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?

Like most things, this would suit some people, a nightmare for others. I think it's called choice!

More and more people rent now. It is very difficult to find rented accommodation that will allow dogs and have any kind of garden or yard. So you have very many people fighting for the few suitable properties.

So I guess many people look at this communal garden and disapprove because their tenancies aren’t secure, they will have to move again at some point, and building more accommodation with no gardens adds to the problem of undesirable properties in most people’s eyes.

@boltzmannbrains

Borderstotheleftofme you’re missing the point that the posters clutching their pearls acting like the sky is falling most likely ARE the rich ones who have options and would never live in a housing estate to begin with.

The fact so many posters don’t know communal gardens already exist, and the sheer horror expressed at the idea of not having a private garden, shows it’s mainly not lower income posters expressing shock. Rich posters are acting like a SWAT team of architects are about to descend and forcibly confiscate their gardens, when this “new” idea (which isn’t even new) will likely never apply to most of them.

It shows no such thing. It is nowhere near as simple as flat poorer, house richer and if you're labouring under that delusion, your conclusions are going to be wrong.

Outside the south east, there are plenty of low income areas where everyone has a decent sized private garden. I would know, as I live in one. The number of London flats with communal gardens that are cheaper than the houses in my area will be around zero. And look at Edinburgh, where the flats are some of the most expensive and sought after housing: their communal gardens have been mentioned in this thread. That's a specific type of housing, but equally, the dearest property I ever lived in was a flat in a block with a shared communal area (which was almost universally ignored).

@BrieAndChilli actually it appears to be one of 6 proposals, the reality is it won’t fly in it’s current format and I don’t see why people are getting their knickers in a twist. Something like the set up we have is proven and ideal for many.

Ah! 100 houses/flats sharing a communal green sounds good...very good, but what if one of the children goes missing, abducted. Who keeps an eye on them. Is it fenced in or open to anyone purporting to be visiting one of the properties?

Outside the south east, there are plenty of low income areas where everyone has a decent sized private garden.

Kinda blows your whole “poor people being FORCED to live in council homes without gardens / claiming people can choose not to live there is elitist” argument...

what if one of the children goes missing, abducted.

What the actual fuck?

Child abduction by strangers is exceptionally rare. A child is no more likely to be abducted in a communal garden than they are in a park or on the street or anywhere else. Besides plenty of children already live in places with communal gardens yet somehow manage to escape abductors creeping around the bushes.

This thread is mind-boggling. I’ve never seen such baffling group hysteria in action.

The only people I know with communal gardens are rich people living in manson blocks in Kensington and Highgate. They seem to manage ok with them.

@boltzmannbrains

Outside the south east, there are plenty of low income areas where everyone has a decent sized private garden.

Kinda blows your whole “poor people being FORCED to live in council homes without gardens / claiming people can choose not to live there is elitist” argument...

Do you mean you generally or me specifically?

Yeah. If my child had gone missing when they were younger, I would assume the police would question not strangers but the three known paedophile neighbours living on my street or the next, none of whom I want to share a communal garden with.

I am not a people person at all, so this is my idea of hell. I love my 6ft fences giving me privacy from the world, thanks.

This thread is mind-boggling. I’ve never seen such baffling group hysteria in action.
This! Kids play out in cul de sacs, in parks, nothing different from communal gardens. If you wouldn’t let them play out in the park alone, you won’t let them out alone in the communal garden.
People who would move into these properties either want to be closer to work etc, or currently don’t have a garden at all. You can’t magically create space for lovely houses with massive gardens. physics doesn’t work like that. There is a set amount of space, and if more people want to live there, something has to give.
If you want a big house for not a lot of money, you have to move to the middle of nowhere. The rest of us just makes the best of what there is, and communal gardens are a fairly decent offer!

No you don't. I live in Greater Manchester. Not saying where, but it's plenty urban.

Greater manchester is nice (used to luve there and loved it) but not particularly great for many jobs.

My sister lived in flats with a communal garden. We never saw anybody using it, which made it kind of eerie as all the flats were arranged around it, but with no doors out on to it from the flats. The only time someone was in it was when they were escaping from the police and jumped through another flat’s window to hide.

I resent even sharing the street with half of my neighbours, never mind a garden. The fights in the middle of the road at 3 am, the yelling, the discarded drugs paraphernalia, fireworks, smashing of car windows for no reason. There is someone outside having an argument literally right now. Last week someone threatened the people across from me with a wooden post for feeding their cat.

One came around to find out if I was a police officer as I owned a drugs dog. I don’t. It was an unskilled spaniel, but they said they had only seen that type looking for drugs.

@Newdaynewname1

Greater manchester is nice (used to luve there and loved it) but not particularly great for many jobs.

I think so! But yes, sure, there are more jobs usually in London. The flipside is that our housing situation is nowhere near as grave (yet). My point though really is that it isn't good to generalise, when there is so much regional variation in housing in the UK.

You are not being at all unreasonable to think that is a really crap idea. As people have already pointed out, there are parks, woodlands etc for public use - gardens in general should be private spaces for the house that comes with them. Very few 'developments' that have community gardens are every used by everyone fairly, maintained fairly - people don't want to share these spaces or the expense or responsibility. There is a big difference between forking out for plants/benches/whatever in your own garden to being expected to fork out regularly for things you may not want, may never use, may begrudge other individuals or families getting benefit from. Same for time invested. We have a communal garden where we are now and it's horrible - current neighbours are awful (except one who is lovely) - we are moving soon and the new place has a reasonable size private garden, even a greenhouse and we can hardly wait.

My better half's business partner is very knowledgeable about plants and will help us with the garden - and we are happy to share with him as he is a close friend and has also helped renovate the house etc (he thinks 'our' greenhouse is 'ours' as in the 3 of us anyway, lol)

Here's hoping the architwat that came up with the book-time-in-your-own-but-shared-garden concept has a rethink

In tenement flats there are usually communal garden areas. Generally the ground floor flats have a small private area, and their own back door. The upper floors have access to the shared area. It's normal in cities isn't it? No big deal. Normally there's a shared bill for the gardener who cuts the grass and trims the trees.
If you can't afford a detached house, it is what you get. In my experience, and people are grateful for them.

God help us!
What an absolutely shite idea!

Nobody uses our communal garden except the smokers... because it's not private

I mean, you couldn't have furniture, kids stuff, bbqs etc in there as they get stolen or people would complain

I have a communal garden, it’s lovely. We live in a mansion block and in out street 64 flats share the 3 acre garden. We have garden parties, Outside coffee mornings, outdoor cinema - it’s lovely, a real community. The children always have other children to play with and they all grow up together. If anyone needs to pop to the shops then there’s always someone to watch the kids play whilst a quick dash is made.
I live my communal garden - a little sanctuary in central London and I wouldn’t change it for a private garden ever. I’ve made some of my best friends out there. 😊

The rich can have their nice, large, expensive properties with their nice large private gardens while the paupers can be squashed into tiny homes with shitty ‘communal’ courtyard gardens.

My garden is just over 100ft long. My neighbours have the same size garden. Council houses.
There was another thread about a woman trying to sell her £1mill flat with a balcony.
Don’t come the ‘poor people get forced into tiny houses’ shit.
I don’t deny that these houses will likely be on the cheaper end of the scale but that doesn’t mean it’ll be the only option poor people get.

Actually, my central London flat with communal garden is valued at £975,000.

tripesgalore

My sister lived in flats with a communal garden. We never saw anybody using it, which made it kind of eerie as all the flats were arranged around it, but with no doors out on to it from the flats. The only time someone was in it was when they were escaping from the police and jumped through another flat’s window to hide

I resent even sharing the street with half of my neighbours, never mind a garden. The fights in the middle of the road at 3 am, the yelling, the discarded drugs paraphernalia, fireworks, smashing of car windows for no reason. There is someone outside having an argument literally right now. Last week someone threatened the people across from me with a wooden post for feeding their cat

Good grief - please tell us where you live? Sounds grim. I live in central London, nothing like this!