Garden size 20~25 square meters

[midnightOK]

We are half way through buying a house. I went for a second view and realized the garden was quite small, around 20~25 square meters. We have two young kids. And the garden even can't fit a trampoline there. I am doubting if we should go ahead with the purchase. Feel very bad now

do you need a trampoline - is there enough room for swingball? my 3 year old likes to play that.

can you put a paddling pool in and some trikes so they can shuffle around?

Is it on a new build estate with a park or somewhere to ride bikes if they're a bit older?

if there were other green area options nearby and house is good in other ways, i might put up with it.

I wouldn't either :(

That's too small if you're hoping for your children to spend a reasonable amount of time amusing themselves in the garden. If you're happy for them to spend time outside elsewhere (nearby park, quiet green at the front as you often find on new estates...) then go for it and keep your garden pretty for sitting out in.

I wouldn't. But then we have bought houses with amazing gardens even though the house was problematic. We have also discounted amazing houses because the garden was too small or to the side rather than the back.

what's the size of the property downstairs in sq ft or sq metres?

if you are in London, 25sqm is great. elsewhere, look at whether other houses in the area have bigger gardens.

Ideally, don't go for the smallest garden in the neighbourhood, but it all depends what you can afford and what you want to compromise on.

Nope. Deal breaker for me. Yes my kids were happy with swing ball and a paddling pool age 3, but now age 5 - 10 they spend ages out there on swings, trampoline, playing football etc. We are lucky that ours is big for a suburban garden - about 200 - 250sqm, but it was one of the main selling points of the house and will still be a good size once we've done the extension we've planned.

I don't think we (two sisters) ever played in our garden. It was a normal semi detached house sized garden.

We played in the street (cul de sac) and the field next door.

Flip, kids don't even leave the house nowadays. Unfortunately.

Why do parents think all children need trampolines?

Depends on how many years you will have children in the 5-9 bracket, really.

Before that they don't need as much space; after that they need more space than many gardens can provide anyway, so have to go to the park / the road outside / another bit of land

How does it compare to the others in the area?

I think garden is important but it does depend what amenity space is nearby. For example if you're facing onto a quiet village green then it's better than a garden, but if you're on a dual carriageway not so much.
We're on a main road in London and all the houses along here have about 200m² which I think is ample. I think the road makes the house cheaper more than the garden makes it more expensive!

It could be fine depends on what else is about.

Loads of kids don't have any gardens.

That's the size of most gardens round me. But I'm in London. So depends whether it's standard for the area and you like that area.

I think it's OK, But I'm in London, too, and that seems quite typical. The vast majority of kids' at my DC primary school didn't have a garden because they lived in flats, so I don't think they're essential. We didn't have trampoline, but had a small sandpit and a paddling pool for summer. We didn't have swings either. But then, for us, the local park was only two minutes away, so we used that at lot. They learnt to ride their bikes there, too.

Ours is 20ft by 20ft - had a seesaw and a sandpit when small. Made trips to the park (10 min walk) something to look forward to as well.

(and means cutting the grass takes less than 15 min start to finish!)