Buying a new build - garden aspect

[Ninjamilo]

Afternoon

Hubby and I had our hearts set on a new build plot with a south west facing garden, which we were unfortunately beaten to by a couple of days! So we're back to square one...

I've always been told to go for a south facing garden, however does this really matter so much on new build estates where the houses are so closely packed together and overlooked?

The remaining plots have either a south east facing garden, however the garage and driveway is at the back of the garden which is not ideal, or north west facing.

The other alternative is a south west facing garden, but smaller house...

Has anyone bought a new build and can pass on some experience? I don't want to spend so much money on a house if we then hate the garden, but I also don't know if we're being too fussy!

Google hasn't been my friend with answers to this question where such small gardens are involved...

Honestly you need all the light you can get. New builds are so horribly depressing in themselves. As dark garden can make for a dark house which just makes it so much worse.

I think it depends on the layout of the house and windows tbh. We have a south-facing garden but that means the living room is north-facing and gets little light- I really miss the light from our last house that had a very sunny south-facing living room and north facing garden that was sunny at the far end. Easier to tell in the summer I guess when you can look at different times of day.

Whichever design we go for, the living room is at the front and kitchen / family room at the back. We're not expecting to use the living room a lot really, more the back of the house.

You're right, such a bad time of year to get an idea of what it will be like, but with a baby due in April we're in a bit of a rush sadly

So I guess sun at the back of the house is the most important maybe? Hope you find something that suits you soon.

We've been in our new build with a north west facing garden for almost a year and have no regrets. We moved from a house with a south west facing garden that had no shelter from the sun and to be honest being able to get away from the blazing sun on a really hot day is quite nice.
As for inside the house itself we're quite lucky that the living room runs front to back with a window front and side and French doors on the back and the kitchen gets lots of light from a huge glass fronted floor to ceiling panel in the hall/landing so it doesn't feel at all dark but I would imagine if we didn't have that it would make quite a difference.

"ve always been told to go for a south facing garden, however does this really matter so much on new build estates where the houses are so closely packed together and overlooked?"

I think this is a really perceptive comment. The light that you get in a garden depends on very much more than aspect. Overhanging trees, buildings, hills, the slope of the ground etc. also play a huge role. It really comes down to the individual site in question.

You can make a stunning garden on any aspect of house, and on any exposure. It just involves planting differently.