Is it worth it for a garden?

[gertrudestein]

Sorry -I hope this isn't the wrong place to post this, but I am expecting first DC in July and we have to move before then (our current - rented - flat is too expensive for us if I'm not working)

We are looking at more affordable flats at the moment and trying to decide between an extra bedroom that we can use as a study (I work from home, so this would be very useful and helpful financially) or 1.5 bedrooms and a garden. (DC would still be able to have a small room probably just big enough for a cot.)

I'm looking in London so all gardens are tiny, dark and shared with other flats in the building. It seems mad to pay more for a tiny strip of mud, but on the other hand, will I go crazy with a baby inside all day? We have never had a garden before and I do sometimes get a bit claustrophobic when I'm working at home all day. On the other hand, if we had more inside space perhaps this wouldn't be a problem.

We're expecting a boy and would hope to be able to stay in the new flat for 2 - 3 years minimum.

Do we need a garden?

IMO forfeit the garden & choose the extra bedroom/study space. For outdoor spaces you can always visit a park, & if you're planning to stay for 2-3 years your DS won't be too fussed about having a garden of his/your own until around that age.

I'd agree - forfeit the garden. We had a garden where I lived in London and we rarely used it because when we wanted to be outdoors, we went for walks, to the park, etc. Is the area you're planning to move green? Does it have parks / river / canal where you can go out and walking?

We now live outside London and have a big garden, again when I want to be outdoors I still tend to go out properly. The only thing I really like about our garden is eating outside in summer and that's only about 2,5 nights per year in this country! My husband likes gardening so I guess that's also a plus...

Can you look slightly further out? We moved 5 miles further out from Tooting and found a 3 bed house with a garden for the same rent as a 2 bed flat in the Tooting/Balham/Streatham area and my husband is still able to cycle in to work. Look around different areas - in Streatham, there are lots of maisonettes that have gardens for example. A garden isn't essential, but if you are cooking lunch or doing the laundry on a nice day, a toddler can play outside in a garden (where you can see them, obviously), but they can't take themselves to the park.

I would say a close park is much more use in the short term. We are in London and have a small garden of our own but it needs lots of work still and is down steep steps, so not suitable for a toddler unsupervised. I do like hanging washing outside but vast majority of days we just go to the park.

Yup, forfeit the garden! I bought a house for its large garden and now regret it. Should have focused on the other stuff we wanted. My daughter is only just one, but we barely used the garden in the last year. It might see a little more use this year but I think we'll spend more time going out.

Extra bedroom - the amount of stuff you end up with once you have a child is extraordinary.

Wow, fantastic! Thank you for that pretty unanimous response!

Unfortunately cycle we can't go any further out because we have work and family commitments on opposite sides of town. Hoping we'll be able to in a few years though.

So glad I did this just before I called the estate agent to put down a deposit ...

thank you again!

We used local parks more than our garden in first year - better for exercise & getting baby to sleep & meeting friends etc.

I'd rather have the extra space! You can go to parks for the space