What compromise did you make when you bought your house?

[Napqueen1234]

House hunting and interested to see where you compromised. We live in a city suburb so outside space is a premium. We have two young kids. Found a BEAUTIFUL huge house which is perfect but the garden is small. Can fit a seating area BBQ swing set and a bit of (fake currently) grass but certainly not kick a ball about levels. Close to parks though. Otherwise for similar price a slightly ugly house needing a lot of updating but an enormous long garden. DH likes planting veg but the first has an enormous drive which we wouldn’t need so could put planters down each side for vegetables (south facing) but the the back wouldn’t be super sunny. We currently have a tiny yard we use very little so I’ve never experienced a big garden. Is it a compromise you’d make? We like in NW so have loooong autumn winters inside anywayb

We moved from a big, 3 bed, 2nd floor, beautiful flat, to a more sensible, 4 bed family house when I was expecting DC2. We compromised on garden size. Didn't have one at all in the flat and the house we fell in love with has a tiny garden. There is decking with enough space for a table and BBQ and a small patch of grass, but we couldn't have put a trampoline up for example, it would take up all the grass.

We are 2 minutes from a park and it's been fine. Plenty of room to have friends for a BBQ (pre-Covid), borders for the DC to grow plants and DS could have a football net up when he was small. DC are now 8 & 11 and have zero interest in the garden, all they want to do is gaming inside, so actually, in the long run, it would have been the wrong decision to compromise on the house for the garden.

@edwinbear that’s interesting. I suppose If you and kids have never had a big garden you won’t miss it IYKWIM which I think is our situation. I just keep thinking how traumatic I found lockdown with hardly any outside space and nearly bottling it at the thought of all that again!

Small kitchen, I knew it would be too small but everything else was right.

Can you post the links OP? It's amazing what the imagination of mumsnett can do with a small space

OP if you have children I’d take the one with the big garden. Sure someone upthread said their kids are into gaming not garden - but maybe if they’d had a bigger garden the kids would be into building dens, swinging up trees in ropes, water fights football etc.

I compromised on a small terrace but I absolutely loved it. I compromised on an ensuite/downstairs shower room here and I'm moving soon. The next place I'm compromising on space to get the area. My DGPs compromised on the entire house to get the garden my DGF wanted. I would go for the Edwardian house.

We compromised on decor - it needed work. Also it’s a bit of an unusual layout, but we don’t mind. It’s a great size, good garden and fab location. We’ve been here 3.5 years and we’re getting through the work slowly. I don’t mind though because we’re never moving again.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/85983964?utm_campaign=property-details&utm_content=buying&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=copytoclipboard

House 1 (good garden). Actually not bad from the outside. On a busy road though

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/74145543?utm_campaign=property-details&utm_content=buying&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=copytoclipboard

House 2 (prettier). In a lovely small quiet cul de sac but crappy garden

I compromised on the bathroom, the house i bought has a downstairs athroom but 3 big bedrooms and a big galley kitchen and an enormous garden (although narrow).

I hate gardening, the garden was of no consequence in the house choice and has just cost me over 7k to get manageable.

Personally I would go with the second link. The garden is a good size, they just have a massive patio set which is making it look smaller. It is beautiful and I'd buy it in a heartbeat if I had the money and lived that way!

How bad is the road for house 1. That would probably be a deal breaker if it was main road into the city centre. But I don’t think it looks as bad as you made out. House 2’s garden would definitely put me off though, plus it looks really overlooked. On balance I’d go for house 1.

House 2's garden is smaller than my balcony! I don't know the areas so can't comment on them, but the 50k difference between the two houses could be used to improve House 1's interior. I see more potential in it. As for the not-so-nice exterior, how long will you look at it every day? I also like the big garden as a chance to add a grany annex, or even two WFH offices. You have the space!

Assuming house 1 isnt off a hugely busy road, then definitely that one. It has my ideal layout!

I really like house 2.

I hate gardening and that garden is plenty big enough to entertain in and the house is lovely and doesn't need much work.

As others have said @ComtesseDeSpairm - children aren't really interested in playing in the garden for very long. Buy the house whose layout works for you - if you want a project that might be house 1.

But I have to say neither of them seem to have enough bathrooms! I'd expect a family bathroom and ensuite in a house this size...

Oh and my compromise was a second bedroom - couldn't afford one in central london so after moving area a little bit (but where I now live is miles more convenient for work so wasn't a massive trade down -walking distance vs. always being committed to cycle) I bought a one bed with a huge living area and have carved out a spare room area with a wall bed & sliding door.

If you aren't staying overnight I'm not sure you would even realise there is a bed there and I get to enjoy the space in my living room the rest of the time.

Land. We only have an acre so we rent extra as everything else was perfect

Wallpaper eveeeeerywhere, even some ceilings. It’s a small compromise but such a lot of work to remove. We moved to a house with the same floor plan as our previous house (same village), but much more convenient location, bigger garden, opposite woodland... but people had been there 30 years so was pretty dated, that was the downside.

Next door has now come up on the market, £100k more than ours and I can’t fathom why! We only moved in in Jan. It’s an ex rental and smaller than ours, only thing I can think is that its detached (and ours is semi) - but barely! You can’t get down the side between us and next door. That doesn’t count as detached to me 😄

Moved in JULY, not Jan!

I wanted an upstairs bathroom and a downstairs loo.
DH loved the house so we bought it without the downstairs loo and planned to put one in. Still waiting 3 1/2 years later 🙄

When we were looking, we found the most beautiful house and completely done up. But the garden was a tiny postage stamp and overlooked a brutalist 60s institution. There was another house nearby, huge garden but needed everything done to it. We chose that and I’m so glad we did. We’ve spent five years renovating it but our three kids and us have got so much from the garden. It was a god send during lockdown. We’re in Scotland so similar to you OP. I’m not a gardener but the space is nice. I knew if we bought the other house, I would want to move again soon. But each to their own. Good luck!

We bought a lovely house in a beautiful village full of inbred ignorant fuckers.

I haven’t read all the replies but I would always prioritise the house over the garden. Unless you are very hardy, realistically, in the UK we don’t get to make the most of them due to the weather. And when it is nice you still have space to sit outside and just pop to the park if you want a run around. Otherwise you have to maintain all the space too!

We compromised on the internal decor to get a house within our budget but we quite like renovating and the space was the key for us. If we had bought something all modernised we wouldn’t have gone anywhere near as big a place for the same money.

We bought the pretty Victorian house with parking for two cars but a small garden. No regrets.

Compromised on garden - about half the size we wanted, plus slightly closer to a busy road than ideal. What we got in exchange was close to schools, station, DP work and High Street, lovely cul de sac, great size house and lay out, extra bedroom and in good condition. Two years in and we are very happy, especially about the lack of major things to do in the house and the proximity to everything.

Wanted a three bed house where the third bedroom was not a box room and actually usable, along with a garage, second toilet, in a town that's quite naice and where house prices are higher than other areas.

The compromise was the kitchen. It's teeny tiny compared to our old kitchen.

Garden still ok size though, room for a couple of vegetable patches, decent lawn, patio and a long bed down one side. Plenty but enough for children too play, just not football worthy (though park five minutes down road)