Opinion on new house

dubstepper · 06-03-2018 3:39pm #1

Hi,

I am looking to buy and have come across a house which ticks a lot of boxes. It has good space, good location, however but doesn't really have a garden. It is a new build which mixes apartments with townhouses. So you get a yard/balcony type deal and then there is a common green.

I have three young boys so not sure it is really ideal. They would have access to the common green which is inside a gated area but would the lack of garden be a no-no for others? As I said there is a yard where you could put a table and chairs for a BBQ etc.

I'm strongly thinking of going for it, but am worried that I might regret it.

the_syco · 06-03-2018 6:41pm

dubstepper wrote: »

It is a new build which mixes apartments with townhouses. So you get a yard/balcony type deal and then there is a common green.

Check the rules of said common green. Some common areas of apartments have rules that prohibit ball games.

miezekatze · 06-03-2018 7:51pm

There are lots of people with kids living on my street and we have decent enough gardens. The kids generally play in the street or nearby green, very rarely see any in the back gardens. Most people here only seem to use their back garden for the odd barbecue. I don't have kids but enjoy gardening, probably get more use out of my garden than any of the families with kids here. So I wouldn't worry about it if I were you, unless you enjoy gardening you don't really need a garden, and at least you won't have to do all the work needed to maintain a garden if you dont have one.

April 73 · 06-03-2018 11:01pm

If you live in an estate you’ll find the kids would rather be out on the green with other kids than playing in their own back garden. That’s regardless of the size of your back garden. As soon as they are old enough (and they’ll probably try it before you are ready for it) they’ll want to be let off the leash & away from the back garden.
We extended our last house & we weren’t left with a huge garden. We had a nice patio and a small area of grass behind and to the side of the house. It was more than enough & we never regretted sacrificing the garden. As long as you have somewhere to sit outside on the rare summer days it’ll be fine.

dubstepper · 07-03-2018 10:16am

the_syco wrote: »

Check the rules of said common green. Some common areas of apartments have rules that prohibit ball games.

That's a good point. I must check out the rules around games on the green.

dubstepper · 07-03-2018 10:17am

Thanks for the replies. I can only imagine what my parents will think of the idea of forgoing a garden with kids!!

spaceHopper · 07-03-2018 10:42am

Also think about what happens if you ever want to sell it, families with small children won't want it. I know my daughter loves playing with a sand table in our garden. Or I set up a tent for them to play in..... for me it would be a deal breaker.

Zulu · 07-03-2018 10:49am

That would be a no-no for me.

ncmc · 07-03-2018 10:50am

I think for some people it would be a deal breaker, for others it wouldn’t be. We live in a nice quiet estate with a small garden and 99% of the time, my daughter is out the front playing in the green area. However on warm days, she will be playing in the sand pit or paddling pool in the back garden, that wouldn’t be an option on the green area. I’m not much of a gardener, but we redesigned our garden a couple of years ago and I have to say I love it. I love looking out at it when I’m in the kitchen, love encouraging birds to come into it, love watching the flowers grow. Then of course there’s practical things like being able to have a decent washing line, a shed and being able to hide the bins out of sight. I personally wouldn’t be without it.

I would probably put up without a garden if I were renting, but if I’m looking at being in the house 10+ years, then no, not having a garden would be a deal breaker. My brother (no kids) lives in a similar house to ours with no garden but to compensate, he has an amazing basement with two big rooms. Even for that extra space, I wouldn’t swap with him and forgo the garden.

What is it like out the front? Is there any small patch of garden that you could secure and make more private or is it pretty much straight out on to the footpath?

PhoenixParker · 07-03-2018 12:18pm

We debated this issue when looking and came to the conclusion that some outdoor space is necessary but that the huge garden most people seem to crave is a nuisance, waste and unnecessary unless you love gardening.

For us, we do need enough outdoor space to have a bbq, eat outside if it's sunny, dry clothes, maybe have a sand pit or slide, store a bike, for a toddler to wander a little, that kind of thing.

We don't need space for older kids to play, as others have said they can and usually prefer to play in the green or on the road. We don't want space that'll take hours to maintain every month.

A small yard will easily accommodate everything we actually want out of a garden so we went new build.

ionapaul · 07-03-2018 12:41pm

My wife and I have a small 3-bed house with a similar arrangement, the estate is made up of 2-bed apartments in blocks, some 2- and 3-bed units in duplexes, standard 3-bed terraces and then 5-bed bigger houses. All of the 3-bed terraces have small patios with waist high gates that back onto a common, shared green area that doesn't open onto a road. It's perfect from my point of view as I've no real interest in gardening, as I suffer from annual hayfever, but we have the benefit of this big shared, safe green space metres from our back door.

In the house I grew up in in Galway city, we had a massive side garden, one of the biggest in the estate, big enough to build another house there if we wanted. Guess what? Just like the others mentioned above my brothers and I didn't really play in this garden, we went up to the common green area in the centre of the estate once we were old enough to do so! The massive side garden became a burden in terms of having to mow it once a week, etc...

Obviously you need to think about things yourself but in certain circumstances I think the lack of a private garden won't be too much of a drawback.

dubstepper · 07-03-2018 12:44pm

We rent now and have a mid size garden and tbh we don't use it, but it is nice to have it there. We use it for BBQ but a yard would suffice.

I thought the sentiment would be more in line with Zulu above, just a straight no.

dubstepper · 07-03-2018 12:48pm

ionapaul wrote: »

My wife and I have a small 3-bed house with a similar arrangement, the estate is made up of 2-bed apartments in blocks, some 2- and 3-bed units in duplexes, standard 3-bed terraces and then 5-bed bigger houses. All of the 3-bed terraces have small patios with waist high gates that back onto a common, shared green area that doesn't open onto a road. It's perfect from my point of view as I've no real interest in gardening, as I suffer from annual hayfever, but we have the benefit of this big shared, safe green space metres from our back door.

It seems to be a similar style development. Can I ask do you have kids?

Zulu · 07-03-2018 12:51pm

It all depends on your own situation, but do consider SpaceHoppers excellent point - impact on resale.
If you've no intention to resell and this is your forever home, then it's all down to you.

Personally I love my garden. We've a dog, and 2 small kids. And myself and the missus utilise it when ever possible, so we would never consider a property without a garden. In fact, we considered ram-shackle places simply on the merit of their gardens! But that's us.

ionapaul · 07-03-2018 6:18pm

dubstepper wrote: »

It seems to be a similar style development. Can I ask do you have kids?

We have a little two-week old

So he's not getting any use of the back patio or the big common area behind it yet. But I know that there are a few families in these 3-beds with two and three kids and they are doing fine. For ourselves, we'll move elsewhere if we get to the three kids stage (simply because the house will be too small) but it won't really be down to the garden - I honestly have no interest in it, the patio is perfect for entertaining, my big BBQ, growing herbs, etc... and as long as we have immediate access to a big, safe green space I don't care who owns it. I guess it could be different if we had animals though, that won't happen in our instance, I've less interest in them than gardening!

dubstepper · 08-03-2018 10:22am

Thanks ionapaul. Congrats on the new arrival

LirW · 08-03-2018 11:01am

I grew up in apartments with no gardens and sometimes not even balconies. Never missed not having one. When my mom bought her house when I was already a teen and it had a garden, I didn't use it unless they did a BBQ. Would I have missed that garden? No.

Now we have a house and it has a back garden as well as front garden. My 7y/o doesn't use it because he's out the front with the other kids and the baby is still a baby.
I'd try seeing it like that: When you have kids it's only a very short time when they actually use the back garden. They use it for maybe 3-4 years and you're in the house for how long, 30? For the rest of it you have to take care of the upkeep and if it's not your thing it'll certainly go to waste. I've viewed so many houses with a paved garden because the owner didn't want to care about it anymore.
For me no garden was not a dealbreaker and I was looking into buying a Duplex for a while.
Really depends on your preference.

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