facing as the shade from all the trees is aimed away from the house and my front garden and large porch are always sunny. (At least they are on rare sunny days!)

[evergreen7]

Thanks for all the replies. We could potentially extend (with protests and opposition from every neighbour) but if it came to sell we would never get that back for it. I.e. If we were to spend £30k on an extension we might get 10-15k on top of what the house is valued at ATM

And we could only get 3 bedrooms out of it max when we will need 4 as we need an office soon.

The house we've seen has

• 4 bedrooms
• 1 bathroom and one ensuite + toilet downstairs
• kitchen and diner
• very big lounge
• conservatory

and also all the other useful areas like a utility, pantry and coat closets not to mention an outside office space at the back of the garden DP could work out of undisturbed.

Vs our small kitchen and tiny lounge + tiny bathroom, master bedroom & box room upstairs and no storage space so I think it would make a difference space wise.

In comparison my worries seem insignificant but I feel a bit uncertain when I think about the fact it's on an estate surrounded by other houses vs our current peace and quiet as we really value it and there's the north facing garden.

[evergreen7]

@RavenLG bedrooms are small however there is 4 vs our one master an teeny box room so we would only be sacrificing our bedroom size IYSWIM.

[Furano]

You’ve got a big garden now? You could plonk a nice insulated garden office in there for c£15k.

Your current house and garden sounds much nicer than a small estate built up dark house!

[GeorgeTheHippo]

Never move to a house you have worries about. Keep looking, you have time.

[mavismcruet]

It would be a deal breaker for me too. I lived in a house with a north facing garden in London. We never used it apart from sitting at the end of it mid afternoon when we got a patch of sun. It bugged me so much that I took a compass with me house hunting to make sure the garden was facing the right way.

[FishFingerInjury]

We moved from a north facing garden to south facing a couple of years ago. It’s also bigger and is a dream with our 4 DC who can now actually play outside with a ball rather than every game ending within seconds because of balls over fences.

I hated the north facing garden so it is a joy to have sun most of the day. We have trees so plenty of shade if we need it too.

Total deal breaker for me having experienced both.

Can you convert your loft and/ or extend your current house?

[Blobby10]

Surely it depends on how much time you and your family spend in the garden? My last house had an amazing garden but a combination of work, looking after a growing family and their commitments as well as the delightfully rubbish English weather meant I rarely got to sit out in it and enjoy it. The borders didn't get looked after - the grass got mowed occasionally but we really didn't 'need' the garden that size. Current garden is postage stamp sized, overlooked, north/east facing and we've probably sat out there more in the past few weeks than we ever did in the old house - because of the weather!

As your babies grow up, they will want to play out less (and spend more time in their rooms on phones/tablets/laptops etc!) so do you really need the garden aspect? And the maintenance. I'm not green fingered in the slightest so anything beyond mowing and basic weeding is beyond me.

[ShellsBells76]

Taking aside the garden aspect you have too many other doubts imo
I would carry on looking you can do what you like to a house but never move it from the area you don't seem keen on...the right house will be out there

[GaryBaldyBiscuit]

In your shoes I’d identify the houses in the estate that you think would be in your budget that you’d be interested in buying and drop a note through the door.
A brief note explaining your situation, saying you’re looking to move in the next 3 years say and asking them contact you directly at address name when they’re considering moving.
Worst case scenario you hear nothing, best case you know you’ve done all you can in the coming years.
A north facing garden wouldn’t bother me but a small garden would.

[TakeMe2Insanity]

Our garden is north facing and the front of our house is south facing. In summer it can almost feel like a day/night experience. The front is hot and bright and the back is cool even cold. Our garden is quite big for London and we back on to tall houses with small garden. We get quite a bit of morning evening sun so things to grow but you tend to move around the garden chasing the sun rather than being sat in one place being bathed in the sun.