Do you have a North/NW facing garden and how important is it?

[moonsquirters]

We are currently in the process of having our house valued. All if the estate agents are making a big thing of how great it is that we have a SW facing garden and how people will pay a premium for this. Admittedly our kitchen and garden at the back is lovely and sunny even on a winters day and it's great in the summer. Our rather dark front room is rarely used.

The house we are looking at looks great on paper. It has lovely French windows going into the garden at the back and a conservatory off the back room. The garden is small but private with lots of trees. It looks great on paper but I'm being put off now because the garden is N/NW facing and I'm imagining the back of the house being gloomy and wondering if this is why it hasn't sold. We haven't l

Your thoughts please.

We have a NE facing garden. In the summer it gets sun all day except the patio. It has no sun at all from about mid October until Easter. The rooms towards the back to tend to be quite cool.
It all depends on the length of the garden, its elevation and the size of buildings, fences and walls surrounding it. I think our garden isn't ideal but it is liveable. We are in London and whilst we got exactly the location and size of house we wanted we had to compromise on the garden. It's easy to say for people that a north facing garden is an absolute no no, when there are so many aspects of a house to consider such as size, closeness to schools and amenities etc.

It depends. If you spend a lot of time in the back of the house (ie that's where the family room is) then it could be gloomy. However, if the house has been extended, it may have velux / roof windows. Once you have windows in the roof it doesn't matter as they let in much more sunshine than a south facing window and the room will be light and bright all day long. Regarding the actual garden, again it depends on if it gets any sun (which will in part depend on its size and if the West and East aspects are blocked). I have a South facing garden and love it but one of our friends have a tiny north facing garden that is blisteringly sunny and warm in the summer.

We have a SW facing garden but there is no shade on the S side either. While its lovely that it gets sun all year round and the back of the house is bright, from May till the end of August the garden and conservatory is completely in full sun by 10am till sunset. No shade whatsoever and the conservatory turns into an oven!

I would buy a house with a N facing garden if the garden was a decent size but ideally i want my next house to be E or W facing at the back.

It would be a big no no for me. South west is ideal - for my next house
Our bedroom is north facing, at the front of the house. It is freezing in winter.

Our garden is west facing so we have full sun in the front all morning and then the sun sets onto our extension and our tiny garden. We adapt our lifestyle accordingly.

I think more important than which direction the garden faces is whether there are tall trees or buildings around which cast shade.

Surely if it is N/NW you would get the afternoon and evening sun. Our N facing garden is only shaded by about a couple of metres from house in summer, and even in winter gets sun (if it is out) late afternoon. In summer when the sun is high (and late spring, early autumn) the house will only shade a bit I would imagine.

I like ours as it gives shade in summer. Last house had S facing garden and it all heated up too much and we used to live with blinds shut in summer to keep the sun out!!!! Now the front of the house can have the sun streaming in and light up the house, and the patio is lovely and cool. Perfect!!!

Agree it depends on how high the house is, the height of the buildings around you, fences etc. But don't automatically write it off.