AIBU to take out a £30k personal loan to revamp our odd garden?

[GardenDeLuxe]

Would you??

We've had a rough quote from a gardener and this is the ballpark. We would have to finance it... at least a big chunk of it.

I've lived in my house for over 15 years and the garden has always been pretty rubbish. We have always struggled to know what to do with it. It has a strange plot shape so consists of multiple triangle shapes around the house. We are on a hill as well, so it's on lots of different levels so feels very disjointed.

We have 8 years left on our mortgage (£55k balance)... I think the current rate is currently similar to a personal loan. So, it seems a personal loan is a better way to go??? Seems 'frivolous' to take out a personal loan somehow - but then we would have a horrible garden forevermore otherwise??!

AIBU to just take out a loan as you only live once?!

That seems a huge sum, can’t you improve it for less, how many quotes/ideas have you had. We love our garden and spend quite a bit on it, it’s such a source of pleasure so if you can afford the investment I am sure you will benefit from it OP. Depends how manageable that is for you.

My friend spent £'s on her garden, but it's her pride and joy and she gets so much enjoyment from it that I'd consider it an investment. If you feel the same and can afford the repayments then I'd got for it.

Will the work genuinely give you everything you want from a garden? I'd probably save up part, finance part in my circumstances, but a garden is very important to me

How long would it take you to pay off / save up £30k? The longer it would take, the more hesitant I would be.

Also, can you challenge the designer to reduce the cost at all and still give you an improvement that isn't all singing and dancing? Or, if the scheme includes planting up, do that bit yourself over a few years? Do the clearance bit yourself?

Agree that getting a few different opinions would be very helpful and you can merge them together if needs be. I am not particularly surprised at that level of cost for lots of landscaping though.

It sounds an exorbitant amount to spend on a garden. Surely you could do the vast majority of whatever needs to be done yourselves?

I'd concentrate on paying off the mortgage early if you can, and then think about the garden.

I would. Landscaping is expensive and a good garden is worth doing properly

You need to get more quotes - what does the £30k include?

It’s definitely worth investing well in properly landscaping and planting out a garden, big that’s a lot of money unless there’s a lot or retaining walls involved.

Definitely get more quotes, we wanted a retaining wall with built in seating (we are all levels triangles as well) quoted up to 12k originally by some firms off trust a trader. Got a local independent guy in the end who was mainly a fencer/patio person who did a great job for 3k

It depends on the price/value of your home. If you are in an area where houses have a ceiling price of £120k, then £30k on a garden is a waste of money. If you live in an area where the average house price is £750k then £30k on making the garden nice is probably reasonable. If you can afford the repayments, go for it.

How many years will take to pay it back? It's all relative isn't it? If it was going to years and years of debt hanging over me then no way I would do it. If it was a fairly short term thing I would go for it. Do what makes you happy! Loads of people have loans and finance on cars that cost much and that's considered 'normal' and even necessary. It's just another monthly cost for something that will hopefully bring you joy!

Jesus Christ no.

I wouldn’t. It wouldn’t add that much value to the house either so you’d never get it back.

I would if I could afford it. My parents did many years back and the money they invested in plans paid for itself many times over. That said, I would only go for somebody with actual garden design/garden architecture training, and ideally separately from doing the actual gardening work. There's just so much that goes into it, especially planning a garden for across different seasons, that you simply won't be able to judge from somebody's portfolio.

Go for it
I just bought a flat on my credit cards and a personal loan- much better rate that to take out a mortgage

My garden is a space to keep the neighbours away from me

as PP said you need to get a number of quotes

@GardenDeLuxe whats the interest rate on the loan? That would be the decider for me

I'd say 30k is a lot for a garden.

It doesn't necessarily matter though. Most of the time when you spend money you don't get it back. Not everything has to be an investment or a hustle. It's OP's home, an improvement to her life and wellbeing, something she can enjoy. Not an ISA.

No I wouldn't do it. The garden is an unashamed luxury and as such I would only spend money that I had. I can't see any reason to add debt for this. Suppose you spent this on the garden then some essential maintenance up, or 101 other unexpected costly surprises? Only spend what you have.

Are you sure a personal loan costs less than adding to your mortgage? That seems surprising. Make sure you do the sums for the entire period of the loan.

I think the opposite. £30k is a lot compared to the outstanding mortgage because the outstanding mortgage is low. So extra debt isn't so bad. If the mortgage was £300k it would not be a lot Vs outstanding mortgage but overall debt would be huge so not a great idea!

Do it, OP. I wouldn't care about adding value if you don't plan to move soon, either.

Not a waste of she gets years of enjoyment out of it! People who have expensive houses don't necessarily like spending time in the garden any more.

I probably wouldn't. It's a large sum and interest rates could change dramatically, making repayments very difficult.

I would get more quotes and if possible, consider having smaller bits done at a time?

Re-mortgaging would probably be a better option financially.

30k on a garden in a £300k house??

Madness if you ask me. Doesn’t take £30k to make a garden nice.

only you know if this is affordable and worthwhile.

my garden brings me a huge amount of joy. I have just spent quite a lot redoing the patios because I use the space a lot.

I would spend £30k to make an unusualness garden useable.