Choosing between two houses - outside space and garden dilemma

[freshcutflowers]

What do you do when your perfect house can’t be found? I know I need to compromise on something. Outside space seems to be the issue!

House 1 is a recent build with a larger garden but the garden is North East facing so I don’t think the garden will see much sun past midday. But it’s quite a private garden. But the garden backs onto a very busy A road. The drive is the type that fits two cars but directly behind each other so a bit of a pain. Some space for DC to play out front on the estate.

House 2 is an older house that has been extended. It has a south facing garden but it’s wide but short so quite overlooked houses to the side/back of the back garden. Driveway allows two cars to be moved on and off separately. House fronts on to a busy road so no space out front for DC to play.

Both houses need a similar amount of decorating and updating but one is much newer than the other. Both are a similar size in terms of living areas and bedrooms. Both are in the same school catchment.

Both houses seem to flank busy roads so I would prefer the one facing the road (house 2) as your back garden will be quieter with potentially less fumes blowing directly into your outdoor space. Which as it happens is also the sunnier one!

North facing garden would be a deal breaker for me. I'd got with house 2.

When we were looking for our current house, the orientation of the house and garden was my number 1 priority.
I used to live in a house where the main living room faced north and I didn’t realise how awful it was until I was stuck there with a baby/toddler.

If the garden faces north east, you won’t get any direct sun after about 5pm and that’s during the month with the longest amount of daylight and the sun is high in the sky. Imagine what it’s like in Spring and Autumn, when the sun is much lower, let alone the winter.

Some people aren’t that bothered but a lack of sunshine makes me feel miserable.

House 2 for me. We moved from south facing garden to East facing and I miss the south facing so much. However that being said we love the house so it was our compromise at the time. Many of us have to compromise somewhere. We ended up in a cul.de sac which is lovely for letting the kids play in. But parking is not great.

I think my back garden is north east facing. It is very suny first thing in the morning. Great for having breakfast in the garden. Lovely and sunny all day until 5pm. Then round the front garden is sunny all evening.

We have space out front for the kids to play and this has been the best thing. We live in a quiet area and kids have made friend by playing in the space out front. The kids round here don't want to play in back gardens. It has given my ds independence and I have been able to watch him from my living room window or pretend I am doing some gardening in the front.

If it was me I would go for whichever one is quieter and least overlooked. I probably wouldn't like the drive where only one car can go in at a time. That might be a deal breaker for me.

This is our NE facing garden right now in Scotland at 3.15pm at the start of June! There is hardly any shade and the other patio if you looked back at the house gets sunshine until about 8pm until September. We left a south facing garden that was on most sunny days unusable for our toddler as there was no shade so it was like a furnace (and he was allergic to Sun cream). When we moved DH liked the house so much he was willing to compromise his south facing garden search. Im so glad he did!

Any house with a North facing garden should not be discounted until you've been there. Length of garden and surroundings make a big difference.

Our due North facing garden gets sun in most parts until 6pm from the end of april onwards (and 90-100% of garden gets sun from about 10.30-5ish). It has been more pleasant than i initially thought it would be.

House sounds nicer to me.

My garden faces NE and isn't very long but gets the sun until about 7.30/8pm at this time of year. The front garden stays sunny til it's dark!

It’s a back garden like your front garden that I was hoping for!

House b. The thought of being on a busy duel carriageway and junction with high pollution is awful.

I would make garden 2 private through planting

I agree with Porridgeoat although the garden might not be ever completely private, having planting around the boundary will reduce how much neighbours can see when in their downstairs/ garden. Whilst there might still be some view from upstairs not many people spend their days upstairs looking out of the window. Having said that we lived with a short N facing garden and in the summer the shade from the house was minimal. The road noise would bother me more.

Keep looking for a few more weeks more houses are coming on the market now, if your not 100% on the house & don’t plan to be moving again you should rent for a while - don’t rush into it for the sake of it. However, house 2 would be my choice out of the two.

Good luck!

It’s interesting that you don’t seem to love one house in particular so I wonder if you should rent for a while. Just on the whole garden debate... I would go for the quieter back garden particularly if the main living area is also at the back of the house. You will have more options for planting and can create privacy and shade. My front garden is north facing and the pathways get quite mossy & slippery and I’m more limited with the plants that will do well. I live in a quiet area generally and children here don’t play out in the street for some reason so that wouldn’t be a factor for me.

Rent. House prices are likely to drop in the next few months so bank your sale and wait it out. Neither house sounds great due to traffic issues so I’d wait for something quieter.

I would go for second property. I would think you can make a private area to sit in if you feel overlooked. The parking at property one I think could get annoying, plus more road noise and pollution.

This site will show you how much sub you’ll get.

House 2 for the garden, although personally it wouldn't be a house I'd consider as it's on a main road.

@GreekOddess

We've recently moved into a house with a north east garden whereas previously we had a south facing garden. We have sun in our garden at the moment until about 5pm.

That would put me right off. In the summer when I finish work i want to sit in a sunny garden. We have a SW facing garden and I would find it very difficult in future not to have a sunny-in-the-evening garden.

House 2 would get my vote

House 2 garden sounds much better to me. You don’t want the noise or pollution of the road.

Having lived near a polluted road - trust me, it’s awful.

Could you put up a pergola etc in the garden of house 2 to make it more private?