Would you buy a house with a small courtyard and no garden?

[cherrytrees123]

Found a house in the ideal area, ticks all the boxes but has no garden, just a small courtyard off the side of the house which fits a table and couple of chairs and a bench. Initially I thought this would be fine, but nowhere to dry washing, no grass, nowhere to sit out with family or friends. Would this be a deal breaker for you? I must admit it is tempting to put the lawnmower away, but I think I might start to find it really claustrophobic after a while, especially in the summer.

Regarding drying washing, take a look at the Brabantia wall fix.

www.amazon.co.uk/Brabantia-WallFix-Retractable-Washing-Fabric/dp/B000NTDDL6/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=brabantia+wallfix+washing+line&tag=mumsnetforum-21&ie=UTF8&qid=1526912475&sr=8-1

It depends, and I love a garden.

How do you think you would use the courtyard? Does it get any sun at all? Is it overlooked?

I like to sit in the shade, so I wouldn't mind if it wasn't south facing, but I would want enough sun to dry a bit of washing.

I would want to be able to plant climbers on the boundaries, maybe have some herbs in pots. Lack of grass wouldn't bother me at all.

If I wanted to grow veggies then I could try to get an allotment nearby.

I have a dog so probably not a house with a tiny yard.....but a bigger yard yes. Friend has a house with a backyard and she's made it stunning with planters. I need space to sunbathe and I'm good.

Frog Fairy, that contraption is a great idea! It does get a lot of sun, and you could put planters in it. Just not enough room to socialise , but enough to sit out in. if you were drying washing there would be nowhere to sit. If the house had a garden it would be out of our budget. It isn't overlooked either.

You could get organised. Washing done and on the line first thing. When it's warm enough to sit out it'll be dry by lunch. Afternoon for sitting out.

How often do you entertain friends outside? Maybe they will have to host bbqs and you have people over more in cooler weather when you'll be inside.

I do think the actual house is more important than the garden.

Depends.

I would as long as it got some sun and was big enough to make nice with big planters.

I only had a small yard at the back of my first house (and that was north facing and never got the sun) and we still maid it really nice with shade loving plants. Used to sit on the front step with a bottle of wine in the sunshine in the summer!

If I had small kids - no.

If I really liked gardening - no.

Only you can say. We traded the garden for muh more inside space but we are close to 3 parks and don’t have time to do gardening.

It's like a sunny balcony. How many days out of 365 can we sit outside? Not 50. I'd compromise on the garden for a lovely house.

Look how nice something like this is.

I would check out what is on the otherside of the walls / fence from your courtyard - you say you are not overlooked - that’s fine - but by definition of a small space you are very close to someone / something else. Also does the small enclosed space make the lower ground floor rooms dark?

I used to live in a flat - single, no kids. I felt so claustrophobic .
Personally there would have to be enough room for me and hubby to sit outside otherwise a definite dealbreaker

There is another house on the other side, quite close. That courtyard pic looks gorgeous, but the space is smaller than that. i have lived in several houses with largely unusable gardens due to the orientation or steepness or whatever. It made me miserable, but this space is sunny although small. I did think it will be much like a balcony. There are not many times we would entertain in it to be honest.

Guess it depends on your lifestyle, which part of the country you are in (i.e I'm in a part of Scotland with few super sunny days), are you near good green spaces? Etc

I wouldn't mind a small courtyard, I find gardening a faff

Location is much more important to me than things like a garden if I'm looking for property. But then again I'm in Scotland and there are tons of green spaces, parks or i can drive to a mountain.

I think garden requirements are a personal/location thing

No problem. My children were always happy to use parks.

If you have been considering buying flats too then yes ...this piece of outdoor space would be a big bonus. If you are used to plenty of outdoor space/ decent sized garden then it would be a no