Misled about south facing garden

[heregoes74]

Hmmm... Just wondering if anyone has any advice as to what I should do (if anything) about being sold a house with a south facing garden but now we are living in the house it's very quickly dawned on me that it's not in fact a south facing garden 🤔And the compass confirms this.

Does having a south facing garden add to the value of a house (I would have thought so) so should I contact estate agents, or will they think I'm nuts. Hate the thought we have been lied to. Yes, we didn't take a compass with us and check when we viewed, on the 3 viewings it was summer and bright and sunny. Gah, it doesn't spoil the garden but does annoy me.

Our garden faces W (and very slightly South).
It is super sunny.
If it faces North I think you have something to complain about.

Did you not look at a map or, indeed, your sale documents/survey? They all show the direction of the house. I don't know how you'd not realised what direction the garden is facing.

We moved from SW to NW. The SW was a total suntrap, getting sun all day until it set. When we moved we knew we were giving up something very desirable and would probably miss it.

Have to say it's been fine! The current garden was very sunny in summer until evening, less so now obviously but we don't go out at this time of year. Beautifully mature so plants must not mind it. Kids play out SO much more in this one as there was some shade. The last garden was almost oppressively hot and the constant sun cream vigilance was tiresome for us all!

Intrigued to know which way yours faces, OP. If you're going to bother with a thread why not just say?!

I assume OP isn't saying, as whether the garden is facing in totally the opposite direction or out by a few degrees she's going to be totally ridiculed about managing to get through life without being a walking compass

@saraclara Of course the orientation does affect the living accommodation but that should be evident on viewing. If the house is never gloomy, who cares what way it faces?

As you can probably guess my back garden faces North but that means the front of my house faces South and it was designed to maximise all the light it gets. Sometimes in the summer we keep the blinds in the bay window down to keep the house cooler, I have had issues with house plants getting scorched by the bright light. It's not a great place to have a migraine, I have one room that's darker and cooler that can feel like a relief to step into sometimes. I have fruit trees and lots of other plants growing in the back garden. It would not be a better and happier home if it faced a different direction and I bet that's true for the OP too.

@CellophaneFlower

I assume OP isn't saying, as whether the garden is facing in totally the opposite direction or out by a few degrees she's going to be totally ridiculed about managing to get through life without being a walking compass

This thread has surprised me genuinely because, without ridicule, I thought the majority of people would be roughly aware of general compass directions in daylight, just from the position of the sun etc. I thought my DH was unusual in being ‘compass blind’.

I don't take notice of anything estate agents say. Our last house said on their leaflets when you leave their office turn left at the mini roundabout. That actually took you to a dead end behind a parade of shops where delivering took place. We looked at this one at various times of the day. It's north facing,but the plot is 36 wide,200 long and because it's a detached bungalow and completely unoverlooked,there's a lot of sun.

@Blondeshavemorefun
Sun rises out the back garden and sets out the front so garden is east facing ?

Yeah! Now you know 😁

OMFG - how has this got to 9 pages - really???

Soooooo many assumptions made about me and my garden, it is hilarious. And as cellophane said, I am not a walking compass (thanks for the back up cellophane). Of course I know where the sun rises and sets, when we viewed the house it was in the middle of the heatwave and it was really fucking sunny everywhere....also because of covid we had only 15mins to view, so getting out the compass wasn't really big on our list.

You can all rest easy that the garden is west facing, so actually, its turned out much better than it being south facing, I was actually just curious as to whether it is standard practice for the vendors / estate agents to lie about these details when selling a house. Clearly rubbed people up the wrong way, I would imagine mainly the kind of people that might be happy to embellish the truth on a listing

My bad for being naive about the whole process, next time I sell I'll make sure to say the laminate worktops are actually granite, the taps and gold plated and the vinyl flooring is actually really expensive morroccan tiles - oh and that its a south facing garden

Sorry for the sarcasm but really, someone less tough skinned than me might have been really upset at some of the responses - is there really any need sometimes?

Although I did very much titter at the flouncing off but not sure of which direction comment

That was supposed to be a laughing smiley

Why are people so quick to blame the victims of either lies or ignorance? So quick to call people stupid?

FWIW OP I bought a house 2 years ago and asked the owner which way the garden faced. She thought about it for a minute then figured it out. The house is in an area we know just about well enough to figure out that the owner was correct. Tbh it wouldn't have occurred to me not to ask the owner and to use a compass instead. If the orientation of the garden is important to the buyer it's going to be obvious to them pretty soon after moving in whether or not it's south facing so it's not something I would expect the buyer to make up.

A west facing garden wouldn't have been a deal breaker for me but I might have offered slightly less for a north or east facing garden.

I would definitely see if you can get a partial 'refund' if it's possible. You were sold something on the basis of false information. That shouldn't be defended.

Typical! X posted with op

Case solved.
Move on.

Late to the party but...... can I just say we've had very good suntans in our North facing garden???
🌞

@mibbelucieachwell. "I would definitely see if you can get a partial 'refund' if it's possible. You were sold something on the basis of false information. That shouldn't be defended"

Don't be silly - you can't litigate against something that could be simply checked yourself, and covered by caveat emptor. The most you could do would be to make a complaint to the Estate Agency.

Easy enough to talk to your solicitor who dealt with the sale, rather than MN, to get a legal opinion.

@Eyesofdisarray Yes, depends on how big the garden is.

I would definitely see if you can get a partial 'refund' if it's possible. You were sold something on the basis of false information. That shouldn't be defended.

OP will have no recourse, I’m afraid. I guarantee the EAs will have covered themselves with a disclaimer to the effect ‘caveat emptor’.

Thankfully west facing gardens are often much nicer than south

West is definitely best for many! My garden is South facing, it's quite unusual though, as it's short but very wide, as it's a corner plot in a culdesac. We have tallish trees to the west, so even in the height of summer the sun can be gone from the part of the garden directly behind the house by 6ish. Still lots of sun the other side though, till it goes down.

West is so much better for people who are out at work all day anyway 👍

Well hopefully all's well that ends well OP. Loads of PP put a West facer on the top of their favourite compass directions 😄 for a garden. Seems like South is sunny but West is good sunny. I hope it's good for you.

I think though your point actually was more, do you have any pushback on being miss sold though, with regards to the actual 'facts' you were told about the house.

The N, S, E, W was a bit of a red herring.

It's always buyer beware isn't it and there were plenty of " tough shit you should have looked" type replies on here which we all know is pretty nasty and not what you'd say to someone in real life.

It's a hard lesson to learn but I think it fell butter side up for you OP.

Enjoy your new house.

If it was that important to you, why on earth didn't you check? There won't be any comeback on this. Its not as though the vendors could hide it.

[quote Cassandrainthenight]@Blondeshavemorefun
Sun rises out the back garden and sets out the front so garden is east facing ?

Yeah! Now you know 😁[/quote]
@Cassandrainthenight indeed I do 😂😂

And it’s sunny and shade. Win win

I'll have to wait until the sun comes up in the morning to check direction

I assume you are being sarcastic?

Why not just tell people what direction it faces?

How do you know that it isn't south facing when you have no idea where the sun rises in relation to your home.

If you look on google maps you can work out which way the house/garden faces.

Always best to check before you purchase a house.

@Dillydollydingdong

If it was that important to you, why on earth didn't you check? There won't be any comeback on this. Its not as though the vendors could hide it.

still going on about it - I don't remember saying anywhere in my OP that it was important to me or a deal breaker, just that since moving in its become pretty obvious it isn't south - I even say "it doesn't spoil the garden but annoys me" - literally putting words in my mouth that I never said

aperol gets it :)

@percythewitch

I'll have to wait until the sun comes up in the morning to check direction

I assume you are being sarcastic?

Why not just tell people what direction it faces?

How do you know that it isn't south facing when you have no idea where the sun rises in relation to your home.

yes percy very perceptive.... and again, when did I say I had no clue about sun up and down direction?

Anyway, definitely leaving this now, really nothing else to say
As you were