Help!! Have I just bought the wrong house?

[EllisRoses]

We've bought plot 13. I didn't know this whole north/south facing thing. I'm a first time buyer. I did ask the estate agent how much sun the back garden would get and he said morning sun and from mid afternoon onwards, I thought that was perfect as the kids will have shade during the hottest part of the day but we'll have sun the rest of the time. Now I've seen a post about north facing gardens and I googled and oh my god. Damp, dark, no sun ever, nothing grows? What have I done!! There's more plots available but it would be difficult, if not impossible to change at this point and everything would need to be redone, mortgage, H2B, the lot...

@Mumofwho

So close to the shops with a south facing garden adds about 25% to the house price.

Absolutely the North facing garden houses are worth less than the South facing.

So OP @EllisRoses if all the houses are the same price, ultimately 32/31 will be worth more than 13/14. And then "near the main road" will take some money off.

I think "on a corner" (worry about passing traffic) will be offset by the fact it has a bigger garden.

Personally I think being near a road and/or being overlooked are both way worse than a North facing garden!

Another north facing garden here, which we love and spent all summer/lockdown in. No problems at all. As long as the garden is big enough, parts will always be in the sun during summertime, so long as not blocked by surroundings obviously.

I've got a north facing garden and it is chock full of happy plants. The area by the fence at the bottom is technically a south facing bed, as it points away from the North, IYSWIM. I have sun loving plants in there.

Houses with a South facing garden command a 20% premium
What a load of bollocks
I really doubt the identical house on the other side of the road from me is worth £150,000 more than mine

I've had a couple of north facing gardens and never found them to be a problem. We just had the patio/seating area at the end of the garden rather than just outside the back door.

So Bruce how come my house with my north facing rear garden (the only one* on the road* with that orientation) is consistently valued at more than the similar sized properties opposite?

@Bakeachocolatecaketoday I can understand that south facing gardens may command a premium if people are crazy about them but 25% more doesn’t really make sense. You are basically claiming that the direction of a garden is worth almost the same price as a loft conversion. Say a house that has a north facing garden is £100,000, 25% more is £125,000. Unless that garden is huge with something valuable buried in the soil, there is no way any sensible house hunter will shell out that sort of money for the ONLY the direction of the garden and the possibility of getting the sun on your plants.

The more expensive the house, the greater that 25% is an absolute terms. Really defies reasonable belief. I’m not buying it.

I did a google search and the national average is 7% premium. Note that this is a national average. I expect the median would be a lot lower and possible generally the premium would be almost zero. We all know the problems with using averages for what would be incomplete data with huge ranges.

We've got north facing, the bit where your garage would be will be the best spot for afternoon sun, so it's good that it's not there, you can put a shed in the bottom left.
The back of our house is always nice and cool in the summer.
Our patio does go green though in the winter.
Shame about plot 25..

@dopenguinsdance

So Bruce how come my house with my north facing rear garden (the only one* on the road* with that orientation) is consistently valued at more than the similar sized properties opposite?

South facing gardens are often more expensive. That doesn't mean EVERY south facing garden is expensive north facing gardens.

Why are you getting your house valued so often?

Our last house had a north facing garden.
I think it all depends on the size (ours wasn't huge) and whats around it. All the neighbouring gardens backed onto each other. I had sun in the mornings at the top of the garden and in the evenings on the patio by the house. I liked having a choice of whether or not to sit in the sun. Dh liked the shade.

Mind you it wasn't a gardening garden, mainly bbqs, wine sipping and a lawn for the kids and to dry my tents on.

You could always put seating out the front if its a quiet road.

I've a west facing garden in this house, still follow the sun around but now do gardening too.

We have a South facing garden, but there is a long high evergreen hedge at the end so some is permanently in shade. It really doesn't bother us because it gives us shade, privacy and we have lots of other sunny bits of the garden but you could buy a South facing garden and someone grow a hedge or tree.

We had a North facing garden, the winter was darker but over the summer months we had lots of sun. We had a (much hated on MN) conservatory which the previous owners had built and because it was North facing we could still use it in the height of the summer without melting.

A North facing garden might put some buyers off but for every South facing garden there is usually a North facing one so someone must buy them.

I had a North facing garden and the issues were no sun coming in back of house si rooms were dark, garden was boggy as didn't dry out and needed drainage adding. I now have a South facing garden and am so much happier. If you can change for a different plot I would seriously consider it.

We have a shared drive and it's fine.

We have a south west facing garden and I can't be out there during the day for a good part of the year. Too hot. I like cooler gardens with woodland planting.

It's not even a shared drive, there is no part you both have access to.

I love the sun, but both houses I've bought have been north-facing. It means the front of the house is light and sunny (to the point furniture has faded), while the darker rooms are the smaller rooms. Our dining room never gets sun, but I can live with that whereas a dark living room would get me down.

The garden? Current house is a Victorian semi that has never been extended, previous one an unextended terrace. Neither get any light in the part of the garden that is adjacent to the kitchen - which projects - but pretty much every other bit of the garden gets at least some direct sun in the course of the day. We have loads of plants thriving. In summer the end of the garden is a real sun-trap, and I've spent long days lounging in the sun. This is a tall, three-storey house, the garden not very long and we have trees and large shrubs that cast shadow. If any one of those factors was altered we'd have a bigger sunny area.

For a few weeks now the garden hasn't got any direct sun and in the warmer months we are in full shade from late afternoon. I'd prefer more sun, but really a south-facing garden is very low down my list of must-haves and wants in a house. And I'd miss a sunny front room. Also - remember that other buildings are a factor. Neighbours over the road have much taller houses behind them, meaning that they aren't in a much better position than us. Some houses on our side have very long back gardens - they most certainly get a lot of sun!

I live in the north west btw.

We had a south facing 1950s 2 bed semi - mid summer about 1 to 1.5 metres of garden was in shade of the house the rest in the sun.
The sun is approaching overhead in summer so almost all the garden gets sun - that's why it's summer - due to the tilt of the earth on its axis.

My living room faces north and I love it as you can't see the dust, every cloud 👍

OP, every issue people have raised, you’ve defended the house and why you like it. That’s your answer!

Buy it, because you obviously love it, and you’ll be happy there. It’s not uncommon to buy a house and have a last minute panic that you’ve done the wrong thing. New builds are notoriously BOILING in the summer, so a North facing garden might be a relief.

You’ve clearly put thought into which plot and why. So just trust your instincts and buy the house. Good luck with everything

@EllisRoses, are you buying off-plan or has the house been built already?
If the house is standing, view it and check the light levels in each room.

I'd go plot 15 and add an extra parking space on your front garden down the line. We have a NE garden and it's fab. Sunny in the morning, cooler in the afternoon.

Our garden is north facing. Yes middle of day is shadey near the house,but end of garden is in the sun, so we get a choice about where to sit. The rooms at the rear of the house stay lovely and cool in the summer. We grow lovely plants in the shadey bit, have no damp issues. It's fine

I never understand all this south facing stuff but if you're worried, correct it before it's too late.

Our garden is north facing and we still get loads of sun.

Red acers and many other plants love shady areas. Our back garden faces north, and we have a greenhouse growing tomatoes, salads, and all sorts of fruit and veg.

They do very well, though our North facing living room is much cooler than our South facing hall.