Would you buy your *almost* dream home... if it had no garden?

[Southernbelle19]

We have found a house that we are absolutely in love with. It's the perfect location, size and is beautiful - it has been very well cared for and is very to our taste already and has obviously had a lot of money spent on it. This is brilliant as we are expecting a baby and don't want a house that needs lots of work.

The only downside is it doesn't have a garden, only a small (albeit very nice) back yard. Enough space for a table and chairs and maybe a small bbq but that's it.

I already have one child and we are expecting another so ideally we would want a garden. However, we have viewed numerous properties and all of them within our budget are either way too small, the wrong location or need completely renovating. But this house we fell in love with and ticks every other box.

I should say we are very outdoorsy people and live in the countryside so we will be spending a lot of time outdoors regardless, but obviously not having a garden to run around in is still a compromise.

What would you do?

In the UK I would tbh. We were very excited when we moved to a house with a reasonable garden (and three kids) having previously had a “yard”, but the reality was that the weather was so shit it didn’t get the use we assumed it would and as we lived on the edge of the Downs if the kids really wanted to run around and explore we would go there anyway. Now I am in Aus and I won’t even book a hotel room that doesn’t have a balcony or outside space as you can usually enjoy spending a lot of time outdoors. Your house sounds perfect in every other way and as you are aware buying a house always involves some compromise for most people.

If you're outdoorsy my main concern would be storage for e.g. bikes etc if you don't have a garage. Because surely you'll need to put a shed in and if the garden is tiny how will you do that? The other consideration is resale but if you're planning to live there for ages that will be okay.

Final consideration is very specific but there'll be an age when your kids can be in the back garden relatively unsupervised while you e.g. make dinner in the kitchen and keep an eye on them but where they wouldn't be old enough to go to the park. Before that it makes less difference because you'd have to go into the garden with them anyway, and after they can go alone it also doesn't make as much difference. But that will be a chunk of several years where it might be excessively irritating.

We had no garden when the kids were little. If I could go back and change it I would. Though it would have had to have been low maintenance. Having parks close by is nice but it's still requires more effort and thought, also ours always had little fairground rides at ££& and ice cream vans. A fifteen minute walk there and back carrying one of the crying children. So nice when in other peoples houses you just watched them open the back door and work in the kitchen where they could see the kids and get stuff done.

I grew up without a garden and knew when I had children a garden would be ones hundred per cent essential. I have two sons and the garden has been brilliant for football, naps, parties, exploring, learning to walk, paddling pools. They are now 18 and 21 and still play in garden! Cat loves it too!

Not with young kids no, I would want a garden x

No, I wouldn’t buy a house with a small garden, family houses with small gardens are always going to be difficult to re-sell in future, with young kids a decent garden is so important.

I would.

Soon enough they will be tweens/teens that couldn't give a shit about the garden but having space in the home is priceless.

Mine are 12 to 16 now and still use the garden all the time. We've had two sleepovers in the tent in the garden in the last month.

The other thing that no-one has mentioned is that with a small house on a large plot you have the option to extend as the kids get older. With a house with a yard you don't have that option.

On a budget, I would choose a good sized house on the right location with a smaller outdoor space - especially if close to parks as you suggest - over a house with a big garden that’s on an estate or a drive (and unwalkable) from schools, shops, pubs etc. I’d feel very isolated in that kind of location. But everyone is different!

I think if you hate gardening you’ve got your answer!
I wouldn’t worry about resale value - it’s priced appropriately now presumably and will be in future.

The only thing I’d think about is how much sun the yard gets. If the answer is none at all that could be a dealbreaker for me. But you’d need to be very unlucky with positioning and walls for that to be the case.

I couldn’t live somewhere without a decent sized garden, so it wouldn’t be my choice.
I love line-dried washing, having somewhere to sit and enjoy a coffee, pottering around growing things and watching the birds and wildlife.
If you’re really happy to have to go out to give your DCs an outdoor space then fine, it wouldn’t be for me.

The schools and the woods would swing it for me. If you can fit a sandpit in I say go for it.

Thanks so much everyone for your views! It's been really helpful to read through them all. There are definitely two camps - those who love gardening and/or the convenience for kids, and those who don't mind especially if there is some outdoor space or parks etc close by.

I think for us, the actual house is so much more important, and this one really is wonderful. We have a garden at our current house and barely ever use it - when the weather is good we go out. Don't get me wrong I'd miss the convenience of just being able to sit out there and not having to get the kids ready to go out but it's a compromise I tbink I am willing to make for the perfect house and location!

A couple of people asked why we can't just wait - we have been looking for ages now and we need to move before baby arrives as our current house is not suitable in so many ways. We've also sold ours too! Also it's become clear that based on our budget we will have to compromise somewhere and I'd rather it be this I think than the house itself or location.

I guess if we end up really wanting a garden we can always move when the kids are a bit older, but tbh I can't see us wanting to any time soon.

Also despite being small the back yard is very private and lovely and I'm sure with lots of potted plants and careful planning we will at least have somewhere to go and eat outside and enjoy the sun, and likely fit a small sandpit or paddling pool. Also the bonus of grandparents a 5 min walk away with a huge garden!

Thanks again everyone you've really helped make up our mind :)

We bough a house with a only a small garden, it's perhaps a little bigger than you describe but it has no lawn. We've turned the back garden/courtyard into a lovely cottage style space with potted plants and reclaimed sleepers. It's a lovely space for bbqs, had a lovely big table for meals and is a easily maintainable space in terms of upkeep. Now we've got it, in not sure how id have the time for a larger garden, with a lawn for example.

No . Outside space is a non negotiable for me

I couldn’t do it, 3 main reasons:

1. I work from home and even though I’m inside i love being able to sit and look outside at greenery rather than walls.
2. We have dds and it would soon get tiresome having to go to the park everytime they want to run around.
3. This is a very boring consideration, but I love getting my washing dry outside! It would really annoy me to have it indoors year round.

Sounds like you’ve made up your mind.

I would be happy with a small patio garden as dislike gardening but my only concerns would be resale (would the lack of garden make it much harder to sell) and pets. If you’re planning to get a dog any time in the future, they like lawns and it’s handy to have a garden to let them out into.

I would buy it, gardens with grass etc are more trouble than they're worth (I say this looking at my long grass that I haven't been able to cut because the weather has been too wet so the kids can't even go out there atm anyway)

It sounds as if it is the right compromise for you, which is all that matters!

I like gardening (up to a point), so it wouldn't necessarily be for me, but it sounds as if a small yard will have benefits for you - minimal maintenance - as well as drawbacks.

Especially with grandparents garden nearby to run riot in!

Absolutely not. I don’t need a big garden but a bit of garden is a non-negotiable for me. It’s a godsend for the kids to be able to let off some steam running around without it having to be a planned exercise. The park is just not the same.

The problem with a park as opposed to a garden is that you have to be out there with them until they're much older. Ever since mine were toddlers, they've been out in the garden by themselves for brief spells.
But house buying is always a compromise and it sounds as though this property has a lot of benefits over others that you have chewed

"Viewed" not "chewed"!

With children, especially young children, a garden or space outside your immediate house is essential. I'm sorry. For me., a family house with no garden is a hard no. Might find it hard to sell on for the exact same reason.

Good luck!

No I wouldn't buy it, when my DC were 3 and 4 we moved from a house with a smallish paved yard and pots for a garden to somewhere with a proper 1/3 acre garden. In an ideal world, having a garden children can play in without close supervision whilst you are nearby is a real bonus.

I only have a small patio in my otherwise ‘perfect house’ in perfect location. Am I envious of people with lovely big gardens? Yes 🥲 Could I afford a house with a big garden in my location ? No way- they were 300k more…

We did and semi-regret it. But have been here 10 years. We're doing a small remodel downstairs to make best use of the house and we've made our garden really work for us with a treehouse for the kids etc. we've also got an allotment that we go to regularly

I'd say go for it and see. We were fine for the first 10 years and might be able to wait it out after our small remodel