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Original poster

Viewing a house with a garden not attached to the main house

58 replies

bluebellsanddaisies23 · 11/08/2023 11:43

Hi everyone, I'm selling my house and have been looking around for a new property. I have found one that is so pretty and so lovely - the only downside is that it has a courtyard garden attached to the property and then, backing onto that, is parking for the house's vehicles and then, just beyond that, is a separate enclosed garden.

I did look at a property not long ago where the garden was separated from the house by a private access lane and, having young DC (between ages 7-10) as well as a dog, we decided it wasn't for us.

However, this house ticks all the boxes, except for the main garden being detached from the house!

Would a house like this put you off? There is another house attached to the side of the house (so effectively it is a terrace) but the other house has no driveway / garden or parking.

Thanks!

OP posts:
monpetitlapin · 11/08/2023 11:48

I viewed one like this recently and decided it wasn't for us. The photos were beautiful but when we were viewing and had to do the walk to the garden I just didn't like the idea of the kids being so far away and not in a properly enclosed space.

Strugglingtofindclothes · 11/08/2023 11:56

Would you own all the land without interruption so could it be relandscaped to a layout better for you?

It wouldn't be cheap to do though and that would put me off.

CatsOnTheChair · 11/08/2023 12:17

It would totally depend on who else had access through the parking area. If it is for your exclusive use, no problem.
If someone else has access through, it would need to be pretty special.
Remember, when selling others will have similar doubts to you, and may reject it, making it harder to sell.

Strangeish · 11/08/2023 12:25

Could you enclose the parking to make one continuous garden?

We chose against a house like this. I didn't want kids to be playing completely out of site, same with letting the dog out.

We like the idea of throwing open the back door and having the garden as extension of the house with the dogs being able to go in the garden, being able to be inside washing up etc keeping a vague eye on the kids but for them to not need an adult in the garden with them.

Obviously that depends on the age of kids, but initially the layout was such I wouldn't have felt them being there without me was okay, so if one needed a wee, I'd have to gather both up to come in with me.

We chose against making it one big garden simply because I didn't feel able to trust that someone had shut the drive gate everytime I let the dogs out!

I didn't want to have to put shoes on to go in the garden. I knew realistically that if the garden wasn't immediately accessible I would be using it less, and be less likely to pop in it for 5 min etc

Original poster
bluebellsanddaisies23 · 11/08/2023 12:25

I've just confirmed with the agent (they were checking with the owner) and it is a shared drive with the house attached to it and also the other house on the other side of the drive. It's such a lovely house and well priced (for obvious reasons) but, as @monpetitlapin said, having DC so far away will be an issue, especially if there are another 2 houses worth of vehicles sharing the driveway 😞

@Strugglingtofindclothes I don't think you can have it re-landscaped as that's what I was thinking, turning the parking area into a garden and then what is currently the enclosed garden could be parking, but I think we would end up with a small garden and a lot of wasted parking.

OP posts:
PuttingDownRoots · 11/08/2023 12:27

At the risk of sounding like a mumsnet cliche, could you make a diagram with ROW and approximate sizes?

Roollie · 11/08/2023 12:27

We had this in our old property. A seperate garden accessible through the parking area. It drove us mad and we said never again. It felt like we had to pack up stuff for a day out to go in the garden to avoid the backwards and forwards.

StillWantingADog · 11/08/2023 12:31

Roollie · 11/08/2023 12:27

We had this in our old property. A seperate garden accessible through the parking area. It drove us mad and we said never again. It felt like we had to pack up stuff for a day out to go in the garden to avoid the backwards and forwards.

Yeah. I’d never use it
@Strangeish said
We like the idea of throwing open the back door and having the garden as extension of the house with the dogs being able to go in the garden, being able to be inside washing up etc keeping a vague eye on the kids but for them to not need an adult in the garden with them.
which pretty much nails up my thought.

but if kids were older, no dog concerns and the house was keenly priced and perfect in all other respects I wouldn’t totally discount.

mondaytosunday · 11/08/2023 12:32

Nope not for me. My son does live in a house where the garden is opposite the front door with an access path that runs in front of the row of ten, but it's only the occupants beyond him (so four more houses) that would use it, snd two have access from the parking at the bottom of their gardens so tend to walk up from there. No vehicles just foot traffic. That's ok. But in your circumstances no it's a deal breaker (probably why the house sounds good value).

Papernotplastic · 11/08/2023 12:34

With the ages of your DC and the dog you mentioned I’d have visions of doors/gates left open, the dog escaping regularly and (worst case scenario) a child or dog being hit by a neighbour’s car because they ran through the parking area.

ShowOfHands · 11/08/2023 12:39

I lived in a house exactly like this. It was a small terrace with a courtyard garden at the back and then driveways beyond and a little track with enclosed gardens off it sitting behind the driveways. It helped that the entire area where the driveways and gardens were, were private and only used by the 4 people in our terrace.

It was all that was available in the area we needed to move to at that time. It was fine. From the back door to the garden gate was a 5 second walk. DD was 3 when we moved there and 9 when we left. We also had a baby whilst living there who was 5 by the time we moved. It probably wasn't ideal, but like anything, it became our new normal. Other local similar houses either had no garden or no driveway or they were significantly more expensive. The children made friends with the other children living there and it never felt anything other than safe. It was a compromise but entirely manageable and we were so happy in that house.

Ragwort · 11/08/2023 12:39

I'd actively avoid sharing a drive, we had this at our previous house and it did cause some problems... fortunately all our neighbours were fairly reasonable and any issues were resolved amicably .. but with difficult neighbours it could have been very awkward. When we sold our house the EA put 'parking for up to eight vehicles' in the description of our house ... this was absolutely not true!

Motnight · 11/08/2023 12:40

Shared driveways in themselves can cause no end of problems.

Original poster
bluebellsanddaisies23 · 11/08/2023 12:50

Thanks all - I'm trying to upload a diagram of the layout (it's made me realise I would never earn a living as an architect😂). As soon as I can upload it, I will but very valid points about the issues with sharing a driveway. It really is such a pretty house in the right location for us, but do I sacrifice peace and harmony of our own parking / drive for what could be endless issues with neighbours?

My DC are young (<10yo) and a dog, but I have family with young DC too.

@ShowOfHands that's exactly it, it's the right area and a great price but I'm worried if we are letting ourselves in for a headache. It's not a forever home, it's a stop gap for school catchment area.

OP posts:
dearJayne · 11/08/2023 13:01

I wouldn't buy it op.

ShowOfHands · 11/08/2023 13:07

There's no way of knowing. For us, it was temporary and needed (same thing, school looming) but we ended up staying longer than intended because it worked.

Thing is, you could buy a house that's perfect on paper and have myriad issues. You simply don't know. It comes down to how many options you have I suppose. Is there anything else available or likely to be available in the time frames you need?

Original poster
bluebellsanddaisies23 · 11/08/2023 13:08

I'm hoping I've uploaded it! So the yellow is the property owned that we are looking at (house, courtyard, parking and garden) - I should point out it is NOT to scale 😂

The purple wavy lines are the shared drive. I hope this helps!

Viewing a house with a garden not attached to the main house
OP posts:
KievLoverTwo · 11/08/2023 13:09

I saw my dream home at an affordable price with not dissmilar setup. It even had a bubbling stream and a gorgeous secret garden.

We decided not to view it on the basis that it would be a re-sale liability. But we are FTB and 50k people have been made redundant in my OH's industry this year. We do seem to be more risk adverse than most.

Strugglingtofindclothes · 11/08/2023 13:11

Not as bad as I thought! I'd turn the courtyard into a garden for play/relaxation then the actual garden into an allotment with that set up.

Strugglingtofindclothes · 11/08/2023 13:12

I'd not even consider house B if it were ever available though! (Unless I owned A and needed a granny annexe for an adult child or elderly parent)

StillWantingADog · 11/08/2023 13:12

Yeah I was going to say Dan you not make the courtyard a garden. Perhaps extent it to the parking and make the garden a parking?

Seaweed42 · 11/08/2023 13:13

No.

The kids have to run across the driveway to the garden.

If you wanted to bring drinks or toys etc over or clothes to hang out or BBQ stuff you have to carry everything over.
Just buy a house with a garden so you can get proper use out of the garden.

StillWantingADog · 11/08/2023 13:13

Strugglingtofindclothes · 11/08/2023 13:11

Not as bad as I thought! I'd turn the courtyard into a garden for play/relaxation then the actual garden into an allotment with that set up.

Great idea

BarnacleBeasley · 11/08/2023 13:13

I think I'd be okay with it if the courtyard is quite big and nice enough to use for the sort of things you want to go straight into the garden for, like eating outside in the summer. Also if the courtyard is enclosed and secure so that kids and dogs can't just run off.

Iheartmysmart · 11/08/2023 13:13

I lived in a cottage with a similar set up years ago. DS was about 10 at the time. We used the courtyard as our seating and bbq area and turned the majority of the main garden into a small allotment with chickens. But I’m no gardener so that set up was perfect for me!