Does astroturf put you off?

[GingerBeverage]

If you're looking at family houses, would astroturf (fake grass) put you off viewing/buying?

I'm seeing it a lot in city terraces and semis these days. There seems to be a resurgence from being out of fashion decades ago.

Yes, it’s awful and terrible for the environment.

I wouldn't mind a small patch (eg if the house had no garage to store a mower, but they'd put down a small bit of artificial grass to set the kids paddling pool on or something like that, but any substantial amount - no way.

Thanks, I’ve signed this.

Without getting into the astro turf "debate", if I liked the house/location etc a bit of astro wouldnt put me off buying anymore than a fully slabbed or fully chipped garden would.

It was a selling point for us

Wouldn’t put me off if I otherwise liked the house. But it would be added to my mental list of Ugly Shit That Needs To Be Fixed.

Fucking hate the stuff.

Yes, I hate it. It gets so hot in the sun, it burns childrens/pet feet. Looks gross and bad for the environment too.

GingerBeverage · Today 09:38

There's a petiton about artificial grass now:

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/608295

Thanks, I've signed this now.

Never had that problem. Our flags get way hotter than the grass

This must refer to houses outside my area of zone 3 London. Every single house with kids that I know here has artificial grass in their back garden. And it’s the first thing people put in when they move in with kids if it’s not there already.
But it really is only the people with young kids in a desperate attempt to prevent small gardens becoming mud baths. I don’t know anyone without kids who has artificial grass. We’re planning to replace ours with real grass in a couple of years when the football stage is over for my DC.

Yes - a bugger to remove and it's horrific for the environment as well as aesthetically. Plus it gives me electric shocks.

Yes it would put me off. It’s awful stuff, we need much more biodiversity not plastic lawns. I would judge harshly anybody trying to shut nature out of their garden in this way.

It looks awful, I’ve heard it gets really hot to the point it’s dangerous for children and animals and that it stinks.

I hate it and would have to budget for removal (which might mean a lower offer).

Snap.

Mine doesn't get as hot as the flags and I have good drainage so it doesn't smell either

What happens to all the plastic grass that's removed once the kids have grown up?

Consumerists don't give a shit while the world burns.....

The newer artificial grass doesn’t get too hot to walk on. Obviously that would be useless for kids to play on if it burnt the soles of your feet!
In theory it is made from plastic so should be recyclable but in practice it can be difficult to separate from the infill components. But they have now started making fully recyclable artificial grass. And it generally lasts about 10 years so I don’t see how it’s much worse than many other plastic products we buy & use.

Though I completely agree covering a large lawned garden in it just for the low maintenance aspect is wrong. But it is very practical for kids to play on outdoors in small spaces - that’s why so many schools have it.

Really dislike it. Husband wanted it but I stood firm. It wouldn’t put me off but the kind of garden that had artificial grass would be the garden I’d be factoring in redesigning.

Even newer ones get hot and smelly, our neighbours got top off the range and had to change later. horrible to clean, environmentally irresponsible and frankly a terrible idea. Would put me off too.

It's a strange world when people think more plastic and less grass is a good idea

Yes, it can look great, but after 10yrs or so it'll need replacing and cost £££. Didn't put in an offer on a house with a large fake grass garden with work fake grass. Too expensive to sort out!

Me too. It wouldn't put me off buying though as it's easy enough to get rid of it.

I do hope it's banned soon though.

Even the National Trust laid it at one of their properties! They took it away after a bit of a social media storm though.

There was some at Wisley too 😱 I complained , wasn't there next time we went.