The end of the private back garden? AIBU to think this is a crap idea?

[2beesornot2beesthatisthehoney]

www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/architects-hope-to-tear-down-garden-fences-of-englands-future-homes/ar-BB18huJd

Reported in the Guardian this morning. The shortlist of developers drawn up to attempt solve our housing crisis by new design
includes the idea of communal back gardens that have to be booked in advance to use privately!

Oh yes I can see that going down really well on Mumsnet future AIBU

"My next door neighbour overstayed their time"
"I hate sharing and want peace and quiet"
"Cynthia has just repotted all my begonias"
"Can I put a swing up in the communal garden, the neighbours are complaining"

AIBU to think that this is just a really crap idea?

I’ve got four dogs so I pity anybody who ends up sharing a garden with me.

Stupid idea.

That's AWFUL and also would have meant people couldn't use their gardens during lockdown

Terrible idea, not everyone wants to mix with the community and they enjoy their privacy. That would be goodbye to anything nice of value too. With neighbours like mine I’d never be able to use it and it would cause more conflict.

Awful idea. We have parks for shared spaces. If anything, we should invest more in making parks safe and accessible for everyone.
I have a tiny back garden, but it has been a wonderful haven during lockdown.

Good point about Covid!

Architects are always full of exciting, innovative ideas. Very rarely do they choose to live in them.
Remember the continuous failures of the past, from tower blocks to urban community living, to heat conservation with tiny windows. Ideas that created endless social problems and mental health issues.
I’ve only seen this work in retirement communities and expensive flats/communal blocks with young, childless individuals.
At least now, thanks to SM and the like, ordinary people discover The Architects’ social engineering fantasies early on.

I've learned from Mumsnet that people in the UK really do have a "my home is my castle" attitude. This would not go down well in the UK.
In my town we have a very nice community garden, which anyone can use. It's in an area where houses only have very small gardens. You never see anyone in there, and there has been very little interest in maintaining it.

Most communal back gardens may as well not be there. They are rarely used and just bland grass. Total waste of space.

Worst idea ever, not a chance.

There are no words for how much I hate this idea.
I dont see it taking off tbh. No one wants this surely?

Well, if I could choose the people I’d be sharing the garden with, I’d be willing to try. They’d have to meet a demanding set of criteria though.

Bet none of these forward-thinking architects will be living in these houses with communal gardens.......

It depends. A communal garden for a block of flats that is managed by a grounds keeper works fine. Lots of places in London have that.

It wouldn't work if it's up to the residents to mange the garden themselves.

Neighbour fall out over the trimming of shared bushes. Imagine if one of the other occupants came and dug up a flower bed you'd been tending or cut down a tree you liked. Splitting the garden into individual areas wouldn't work either because people would get annoyed if neighbours weren't maintaining their bit. How many people kick off when their neighbours front garden is a mess.

Also dogs, children, old people, young people, social people, people that just want to relax - all trying to use the same space. It's a recipe for disaster.

Sunny day the kids want to play outside - sorry guys Mrs Smith at no. 2 has booked the whole garden to read her book, maybe tomorrow.

We're in a terrace and the gardens arnt very private. We don't feel you get the same use out of the garden as you do when you have a real private space.

Communal gardens are generally fraught with conflict.

If only these designers were forced to live in the shit they design.

Anything to save space and increase profit. Garages that you can’t fit a car in, back to front houses, houses squashed in at random angles, tiny bedrooms that don’t accommodate a single bed (or if they do, nothing else fits in the room or the door doesn’t close).

We have a large koi pond and a hot tub - how would that work in a communal garden

And you just KNOW at least one of your neighbours will be an "old sofa in the garden" type.
And the endless arguments over the garden gnomes and the twee wishing well.

I'm sure my slightly older neighbours, whose children have left home and have a pristine flowering garden would love sharing with my two small children and their footballs and paddling pool

I get on well with my neighbours but... No.

In practice I bet everyone would just create symbolic barriers (like a flower bed) to carve out a private space.

A lot of people round here leave their dogs outside all day (and night tbh).
How would that work then?
Oh just so many problems with this idea.

Lots of flats especially the ‘mansion flats’ ( they are not really mansions, it’s just a style of block) in London have communal gardens and it works really well. It is a choice available to those who want to make that particular choice within their housing budget.

Communal gardens is a good solution to the many people who have no garden at all.

I doubt that shared gardens will become compulsory.

Bound to go down badly on MN where the lack of a garage or off street parking is frequently viewed with horror

Presumably this would be for new developments so if people don’t want this arrangement they wouldn’t buy them. And I would hope the developers would specify no pets in the communal garden to avoid issues of dog shit being left.

Many people in flats already have communal gardens so it’s not such a bizarre idea. I wouldn’t really like it but it would be better than no garden at all I suppose

I fucking hate communal gardens. I just want some privacy.

Hell no. You know this is just to reduce garden space to fit in more houses, nothing more.

Are they trying to win some kind of Stupid Idea award?

@Namechange2020onceagain

Most communal back gardens may as well not be there. They are rarely used and just bland grass. Total waste of space.

This. My brother and his family live in a block of flats with quite a large communal garden. They plus one other resident are the only people who ever use it.