House price growth picks up as 2015 draws to a close.

cells

padington wrote: »

Try bringing up a kid without a garden.

Empty show boxes are great for investors but what we all really want is a nice house in a nice neighbourhood with a nice garden with good transport to get to a good job.

Watch period homes hold their price when high rises tank.

I dont have kids but I was a kid and we did have a garden and that garden was seldom used maybe for the odd BBQ which we would mostly eat inside anyway. When I look into my back garden which backs onto other back gardens they are also almost never used.

most people would be better off with a 50% bigger apartment and no garden just that you probably view apartments as !!!! blocks of poor construction of small size built to house the cities poor....which is what our tower blocks mostly are/were. But that does not have to be the case

and as i noted elsewhere in some nations over 95% of the stock are apartments so the idea that the kids needs a garden they wont use is probably wrong

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

cells wrote: »

When I look into my back garden which backs onto other back gardens they are also almost never used.

I'd agree with that.

We've used our back garden maybe 8-10 times in the last 7 years.

Our neighbours are the same.

Gardens are a pain in the behind, expensive, time consuming, and rarely used... I'd completely pave ours over if Mrs McT would let me!

padington

I'm swinging in my hammock April to September, sometimes until November. Often have bonfires with friends round on the weekend. It's the best room of the house in my book.

When I buy a house it's the number one point of interest for me when looking at the photo's. You are right that gardens are under appreciated at the moment, a good garden doesn't seem to add much to the cost of the house, that might change one day though.

Maybe not in Aberdeen though, too blooming cold.

Mistermeaner

Gardens are for sheds where bikes are kept.

mwpt

Mistermeaner wrote: »

Gardens are for sheds where bikes are kept.

And herbs, tomatoes, vegetables, etc.

mwpt

cells wrote: »

I think its quite simple,
people buy location
then class of neighbours
then space
then cost of upkeep
then trivialities like gardens or garages or a particular design or look

I bought my first property in 2014. It's hard to put an order to buy motives but my guess would be:

1) Risk mitigation in case interest rates rose dramatically, or some such event. I needed somewhere cheapish.
2) I wanted an actual house, not a flat, for the garden and the ability to extend and create more living space without having to move and incur more transaction costs.
3) I wanted to be close to transport to central London.
4) I wanted to remain close to my current social life.

I managed to satisfy all of the above to a reasonable degree but had to compromise on a few issues. The location is not exactly a "trendy" district of greater London. I also had to compromise on the size of the dwelling. The internal living area is quiet small, but it'll do for now.

padington

A garden offers lots of expanding / upgrading potential. Probably the single cheapest thing you can obtain lots of without too much relative expense as well.

padington

mwpt wrote: »

And herbs, tomatoes, vegetables, etc.

Not to forget flowers, frogs, newts, birds and bee's.

I think the failure to enjoy a garden is probably a failure to ensure a decent wifi signal to the hammock/ sun lounger area or a lack of an iPad.

chucknorris

mwpt wrote: »

And herbs, tomatoes, vegetables, etc.

And dog pooh (only temporarily of course, until disposed of by throwing over the fence onto your neighbour whilst he relaxes on his hammock).

Mistermeaner

mwpt wrote: »

And herbs, tomatoes, vegetables, etc.

No. That's shops

I've just checked my sheds. Bikes. Definitely bikes.