Planning to Buy a House with North facing garden!

[PinkSwan]

Hi everyone.. I would like your inputs on this topic! We are planning to buy a our dream 4 bed link detached house having a 45ft back garden which is mostly north facing and slightly east facing. Also It has a south facing front garden which is 49ft and next to the drive way to the garage. So how bad or good is this?

Thanks in advance :)

[PinkSwan]

Thank u to all replies.. We have had the offer accepted for this house. Now I realise that the garden is North west facing and not north east .... :) So may be we will have some westerly sun in then evenings. Also the current owner says that that half the garden gets Sun in Winter and only the part closest to the house doesn't get Sun in summer. So we are OK with it and I feel happy to have both sunny and shady parts.. Here's the arial view of the property :)

[Greenrememberedhills]

I think it depends on the size of the garden, heights of walls, and how the house is overlooked.

Larger gardens fare better and are sunny at the far end. I have an east facing garden, having previously swore I never would. It gets a great deal of sun from the south, as it isn't overlooked from that side.

Also, consider the house itself. It is the rooms at the back which are in shade. For me, it matters whether those are rooms in which you spend day time.

My house is oddly shaped as it is an extended cottage, so it isn't an issue. If the house has the kitchen and daytime living space facing north, that may be depressing?

[littlemonkeyface]

Personally I would never buy a house a with north facing garden. Ours is south facing and sheltered from the wind so feels like summer from late March right into October. Friends of ours with a north facing garden hardly sit outside as it always feels dark and damp. I think a north facing garden is only good if you want a glass conservatory that you can use all year round.

[bealos]

We have a 10ft north facing garden and it's fine! 45ft and you'll be laughing... The large proportion of it will get loads of sun.

We have a South facing wall at the end of our very small garden and grow all sorts of things. We are in London though so quite mild.

[wormshuffled]

I've had to go half way down my long garden today to get in the sun with my washing airer. In summer its fine, in fact I love how the back of my house is kept cool.

[beingsuper]

What matters for the garden is any close obstructions to the west and east of the garden, not the house, so neighboring houses need not be a problem. We once had a north facing garden on a long straight road of semis and it was a suntrap in the summer.

[JustABitOfCollateralDamage]

We have a north facing garden and struggle to create enough shade for the children! Garden slopes upwards so there's a shady patio by the house, all of the garden gets sun until the evening.

We're also semi-detatched, but seem to get more sun than some of our neighbours (lucky with the angles and gaps?).

[PinkSwan]

@Murdermysteryreader, Thank u :)
@bigbluestars, The property we are planning to buy is a semidetached one.. so there are many houses both to the left and right of the property.. however, this house is on the curve of the road so not sure if that is an advantage. Behind the garden is a garage and few back gardens of other properties..

[bigbluestars]

Depends on how your garden is aspected. I have a North facing back garden but is long enough to avoid the shadow of the house itself and no other buildings West or East for 800metres or so. It gets the East rising sun all the way around to sunset.

[Murdermysteryreader]

We have a North facing garden and it doesn't bother me . We still get plenty of sun and washing dries. It isn't a big issue.

[PinkSwan]

Thank u @jaynebxl :)

[jaynebxl]

North facing garden here too and still get plenty of sun. Besides I've always felt you don't want too much sun if you have kids playing in the garden all day.

[PinkSwan]

The Master bedroom and the second bedroom face north! whilst the 3rd and the fourth bedroom are south facing. Thank u for those inputs..

[NeedaDiscoNap]

We have a North facing garden and still get a decent amount of sunshine - the main issue for us is the bedrooms and living room at the front are ridiculously warm when it's hot outside because they face south. We live in a new build, so it's partially because if the level of insulation, but I can't emphasise enough how unbearable it can be when it's really sunny.

However, on the flip side, it really cuts down on heating costs!

[imme]

We have a NE facing garden, about 40 feet deep. In the summer it's in the sun all day and we had to get a parasol to get some shade. We enjoyed eating alfresco on the main patio by the house as it was the only cool shady spot. We did get a patio built though at the end of the garden to ensure we get a sunny spot to sit in the evening or during warm days in October or the spring.
I think the problem is in the winter months, from November until beginning of March when there is no sun at all in the garden, as a previous poster mentioned. That's a bit grim. Having said that, the sun is so low that it's barely even in the south facing gardens across the road.
I think a lot depends on the elevation of the house and height of trees, walls and depth of garden.
Resale value depends on a lot of things.. Location, size, number of bedrooms etc etc and garden. We are in London and houses in our area fly of the shelf, regardless which way the garden faces/

[ouryve]

It's my idea of bliss. I'm not a sun worshipper and we're all fair skinned. Our current house is the other way around and I spend as little time as possible in the back yard, on a hot sunny day, because it's intolerable.

[TeaAndALemonTart]

I would not buy a house with a north facing garden. I love sunny gardens.

[Magpiemystery]

I've got a north facing garden, in summer we get loads of Sun and have decking at the end of the garden and the patio by the house is in the share which is lovely, it beats the shade from an umbrella.

We then get evening sun across from the side and often sit on the patio in the evening sun which is blissful.

[jalopy]

Another consideration is that the kitchen will probably not have direct sunlight in it all day. That would bother me too.

[Rubberstamp]

We have a north facing garden, about 65ft and it's hugely sunny. In the summer, it gets full sun until 2ish and then the patio gets shaded (which is good as it gives somewhere to sit) and the last of the sun doesn't go from the end until 8-9pm. In winter, we get sun until about 3ish (it goes dark from 4pm). I was worried when we moved in, but it's totally fine.

[whisperinglow]

My house is in a similar position too. Everything in the front garden gets burnt and everything at the back in the shadow of the house grows moss! We have a double whammy at the back because the neighbours' trees on either side shade the garden more and suck the moisture out of the soil. It has been a real battle to grow anything in the borders close to the house - but then I'm not a very good gardener!
Also, another thing to mention is the house really takes a battering at the front from the sun. The paint finish deteriorates much more quickly.
On the plus side, I often sit on the front doorstep in the summer evenings and watch the goings on of the neighbours!

[hiccupgirl]

I have a west facing garden currently with no shade on the south side. In the summer it is fully in the sun from 10am for the rest of the day. Sounds lovely but it is a killer on hot days and our conservatory is like a furnace.

On the other hand we rented a house with a north facing garden and it was quite depressing in the winter but lovely to get the shade in the summer.

If the house was lovely and the garden wasn't too shaded by other houses, trees etc then I would probably go for it.

[UnwittingAccomplice]

We had a north facing garden once and I'd never buy a house with one unless the block was quite wide. We like a secluded garden, and once our north facing garden was surrounded by enough trees and hedges to be private it became quite damp and sunless. Our current north facing garden is so much nicer.

[specialmagiclady]

I think it will also depend which way the rooms face inside. If the room you will spend most time in are on the north side of the house you will be living in the dark.

[pluCaChange]

We've bought a house with a north-facing garden, and one big advantage is that any garden-facing bedrooms will not get the morning sun, so you will be able to sleep in without noise or sun!