Would you buy a house with North East garden?

[Sparkle880]

I need help as I am driving myself insane knowing what to do for the best!!! We are currently looking for our long term family home and for nearly a year have not found anything suitable (we are used to renovating property and having everything to our tastes so seem to have become quite picky) but we now have two DC in tow so want an easier life!!! We have found a property on a new build estate, it is a 4 bed detached with lovely big kitchen/dining living area, with a detached double garage (with a private area for seating in between the garage and the front of the house, about 15ftx15ft ) looking out of to a tree lined pond. We did think we wanted a big garden (but had a wish list as long as our arm) however the garden on the property is 30ft in length by about 25ft in width, this seems small in comparison to what we had envisioned but the inside of the house works well, is at the end of a small cul-de-sac with no through traffic and has green space nearby. Please help!!! Will I forever be regretting this, I am terribly worried that the back garden will be small, dark and dingy!!!

Dank in winter but bliss in a heatwave. I spend a lot of time in our North facing front garden when it's hot and only venture into the back to hang washing out.

It would depend for me, does any part of the garden get sun, and how long for? I’m guessing not a lot? My front garden is north east facing (though not as big) and gets direct sun for a couple of hours early morning but then nothing. I think you might regret it if you like the sun

I wouldn't buy it, no. But we live in our garden in the summer, and having a South/SouthWest facing garden is really important to us.

I would keep looking, but if you aren't bothered about being in the garden and it ticks all the other boxes for you, then you need to decide if its worth the compromise.

A small north facing garden would put me off.
We have a north facing garden but it’s fairly big. In the summer it’s absolutely scorching for most of the day but with some lovely shady areas.

Personally no. I like gardening and you would struggle to grow much, especially to eat, in a north facing garden. It was important to me that my garden was south/south-west-facing.

No, North East is darkest.
I have owned North West which had evening sun and was ok.
West is best for me.
South West next.
Then South.
I like the garden to have afternoon and evening sun.

Can the sun get over the garage? If the garage is on the right of the house, and the house faces SW, can the sun reach the garden over a lower garage? Just a thought!

What are the vendors growing in the garden? Do they have a seating area? This might give you a clue about any sun that’s available.

Are you in the countryside? If so yes, if it’s city then no

Thanks everyone so we are buying off plan so I can’t really even get a feel for it, we would have to dive feet in!! We are planning on landscaping the garden would have a 5m x 8m section of lawn then a slightly raised seating area at the back of the garden where we are expecting to get the last of the sun! I think I just want to make sure it’s big enough and light enough for the children to enjoy rather than worshiping the sun. @PresentingPercy the sun would set infront of the garage as it dog legs to the left of the house so the small courtyard area at the front I described should get late evening sun. We are very tempted by it as nothing else in our price range affords a detached home with double garage and bar the garden position we do like where the house is positioned on the development. @organisedmother we are on the outskirts of a big town it is semi rural with lots of green space nearby for good bike rides and walks (also a park and cricket club which doubles as a football pitch) x

It seems like it would be too small to get any sun apart from summer mornings. I would imagine it would turn into a bog in the winter.

I would go for it! Let’s face it we live in England you only get good use from the garden in the summer... when was the last time u went in your garden to enjoy then sun?? Mine was August 🤦🏼‍♀️

@organisedmother yes exactly the same for me haven’t been in the garden since October. The logical part of my brain is saying go for it I just need to let go of the idea of ‘the good life’ as otherwise we will literally never find a house. Part of me is worried about resale especially as we are buying on quite a large new development but we plan on staying put for about 10 years while the kids are little so I think I need to get over that too!!!

What’s surrounding the garden- are there other houses very close to your boundaries or do you have a lot of space and also can you see lots of sky? I think the amount of sky you can see makes a huge difference because even if the sun isn’t shining into the garden, if there’s lots of sky and not huge amounts of shade coming from brick walls, it will be absolutely fine. If there are brick walls from other houses surrounding your garden then no I wouldn’t go for it. Our garden is North East and whilst I’d prefer a South facing garden it isn’t a deal breaker at all.

I mean august haha

I have a north facing garden and it doesn't bother me tbh. I just go sit in the front garden if I want to enjoy the sun a little longer.

@hellasciously would you say it is bigger than 35ft x 25ft though??? The back wall to end of garden is 10 Meters, it’s widest is 10m but narrows at the bottom x

I vowed when starting my search that I wanted south or south west only but quickly realised they are very hard to come by. I walked round a lot of my local area with a compass and the roads that had south facing gardens were few and far between and we're all on main roads or had other flaws, and none were becoming available with south facing gardens in the right size and we had been looking for ages. Sometimess you do need to accept your will have to compromise. We've settled on an East facing. Currently live in a north east facing and we do get sun from late morning until about 5oclock in summer, which isn't great for me who would prefer evening sun but is good for the kids.

It’s not just the garden to think about, it’s the light in the house. It will be darker in the house. I wouldn’t buy it for that reason alone.

To be honest, after a year of looking, you need to work out where you are willing to compromise. Personally I would buy somewhere needing renovations but larger plot as you can change it over time, kids don't care what it looks like!

@CrystalMaisie

It’s not just the garden to think about, it’s the light in the house. It will be darker in the house. I wouldn’t buy it for that reason alone.

I agree with this. I have a SW facing garden which is great for us. The back of our house is mainly glass and it's just a really lovely part of the house to be in as it always feels so bright.

. It will be darker in the house. that’s not necessarily true. If the garden isn’t surrounded by other buildings it won’t be dark in the house!

To remind everyone- just because the sun isn’t shining directly at something, does not mean it will be dark there!

We have a north west facing garden and get some sun in the morning til about 11am and then the evening sun. We love it and appreciate the shade in the summer.
House gets enough light mostly and this will be improved when we can chop some trees down in the back garden!

The front will not be dark. That faces South West presumably.

It will not be a bog either. You will need to pay attention to the soil under any grass and ensure draining is suitable. Then it will be fine. A bigger problem might be moss but you will just have to control that.

I think it is a small garden for a bigger house - but it is a compromise. DC will have to be trusted to play in the park area.

I wouldn't. South or, at least, West facing was an important criteria for me personally.