Garden vs No Garden

wessexw

Hi everyone. I’ve been looking for nearly the past year for a garden flat in London and haven’t had much luck. I really wanted a garden as I see it as like an extra room in the flat, it would be lovely to be able to sit out in the summer and have bbqs and all that stuff. Plus I’d really like to grow my own flowers and shrubs etc. And other little things like being able to step out in to the garden in the morning to check the weather rather than not being sure what to wear as you can’t see the ground (if it’s wet or not) from an upstairs flat. However I saw a really nice flat recently at a good price – but it’s an upstairs flat without a garden. At first I completely wrote the flat off as it doesn’t have the garden, but now I’m beginning to wonder if I REALLY need a garden. There’s a park less than a 5 minute walk away that I can go sit out in if I want to, taking care of a garden sounds all very nice and ‘the good life’ like but would I be too lazy for it in reality. Maybe I should take a cheaper and gardenless flat as my first flat to get on the property ladder, get used to paying a mortgage and upgrade to a garden place in a few years once I’m more confident in the property owning business.

So I’m wondering if there’s anybody else here who had their heart set on having a garden, but then ended up with a property with no garden – did you regret it? Did it work out ok and you wondered why you ever wanted a garden? I know it’s a very personal thing but I’m wondering about peoples experiences.

Thanks!

jozbo

i was looking for a flat with a garden as a priority. didnt find anything in my price bracket so I started looking further out for something else.
i saw lots of flats with gardens but the vast majority were overgrown and barely used. i would say if you're not used to having one and essentially would just like outside space of some description then either go for one with a balcony where you can have a few pot plants and a chair - or look for flats (in conversions) that have their own section of the garden - whether 1st floor or ground.
bear in mind you'll have vastly more choice and spend less if you discount the garden idea though. but will you regret it...?

ilovecheese

Not quite the same sitution as we rent, but two years ago we moved from a garden flat (which was very old and not well looked after) to a modern 2nd floor flat (no balcony or garden) it nearly drove my husband insane!!!!! He could not stand it and hated living there, it was the first time in his life he had not had direct access to a garden.

The lack of garden didnt bother me until we moved to our present home, now that I have had the pleasure of living in a bungalow that has French doors straight out to the garden, I can not imagine living without a garden again.

As I said it is very different for us as we rent, so pretty easy for us to move if we don't like where we are living, personally I love having a garden, and when we move again we will discount any property that does not have one.

Good luck with your search

Pennylane

Personally I couldn't live without some area where I could sit outside, however small. But I am an outdoorsy person. I also know I could not live anywhere dark which doesn't get good light and sun.

A woman I know has a lovely cottage with no garden but there is a tiny triangle area at her side door. Just big enough for a weeny table & 2 chairs and a few pots. It gets the afternoon and evening sun and she uses it all the time. It suits her because she's away a lot and didn't want a lawn etc to care for.

lee636

I currently rent on the river basically; we have a small terrace area as we are a ground floor flat and are growing all manner of herbs and veggies. It all started off great but we slowly got tired of having to water them every morning/evening even though we were reaping the food rewards. We are now moving to a ground floor flat with no outside space to speak of, we have talked but both agree that it isnt that big a deal in the long run, its not our permanent home, maybe a 5 year place. We will still be within 3 minutes walk of the river and a 10 minute drive of Richmond Park - which has deer & tons of places to picnic, walk, relax etc.

Remember you will be using it for the warmer months and then probably not even look at it for the majority of the colder spells in this country. Living the dream for maybe 8 weeks a year........?

BitterAndTwisted

Friends of mine own a basement flat in West Kensington with a tiny pocket-handkerchief of a garden. I think living there without access to a bit of outside space would be miserable. Just being able to view some greenery through the window when the weather means you can't actually use it all the time would make a huge difference. The security aspect is the other side of the same coin however and they've spent a fair bit of money on security-grilles etcetera

Fulham_Mark

I'd definitely go for one.
Gardens are under-valued price-wise and so are a bargain.

Prices rise for a basic 1-bed or 2-bed so much that no-one has any extra money for a garden. My research found that a garden only costs £25k on a £250k place. But in summer you get an extra room.

People above can see you and throw rubbish in it but bad neighbours are a risk anywhere

FOURCANDLES_2

Well went to see a house sunday same size as we have now but the back garden on this new house was the size of two large cars side by side SORRY but to me that would be a prison cell .

sonastin

I wanted a house with a garden. I bought a house with a garden. I lived there for 8 years and barely even touched the garden until I put it up for sale. Managed to get the garden looking nice in order to sell it. Now I'm going to miss the garden and so I want the next house to have a garden as well. Which I will probably ignore for another 8 years!

Unless gardening is your hobby and you know that you'll have the time an motivation to do the work that a garden requires, I wouldn't compromise on the quality of the flat to get the garden if I were in your shoes. You will spend a lot more time in the flat than you will in the garden.

henpecked1

reading your post, you really want a garden

kmmr

henpecked1 wrote: »

reading your post, you really want a garden

You don't want henpecked's garden though... we all know what is in there!