New build with a NE facing garden - bad idea?

[Sunnyhunny123]

Hi everyone! My partner and I are looking at buying a new build off plan which has everything we want/need but the only draw back is it has a NE facing garden. I’m struggling with the idea as we currently have a SW garden which gets full sun until about 4-5pm. But love the house and its location.
We have a 3 year old and due baby #2 in July.
i love the sun but appreciate my other half struggles in full heat and do need to consider the two little ones. Its Plot 85.

Please could you share your experiences of NE facing gardens?

Unless it's a big garden, which would make a huge difference, you wouldn't get much afternoon sun in a typical estate house imo. If that's important to you I'd look at other options. I once had a house with a NE garden and it was miserable in the summer when I could see the sunshine from other rooms but the garden itself was in deep shade after midday.

It’s not just about the garden, I had a North facing garden and whilst parts of it got the sun, the rooms at the back never got any direct sunlight. They were the rooms we used the most and I found it dark and depressing (new build). The garden was boggy in parts which wasn’t great for the kids. We moved and I would never have a north facing garden again however much it was the perfect house.

The bogginess is the soil (clay/rubble/compaction) and nothing to do with aspect.

@Harrysmummy246 I agree it didn’t help having clay soil but because that area of lawn hardly ever got the sun it didn’t dry out and became boggy.

Our garden is NE facing and looks a very similar size to that. The size is really important, a small NE facing garden with surrounding houses won’t get much sun but yours looks like ours. The soil is awful (clay) so I’ve had raised beds put in. The one on the right (facing NW) doesn’t get much sun because the fence puts it in the shade. I’ve had a raised bed built the other side this year which faces SE as I noticed last summer that area gets a lot more sun, so I’m hoping to grow some sun loving plants although I accept I won’t be able to have some things. The garden is absolutely fab for my kids in the summer because the area where they sit and play is in the shade in the afternoons. The south facing front is fab for hanging baskets !

I'd never want a north or a south facing garden because it means half the rooms in your house never get direct sun. From a gardening viewpoint it's manageable and your garden will get some sun but the north facing rooms will be significantly cooler and more expensive to heat than the south facing ones because of the lack of sun.

We've only ever bought east/west facing houses and it means both the front and back garden get several hours of sun each day and all rooms get the sun at different times of day.

I’ve got a NE facing garden (new build) and it’s great for kids. My daughters also have the back bedroom so their room is the coolest in the summer.
My daughter can play in the garden throughout the day, half of the garden at the top gets sun and she just moves in and out if she’s too hot without having to come back inside.
Washing dries on the line quickly. Haven’t had any problems personally (would be a rubbish garden for a sunbather though).

Unless we sunbathe at the end of the garden 😂 thank you!

This is bang in the middle north and east and we found out today the garden will be approx 13mx8m so fairly long