Which house would you go for? (Priorities)

[Catnipdelight]

House 1: 3 beds, south facing garden, gorgeously "done", no real storage space and 2 shower rooms (no family bathroom). Conservatory, kitchen/diner and (small) living room.

House 2: 4 beds, fair amount bigger, north facing garden, 3 bathrooms (1 wet room, 1 shower room and 1 family bathroom). Big kitchen, dining room and big living room.

I very much like both but one worries me more than the other in terms of making a commitment to live there.

Advice welcomed! We are a couple with a baby due in June

The one in better location.

2

Our garden is south facing, our friends opposite is north facing. Hands down I’d choose south. They’ve even used our garden when we’ve been on holiday (they did ask!!) as they have no evening sun.

I know school seems a long way off but it’s really not; you will be applying for a place at the end of 2025 and have preschool to consider before then. Does that affect your choice?

I’d either choose neither, or I’d go for house 1 with the aim to move again in a few years, especially if you’re planning another child.

I agree with @iusedtohavechickens we have a north facing Garden and though planting is a challenge the light is perfect for sitting out.

House 2. For the extra space as well as the north facing garden.

We moved from a north facing garden to a south facing garden and we are dazzled and sweltering all summer long.

There is not an inch of shade in high summer, and the back fence (which is what you see all year long, unless it's a very long garden) is north facing, and nothing grows against it so it looks dismal most of the time.

Also your house 1 has a conservatory - they are sweltering in a south facing garden in the summer, and likely will be a cold and generally useless space in the winter.

2

2 I wouldn't care about a North facing garden. I'm hardly out there most of the year

House number 2 if you have even 1 child. When I had my first, I couldn't believe the amount of stuff she needed from being not much bigger than a squiggle! So storage is essential. Also, with house number 2 you can put your own stamp on it over time, and make it just how you want it. I can only imagine that the pp who insist on a south facing garden are professional sunbathers, and with no little children who should only be in full sunlight for a very short period of time!

House 2 no question at all

I couldn't live with a north facing garden. My current house is south facing and I love it. There's nothing like opening your back doors to the sun and you can sit out there in the winter - I have been this week! I've had many north facing gardens and I found it depressing as you feel like you're living in the shade of the house - especially if it's tall.
I'd go for house 1 - put a bath in and think of clever storage solutions

House 2

I’d only compromise on space if it was for a better location

You've not mentioned location which is the single most important thing. Closely followed by schools and situation ie main road/traffic noise etc
Can you add value to either of these? Which one is in the better area for selling when you want to move in?
Number of bedrooms would be much further down my list.
I'm not a fan of North facing gardens and this would put me off buying if all other things were equal.

• on even

From your descriptions I would go for house 2 as it sounds like it has a lot of potential and would last you longer. However my first priority is always location too so it would depend on that.

Neither. House 1 sounds too small. House 2 would be off the cards for me due to north facing garden.

Thank you everyone! I really appreciate your responses, it's given me a lot to think about.

A couple of things people have mentioned --

They're both in the same area, both with excellent nursery/primary/secondary schools.

Seller of house 2 says the bottom of the garden gets sun most of the day. (I guess they would say that!)

House 1 has no scope for improvement or extension, but house 2 could have a single storey ground extension with roof lights to maximise light. It also has a garage which could be converted or stay as valuable storage!

Other than that they're both neck and neck really. I won't lie, the north facing garden worries the heck out of me but I'm not a sun worshipper by any stretch.

House 2.
House 1, unless it's a really good one with a roof then you can't count the conservatory as a room because it could be out of action most of the year. Ours was either freezing or boiling. We've just replaced it with an extension.

House 2! Our garden is east facing, so not quite the same but we put a deck at the back to take full advantage of the sun.

House 2, just having shower rooms will be a pain when you are bathing the baby. We moved recently, we looked online and decided we need a full family bathroom and en suite shower room.

House 2 sounds like our house. We bought a 4 bed in a liveable but poor condition. It has a North facing garden and, apart from the middle of winter, there is always sun somewhere. This can vary lots between houses though, based on garden length etc. Helpful for young children, in that there is always shade too.

We had 1 child and planning another when we moved. 4 beds future proofed the house, in case we wanted a third etc. We don't now, but a home office space has been useful!

House 2. Honestly only my Mum and Mumsnet has ever mentioned north/south facing gardens. My non South facing garden gets plenty of sun.

House 2 all day long. I have a north facing garden and I really like it. Especially since it's enclosed so gets really hot on sunny days. We always have sun in parts of our garden, but the whole garden is never in full sun. It's perfect for me as I am not a really a huge fan of sunbathing and I prefer to sit in the shade on hot days and read my book. It also makes our kitchen nice and cool in the summer.

Shady garden will be good with young children.
Overall house 2 sounds better. But we haven't seen them.

Are all the schools good in the area? What are room dimensions like? Amenities?

House 2.
We have a postage stamp north facing garden. It's tiny and surrounded by terraces so very shaded in addition to being north facing. It still gets full sun for most of the day from about May to end of Sept. I was shocked when we moved in just how sunny it was. Admittedly it doesn't get direct sun in spring and autumn and we don't get sunny evenings, but tbh the shade was very welcome when the DC were tiny.
In contrast both our parents have south facing conservatories that they have spent a fortune on, installing blinds and in one case a completely new roof, because they were like a sauna and unusable most of the year.

If house 2's garden gets sun at the bottom that's the perfect combo in my book.