House with North-facing garden

M

Marykate

Guest
Hi all,

I am looking for a bit of advice. We are considering buying a larger house to move into as our current one is getting quite cramped. We want one with a decent garden for the kids to play in.
We have found a nice house which would require total renovation but on the plus size it has a large garden. However the back of the house is north-facing. I have only ever heard negative things about north-facing houses, getting no light, always in shadow etc. I would like to have some sun shining in the back kitchen, with this house that won't be possible.

I have asked several friends about their theoretical preference, some would not entertain the idea of a house with a north-facing garden, others say it wouldn't bother them a bit.

Given the price of this house I don't think we will be able to move ever again and I am wondering if it would be a big mistake to buy it. I would appreciate any advice on the subject. Many thanks
 
Next time you're viewing that house, do so on a nice day and spend most of the time in the garden. Forget about what others say about North facing gardens and ask yourself how YOU like it.

It doesn't matter what direction the garden is "facing", what matters is whether it ever gets any sunlight - my own back (very small) back garden is northwest facing, but the north-facing side of it gets the most sun (in the afternoons).

If the garden is big enough not to be overshadowed by the house, well then it's a moot point.

By the way, if the back garden is north facing, then the front of your house is south facing, which is also something people love to have (for some reason).

Just sit out there and look around!
 
Hi there,
I would second extopia about viewing on a sunny day. Mr Bear and I live in a house with a north facing garden.

Like the house you like we have a large garden, and the sun (when its there!) hits the back half of the garden. The front half because there are sheds and stuff does not get much light...

However realistically there are issues, our kitchen when we moved in was very dark : we resolved this by repainting and changing our windows to white double glazed.
We are lucky there is a patio door - which we also changed. If you were watching property ladder last night, a dark kitchen was made brighter by using cabinets with reflective surfaces!

A large north facing garden is not that bad really..
 
My house too has a north facing garden, and not a very big one but from April on the sun is high enough to shine in to most of the back garden and does so throughout the summer, only the path at the back doesn't get sun.
 
Other posts are correct. The amount of sun recieved depends on the height of the house and the lenght of the garden. It you go to the end of the garden and look back over the house, how high and angle must the sun be to reach you? Move up to middle and do likewise.Then you will know how to compute the sunlight received.
 
We extended our decking to catch more of the sun, which was blocked by the house.
 
Hi,
thank you all for your encouraging advice. I feel a lot better about the house now. I'm going to see it again shortly and intend to take your advice and stand at the back of the garden and look at the line of the sun. The garden is long, about 110 feet, so from our initial visit I think that about three-quarters of the garden at the back got the sun (was not overshadowed by the house).

In our debate of sunny garden versus large garden, with our active kids in mind, we have concluded that large must twin the day. Also, we could just about afford this house and we would not be able to afford its sunnier counterpart on the other side of the street which (when one was sold recently, they don't often appear) was about E250 K more expensive.
 
Marykate said:
Hi,
Also, we could just about afford this house and we would not be able to afford its sunnier counterpart on the other side of the street which (when one was sold recently, they don't often appear) was about E250 K more expensive.
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Are you sure about that?? Even in bonkersville Ireland, surely a south facing garden can't add €250K to a house price!!! Are you comparing like with like??
 
Hi,
Yes I am very sure. I even went to view it. But we couldn't afford it. The actual price was over E1 million.
The only difference in the two houses was that the other (south-facing) house had a longer garden (140 foot versus 110 foot), and the house was in slightly better nick. Also the sunnier house sold last year in the height of the boom. But brick for brick the houses are identical. Seems a fair premium to pay for a sunny garden, dont you think?
 
You're going into a few too many variables there. Just bear in mind that when it comes to playing in the garden, your kids probably don't care whether the sun is out or not.
 
You might not care about the quota of sun but the day you buy is also the day you sell. Makes it more difficult to resell in due course.
 
runner said:
You might not care about the quota of sun but the day you buy is also the day you sell. Makes it more difficult to resell in due course.
Click to expand...

Woth no offence to runner but this to me is the perfect example as to where and why property has gone mad. There was time people bought a house to live in, for a long time. There are so many queries on AAM about property value in two, three or five years time when they buy something now.

IMO the original poster intends to use the house for what it is intended: to live in and that selling doesn't come in to the equation.
 
have to agree with all of the above with the exception of Runner (sounds like this lady is looking for a house for a long time - so no guessing what the market will do before then). We have a north facing garden but with space at side also and approx 75% of our garden is in constant sunshine and we were able to place our deck in rear corner of garden which is a veritable suntrap all day long - our garden is only approx 45 feet long but very wide - with your 110 feet garden you'll be guarnteed loads of sun in gaarden - just not in the kitchen.
 
Thanks to you all.
As several posters said, we are more interested in staying in the house for the long haul. The kids won't care whether it's sunny or not. I care, as I'd like to be able to sit outside the kitchen in sunshine, but then again I can't afford one like this with a sunny garden, so I'll settle for what I can get.

I'd like to think it the north-facing aspect wouldn't be a major negative when we come to sell but you can't factor everything in and hopefully we will never sell it. (That said, we haven't actually bought it yet and the husband is having major doubts about whether we are mad to be buying when the market looks about to tumble, in his opinion. This is worrying me far more than the aspect of the house).
Thanks again all.
 
South facing is a must in a smaller garden, with a bigger (longer) garden you can plan your landscaping (hard and soft) around this.
 
I have a small north facing garden. What is important is the height of the part of the house which will shade the garden. Our house is 2 storey with a one storey extension. The sun fills the whole garden in the summer, the back of the garden is heavily planted with flowering plants and everygreen shrubs so from the kitchen windows there is a fab sun lit view all year. Every house is different, the individual layout etc is more important than the simple aspect.
 
the interior of the house is also a factor, if it's fairly open plan then you have the sun from the front of the house through to the back, if it's more traditional then obviously the light can't travel so well.
 
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