Will I get any sunlight? New build plot

[CLP86]

Hello,

We have the opportunity to purchase a lovely new build plot. The house is my absolute dream internally but externally the garden would be facing east... the agent seems keen to reassure me that we would get sun as it is on the corner but I'm not convinced.

Has anyone got any advice? We really like to bbq in our garden on Summers evenings and weekends but aren't actually heat worshippers so sunbathing etc isn't for us.

Any thoughts? It is Plot 172 on the attached photo.

Sorry should have added that North is to the top of the photo...

I'd first check against formal plans that the orientation of that image is correct. If so it's not ideal but I think it will be ok. There's nothing directly to your South so should get a reasonable amount of sun. However, as the garden is relatively short you're house will start to block the sun in the afternoon.

You’ll get it in the morning, but I’d say toward late afternoon and evening you won’t get any at all. If there are trees, possibly less.

You could try this app to put in the location. Even better if you can do it from the plot itself.

play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.andymstone.sunpositiondemo

This might be a help

suncalc.net/

Is building restricted on the open space?

I lived in a house with an east facing garden. The garden was cold and without sun after mid afternoon in the summer.

Is there any chance the house could be built a bit further back into the plot so you could have both a front (west facing) garden and back (east facing) one?

@idontlikealdi Yes, the open space is protected against future building - its one of the reasons I like the plot as the lounge would overlook it.

@hgaj I have emailed the developer to ask for the garden sizes - I was fairly confident that there would be some sun as it isn't crowded by other properties but it would be good to know if the size allows for a patio at the bottom...

@LittleMissTake - unfortunately not, the developer is fixed on everything. It's taken them 18 years to get permission so they don't seem to want to move or alter anything...

The garden looks more south-east facing to me. I think you'll get sun though the afternoon, and a patio at the bottom would probably get some early evening sun too through the summer.

@goldenshoe thank you for your reply. I would be happy if that was the case!

I hope I'm right! It looks a similar aspect to my old house, it was maybe slightly more south facing, and we got the sun in the summer until about 7 pm.

@goldenshoe Wow, that would be amazing - if it is the case I'll be throwing my reservation fee at them! Thank you again for your reply

I agree, if the top is North that bottom corner of the garden is definitely SE/SSE facing and may hold the sun longer.

It's SE facing. I don't think you'll get much sun later in the afternoon or evening.
Our garden is similar depth (also new build) and E facing and I hate it - it's in the shade from early afternoon. This would be less bad but we are now looking to move to a house with a SW facing garden; I don't need the sun in the morning but I love sitting outside in the summer after work and we just can't do that now.

You’ll get plenty of sun in that garden. Unless you grow something massive at the end of the garden!

I actually think you will be ok even for afternoon sun as there is a gap to the W of the house for sun to get through, and the houses to the west of you are fairly far away. You’d probably get afternoon sun on one side of the garden but not the other. Maybe no evening sun.

the open space is protected against future building - its one of the reasons I like the plot as the lounge would overlook it

A) Don't bank on the area being protected in years to come
B) who maintains that space? Are you prepared to overlook an overlooked and overgrown patch of scrub land?

@MrsFin - there is a management company charging a hefty estate charge which I assume will be covering maintenance etc. I would definitely get my Solicitor to check though!

If the orientation is right (so check it) you will get east light at the back of the house tile late morning. Early afternoon and south facing light over most of your garden for the afternoon and some of the evening depending on time of year. Looks good to me but do check the orientation in real life.

Assuming it's north up I wouldn't worry about it. You'll be shady on some summer afternoons but maybe that's not a bad thing.

It Lois like there is a tree just the other side of your boundary. That's canopy will likely sit right over where you'd like your patio

I'd be asking what sort of tree this is, it's not in your land and is likely to be protected so you won't be able to cut it down.

Id agree its S/E facing with no obstructions to south or east. Based on. Sun rising in the east and setting in the west. So should be in the sun all day in summer. However it looks like a lot of the west light will be blocked by the house next door and thats your evening light.

If the plot is big and if the building up against you is a garage and not a house it might be ok. Id just be tempted to have a second patio for the evening sun which many people do any way.

Just realised i misjudged the diagram and the thing likely to block the light is your own house! Sorry.

You might be ok with a second patio right in the back corner so it can come over the roof of the house.

I have exactly the same orientation (SE) and we get the sun in the summer until about 7pm but there is a part of the garden which still gets sun even at that time. Used to have a SW garden which was lovely but did get very hot. Our rental was NE and it really put me off.