House without a back garden (only front)

LaurenHeath123

I'm looking to buy a house in a village in West Wales and I have looked at a number of properties however, the latest one I have viewed has a large front garden but very little garden in the back.
It has enough room for a steel shed and a wooden shed (normal garden shed size) with some space down the side. I'm looking into whether the side access is big enough for a drive.
The house is up a lane (single lane/ farmers lane) and there are 4 houses, 2 detached and 2 semis. The one I like is a semi-detached property and the semi attached to the house is at the end of the lane which means that they have access over the front lawn to get to their house. You could say there is a road between the house and the front lawn but its just an access through for next door rather than an actual 'road'.

Next door have extended their kitchen and bathroom all the way back to the boundary so they effectively have no back garden at all but they don't seem to mind at all. There is no information on any of the four properties in terms of value etc as all owners have been there for at least 40 years! - neighbours are 70-90 years old.

Sorry if this is super confusing!!!

Anyway, getting to the point and to my question: would you consider purchasing this property? I wrote that its in west wales so it is clear that this definitely isn't the norm as may be in cities!

Would this put you off? - we are two young adults with no children and no plans for any children in the next 10 years, by which time we will have bought somewhere bigger anyway! My fear is that we won't be able to resell it!

Any advice would be appreciated!

G_M

LaurenHeath123 wrote: »

Anyway, getting to the point and to my question: would you consider purchasing this property?..
Would this put you off? !

Purely subjective question so irrelevant what I think.

Would you be happy living there for 10 years?

Yes? Buy it.

No? Don't.

LaurenHeath123

Yes, I would but I'm a young adult with no children. This is a four bed house so it is more of a family house than it is a 'young-adult/ first time buyer' home. In its current state, families would not purchase it as they need a house thats ready to be occupied. We are not bothered about doing some work to it and spending some money to make into a lovely home but when its renovated I would hope families would want to live in it! Its a bit of a gamble.

Mojisola

LaurenHeath123 wrote: »

the latest one I have viewed has a large front garden but very little garden in the back.

It has enough room for a steel shed and a wooden shed (normal garden shed size) with some space down the side.

The one I like is a semi-detached property and the semi attached to the house is at the end of the lane which means that they have access over the front lawn to get to their house. You could say there is a road between the house and the front lawn but its just an access through for next door rather than an actual 'road'.

LaurenHeath123 wrote: »

This is a four bed house so it is more of a family house than it is a 'young-adult/ first time buyer' home.

when its renovated I would hope families would want to live in it!

Buy it if you like it but I wouldn't spend a lot of money updating it with the intention of selling it as a family home.

With almost no back garden and only an open area in the front, it won't appeal to parents with young children. Being down a farm lane, I can't see it attracting families with older children - the parents would be running a non-stop taxi service for the kids.

LaurenHeath123

Thank you for your honest advice!

Mojisola

Is there any chance of buying a bit of land to make a garden - taking permission for change of use into account.

Andypandyboy

I agree with the above poster. Both those points would have put me off buying it as a family home. However, if it is otherwise near to amenities; good schools, shops, village amenities then those who are used to country living may overlook what others would see as negatives. Look at the whole package.

LaurenHeath123

There is a 2-3 acre field behind the house which is agricultural only - has no developmental value as there is no access to the field other than the small lane by the house which has been deemed too small and therefore dangerous, to have the traffic from other houses. The field is owned by one of the four houses so this is definitely something I have considered as they have loads of land surrounding their property anyway. Obviously, this would be down to the neighbour and completely out of my hands. It would add enough value to the property to warrant purchasing some/all of the field but I have no idea how much a piece of land would cost? There is a national park behind the field, would this affect value?
There are no agricultural fields being sold and I can't find anything that has sold previously. Areas like this tend to have family-run farms which stay in the family for generations.

Near to 2 very good secondary schools and also 2-3 primary schools. Up and coming area with loads of development however, this property is out of the way slightly so thats one perk, I think they call it semi-rural as it close to everything but down a lane far enough away from the noise and road.

Also, the front garden is larger than your usual garden for a 3-4 bed semi and is surrounded by bushes and fences so it is safe and contained.

oystercatcher

Lack of garden could be a slight negative for families but is possibly managable if there is a decent sized front garden they could play out in. The access might worry me though, would vehicles be coming across possibly threatening saftey and security of childrn and animals ? I have dogs and would worry about others leaving gates open etc etc.

The other point is location, I am getting an impression of remoteness which would cause problems for me with famiy, I would be needing access to school, shops and leisure facilities for the children. Although many families do manage living remotely it's not first choice for most.

Would it make a good holiday let ? That could be a potential market.

If you are planning on living there for 10 years I wouldn't worry too much about resale as many things could change in that time but bear in mind you may not recoup large spends on renovation .

Edit, seen your post about location and schools which seem good , remoteness not applicable.

LaurenHeath123

The garden is large and contained, fully fenced off and has a hedge going all the way around it. Without the fence, children and animals still wouldn't be able to get out, although smaller animals may be able to push themselves through, this is solved by the fence.
The only car that would pass over the road in front of the house would be next door so I'm sure they would be mindful. The best way to describe the 'road' would be to compare it to sharing a drive with your neighbour but in a less intrusive way as they have their side and the house has its own side. I'm not very clear on this but its a difficult one to describe. The land is privately owned by the property but has a right of way for the neighbour.
I don't think it would be remote enough to be used as a holiday let, most people who visit go right into the sticks. I have friends who have a family let and their house is literally in the middle of nowhere, takes 30 minutes to get onto a normal double lane road! Visitors seem to love that as its what Wales is known for.
I'm hoping to budget all the way through each phase of the renovation. I'm going to go for a good standard finish (buy cheap, buy twice) but I certainly won't be spending the budget on Welsh slate and Oak flooring etc.

Nicki

I may have misread the OP but did you say that next door need to come through your front garden to access their house?

If there is no usable back garden, so all garden based activities such as having a barbecue with friends, sunbathing, drying undies on the washing line, etc has to take place in the front garden which the neighbours will be walking through with no notice multiple times a day, then yes even if I had no children that would be a real off putter for me.