North facing garden

Big Chris

Big Chris

Big Chris

Soldato
Joined
5 Apr 2004
Posts
5,482
Location
Bloxham
The wife and I are looking at a new build property but have just realised the garden faces dead north. Is this as much of a negative as people say?

We've lived in flats for the last ten years and having just had our first child, the prospect of a garden for us to spend time in (UK weather allowing) is one of the main drivers for our move.

We love the house and as a new build we get to spec pretty much all of it to our liking, and it's in a great location close to both our places of work - but if the garden is in the shade then it could be a downer :(

It's a three-storey house with the lounge and two of the four bedrooms at the back. Being a new build the garden won't be huge either. Having looked at the site plan, it seems almost all of the houses have either north, north-east or north-west facing gardens.
 
At the height of the summer the sun is almost directly above you so shouldn't really be a problem unless you're only likely to be out in the evening.
 
It would be nice to be able to sit out in the garden in the evening in the spring/summer. i guess we could invest in a chimenea or gas heater if it comes to it.
 
Big Chris said:
The wife and I are looking at a new build property but have just realised the garden faces dead north. Is this as much of a negative as people say?
Click to expand...
It all depends on the size of the garden and what is surrounding it.

Of all the properties I've viewed during my search that had North-facing gardens, I only felt that two of them were useable as they were both massive and virtually unobstructed.

On the other hand, those which had smaller gardens with neighbours in close proximity were pretty grim. You'd see the sun for such a small portion of the day and it just felt like the garden was an outside space, not something that you'd actively want to use.

I don't think a South-facing garden is the be-all and end-all of house-hunting, but I'd only consider a North-facing one under exceptional circumstances.
 
Last edited:
Big Chris said:
The wife and I are looking at a new build property but have just realised the garden faces dead north. Is this as much of a negative as people say?
Click to expand...

Yes. Next!

Remember that you've got to think of the people to whom you're going to be trying to sell in how-ever-many years' time. You have the opportunity to walk now, so take it.
 
Lived in a house with a north facing garden for 25 years and bought it two years ago. Is it ideal, no, but we have seating at the bottom of the garden and on the patio, so you can sit where there is sun, or sit in the shade, choice is yours.
 
North facing here, depends if your garden is long enough if you want a sitting area its quite easy to do depending the garden of course.

Plants are fine, you just need to be more choosy in what you plant.
 
Our Garden faces South East and I still crave more sunshine in the late afternoon in the summer. We live on an estate that isnt overcrowded and there is a good amount of space between us and our neighbours yet still feel the sun can be shaded from us.
For me a north facing garden would be a total deal breaker. But i guess its what your expectations / needs are.
I suppose i could use my front garden as an indicator as that is NW facing and I for one would not like that to be the back of my house
 
Personally I couldn't care less. Although I do live in Scotland where we get roughly 3 days of sunshine a year.

The house itself means a lot more to me than what way it faces.
 
400ft garden - no problem.
Typical new build 15ft garden overlooked from all sides - I would rule out the house based on this alone.
 
Agreed new builds suck for this very reason. I know its how only some people can get on the property ladder, but I would never buy a new build with back garden over looked by 3 or 4 houses no matter which way it faces.

Go old and go big garden imo. (it started going like this in the 80s) Hell i would sooner have a flat and balcony than the dreaded new build back garden.

You just know some munchkin will get dog that barks, screaming kids on the plastic slide, Teenage kids rockband some chav that wont replace a fence there brat has kicked in with a football (or wind)

So what if its not so energy efficient a extra £150 on my gas bill is worth the price.
 
Last edited:
Was young and single when I bought my current house with northish facing garden with the patio only getting a bit of sun late in the afternoon.
Was fine for a few years when I bought it but situations change and I want to grow more of my own veg and I have tortoises who enjoy the sun so sunny space down the end of the garden is limited.
With the OH now and am looking to move and a south facing or long garden is a must for us. Not bothered if rear of house is shadowed if the garden is long enough to set out a patio or similar in a sunny spot.
 
SPG said:
Agreed new builds suck for this very reason. I know its how only some people can get on the property ladder, but I would never buy a new build with back garden over looked by 3 or 4 houses no matter which way it faces.

Go old and go big garden imo. (it started going like this in the 80s) Hell i would sooner have a flat and balcony than the dreaded new build back garden.

You just know some munchkin will get dog that barks, screaming kids on the plastic slide, Teenage kids rockband some chav that wont replace a fence there brat has kicked in with a football (or wind)

So what if its not so energy efficient a extra £150 on my gas bill is worth the price.
Click to expand...

+1

When I was looking recently, some of the places I saw which were more recently built (80's-90s') were awful for garden space - you were either being overshadowed or had a lovely 2ft square bit of grass that never got any sun and was barely big enough to string up a washing line.

However after seeing a fair few, I ended up not even considering anything built around that same time frame in the area for that reason alone. Ended up with a nice 50's place which I've made quite energy efficient (within reason, of course) and have a lovely long south facing garden. Much better.
 
This is the site plan, we're looking at one of the green ones to the left, plots 66 - 71. Do you think they'd be ok or too close to surrounding houses?

8yz812.jpg


The majority of the larger detached £400k+ homes on the site seem to have N, NW or NE facing gardens too, odd that they've designed it this way if they're intended as family homes.

We're not that fussed about growing stuff really, but having spent many summers longing for a garden, having one that doesn't get much sun would be hard to swallow.
 
Our garden faces I would guess WNW and seems OK to me for people like us who are not massive gardeners. My dad is a keen gardener and gets on OK with a ENE facing garden.
 
When you say does not get much sun, ours is north facing and was lovely when sun was out. You would still be able to enjoy and grow things and, you yourselves would not be cooking in the sun!
 
Depends on a lot more than just which way it faces. I live in an annex off a large house with the gardens facing NW. The main house is just fine, gets plenty of sun on the garden and balcony most of the year (although the patio is in the wrong corner so it gets shaded by the bordering hedge in autumn). My garden is long and narrow so gets very little sun except in the height of summer because of the fences either side. not helped by the fact the annex extends further back than the main house so shades more from that side too - the sun needs to be pretty much directly above to get any meaningful sun. Basically it's fantastic for about 3 weeks of the year :o
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom