Is a garden important?

[cooperbug]

We have seen a house we really like but it doesn't have a garden. It dies have quite a large outdoor terrace with bifolds that open out into it but no grass area.

We have two young children and currently have a garden for them to play which is not massive but it’s green and they can run around a bit.

Is not having a garden too much of a compromise to take and would we struggle to sell a house on without a garden in the future? The house itself is perfect for us.

We are in a city centre property with a patio garden. I really like it, it is full of lovely potted plants and trees and when the children were younger they could pedal their bikes around. It’s easy to manage with little maintenance. I would never look for a house with a large garden because of the maintenance and I rarely sit in the garden.
It would be possible to convert it to grass but would be a hassle but if future buyers wanted to they could.

I think a garden is really important. Not too big unless you are a keen gardener. But I don't like houses with paved backyards and no grass. So it's really important.

It's really down to your family and how you use it. We have a big house with a small garden and it suits us as we like it low maintenance. We bought in a desirable area so the small garden was the compromise, luckily we live surrounded by parks and beautiful countryside. I think you can definitely make a small space work for younger kids but you do need to be a bit creative.

A small garden can really impact on value but that means you can get a lot of house for your money if it's the right compromise for you. But make sure it's the house of your dreams, which you could never otherwise find in your budget, or you may be overpaying.

Of course loads of people wouldn't even consider it, but that is why the value is lower, and yes resale could be a bit trickier but not impossible if you are realistic on pricing.

Since ‘lockdown’ I would think the garden is one of the most important things

In my view a house cannot be perfect without a garden, I would never be without ours.

Caveat : I am not in the uk. But come next year will you have school to consider, will school be open every day, do you work from home, can you cope with them under your feet a lot, will you be able to wear them out enough?

Buy for the future is fine as far as it goes but buying for now also needs to be considered.