To buy a house with a tiny garden?

[Holly147]

OH and I are renting a 1-bed cottage at the moment, but currently having IVF which is going well so far, so we're looking to buy somewhere more suitable for children, in the hope that we will have one soon!

We recently viewed a 3-bed period house in the centre of a lovely village with a great primary school, that ticks all the boxes and is (just about) affordable for us. However the garden is maybe 2 x 3 metres and would just about have room for a table and chairs and a few flowers! It's an overlooked front garden (there is no back garden) so a young child couldn't play out there unsupervised. The village itself is in a rural location with lots of fields, open space, a park and easy access to the canal for bike rides, etc.

There are similarly-priced houses in a nearby small town in a 70s estate with gardens two or three times the size, that would have room for swings/climbing frame etc. and a little bit more room to run around in. The town also has a good primary school, but obviously isn't quite as rural/picturesque.

OH is more practical than me and thinks we need a good-sized garden, but I love the house we viewed and think the village would be a great place to bring up children. I can't really get excited about the 70s estate houses... Aibu? Should we be going for the bigger garden in a not-quite-as-nice house/street? I realise we're lucky to be in this position and if we lived in a city or more expensive area we probably wouldn't be able to afford a garden at all. We're likely to stop at one child if that's relevant.

@Bouncebacker it's a quiet-ish lane with no pavement. It's fairly narrow and on a bend so not really the sort of road you could play out on. There is a churchyard next door, with a footpath leading onto a field. So access to a field within 2 mins, but the park is probably a 5-minute walk away across the village.

As @TanMateix said, it's probably only a real problem for between 5-8 years old, although I do like the idea of having an enclosed back garden...

I’m not sure. We’re in a flat with a toddler. We have a garden but it’s accessed indirectly. The park is 5 minutes’ walk away. My issue with the garden is to do with my inability to garden - I’m fine taking DD to the park and actually she loves the social aspect of it. In your shoes I’d see which setting has more young families, since I’d argue that having lots of people at your stage of life nearby is the main factor for an enjoyable early few years of parenting (imo, anyway).

Could they play in the street? Are there other children nearby? We have a biggish garden but we live in a cul-de-sac with about 8 children of similar ages and mine (6 and under) play out in the street with the neighbours more than the garden. Yes one of us has to be out there with them but it's nice to chat to the other parents and there's a fair amount of reciprocal kid-wrangling. The street/neighbours far outweigh the garden in my opinion.

Sorry, took so long to finish my post I cross-posted with the OP!

2 x 3 meters is enough to have a nice cozy little place to eat outside. You just need to deal with it as if it was an urban space in a loft building or a balcony. Check small roof gardens for inspiration. Parisians and New Yorkers are amazing for that.

As someone who lives in a city centre flat with only a roof terrace, I wouldn’t consider moving to a rural house with a teeny garden. For me, the whole point of being in a village would be to have good outside space. Personally I’d keep looking as I think you might struggle to sell it on.

Expressedways, I think you have a good point there, it will be difficult to sell, which means OP that you can negotiate the price down quite a bit if you think this will be your forever home and are prepared to wait.

I wouldn't let it put me off if the house was otherwise great.

We moved to a house with a postage stamp garden with a toddler and a baby. Moved when dc were 5,7 and 9 and it was the size of the house not the garden that caused the move.

We're in a small village too and many houses have only yards due to the nature of the housing here so all the kids play out from an early age. The way you describe it the field will be your playground. mine went up the back road to the park and woods from around age 5 with friends.

If you wanted a garden for veg etc then there are likely to be local allotments.

It sounds like a similar village @TheStakeIsNotThePower - nearly all the houses have tiny gardens, no gardens at all or ones that are detached from the house similar to allotments. The only houses with big gardens are half a million plus, which is way out of our league! So if we want to live in the village we'll have to accept that.

We have been keeping an eye on Rightmove for the last two years and this is the only house in the village that has come up that is a good size and that we can afford! Good points about maybe struggling to sell it on in the future though.

I would def look for somewhere with a bigger garden 100%

I would go for the 70s house. I grew up in one and my parents still live in it. Whenever we visit and I see ones on the estate for sale I always get a feeling of sadness that we aren't in a situation to buy.

If it was a choice of garden or location I'd definitely go for location. On nice days you can go to the park and on rainy days you'd never use it anyway. Yes a garden is nice but not worth giving up a lovely village with good schools and green surroundings.

Def a bigger garden.
My toddler goes out in it every chance he gets and means he can burn off some energy whenever he likes without all the faff of trapsing to the park (incidentally, only 5 minutes away). And he can play whilst we make dinner etc.

The period cottage with no garden sounds fantastic - as a retirement home!

On a serious note, transport and infrastructure are far more important than looking pretty

My back garden is about 3 times the size of yours and people still refer to it as tiny! It's about as small as i'd realistically want with 3 dcs about but then again i'm unlikely to move again unless i have to. Most period properties round here are similar to mine in terms of outdoor space. Are you looking right in the centre of town? How about trying the victorian cottages you tend to get in the 'inner suburbs' - you might get a bit more usuable space for your money.

I'd go with a small garden if I loved the house I think. We grew up with a smallish garden but always played in a nearby swing park and an old barn that we were forbidden to go near.

We rented out our current house (average sized garden) for a few years to a family and it was obvious they never used the garden (as confirmed by neighbours).

I think my answer would be different if the tiny garden was in the back. Being able to chuck the kids out there is the main benefit of having a garden so if you can't because it's at the front then there's no point.

Because if you are living there for decades, the time period in which a larger garden would be nice is not all that long Well, that depends on the person, doesn't it? I've lived in houses with a large garden for 45 years, and I'm nowhere near thinking a smaller garden might even be tolerable, let alone nice.

We opted for more house over more garden. UK weather isn’t really the best to get the most out of a garden and we live less than 2 minutes from a huge park (with lakes etc). Our garden is quite a bit bigger than the one you are looking at though at 7m x 16.5m

I totally agree with Oysterbabe

I think my answer would be different if the tiny garden was in the back

I was trying to imagine how small 2 x 3 is, not much smaller than our back patio which can just about fit a bbq and table. I ideally would never go for a house with a garden that small, if it was a back garden then maybe if utterly desperate.

We have a massive green out front and while the kids play out there a lot, my gardens like a bloody youth club.

OP, if there is no garden at the back, what do the windows at the back face, especially the ones in the ground floor? That could be a problem if the owner of the land backing yours decides to build or can force you to have the curtains drawn all the time in those rooms which makes them somewhat unusable?

@Holly147 if you've been waiting 2 years for that village then go for it! If something else would make you happy you'd have found it in that time.

Plus in the future being in the village is helpful to keep an eye on other houses, here some of the best ones never make it to the open market. We now live over the road from our old house and I doubt we'd have got it had we not had the inside info.

If it was a back garden I'd say possibly but a combination of small and it being the front I would say no.

House buying is all about compromise.

If this is typical housing stock for the village and there are other young families, and you love it, go fo it. Obviously you’ll have to make more of an effort than if you had a garden.

Thinking to yesterday, went to my siblings for coffee and the two youngest were playing football in the garden whilst we sat and had a coffee and cake and a chat inside. Probably wouldn’t have actively gone to the park with them all so they would have been cooped up inside (unless 6 is deemed old enough to go to the park, I don’t know that)