Overlooked House

bhsmith12

Hi everyone, my house is currently on the market and we’ve had a good amount of viewings considering the how the market is right now (6 in 3 weeks) as it is well priced. However everyone who has viewed it says the same thing  - that the house is lovely but the garden is too overlooked. It’s a new build and it’s almost a semi circle of houses whose gardens all back onto ours. Our house is also slightly elevated which doesn’t help. 

We don’t have the money for screening trees (already looked into it!) and we really don’t want to drop the price as it really is well priced. 

Is there anything anyone can recommend to help make the garden feel a bit more private? Or is it just a case of waiting for the right buyer who isn’t fussed about it? 

pinkshoes

Some large plant pots with bamboo?

(Don't plant it in the ground as it will take over!)

Richard1212

You can't do anything by the sound of it all. YOU bought the house knowing that your every move could be seen by all neighbours. You can't erect fences more than 2 metres high so they won't solve your problem. You say you can't afford trees though conifers are cheap and work very well; but, once again, you can't let them grow more than 2 m, so no point in your case. 

There is no answer to your dilemma so just sit back and wait for a person like you who doesn't care about buying a house that is overlooked by everyone. Good luck. 

bhsmith12

Thank you - I thought this might be the case so will just have to wait! 

Richard1212 said:

You can't do anything by the sound of it all. YOU bought the house knowing that your every move could be seen by all neighbours. You can't erect fences more than 2 metres high so they won't solve your problem. You say you can't afford trees though conifers are cheap and work very well; but, once again, you can't let them grow more than 2 m, so no point in your case. 

There is no answer to your dilemma so just sit back and wait for a person like you who doesn't care about buying a house that is overlooked by everyone. Good luck. 

housebuyer143

Aren't most new builds horribly over looked? 
I'm sure you will find someone who is okay with it eventually. Someone viewing a new build should be expecting a fair amount lost privacy in my opinion

[Deleted User]

Could you just screen a small part near the house where people would feel comfortable sitting on a couple of chairs without being seen, maybe some type of trellis or willow screen ( Amazon amongst others do those). Other than that just a case of waiting for someone who doesn't mind being overlooked.  

BobT36

Not sure you can do, however I pass up on houses (especially new builds) for this very reason. 

It looks absolutely HORRIBLE with all that you see from the garden / back windows is other people's houses looming right over you. New builds are overlooked from every possible direction, including sides and diagonals. Sometimes 12 houses! Ridiculous lack of privacy, on top of most being shoe boxes. 

I could just imagine hating myself every day if I bought something like that, I'd feel so "penned in". This is me who would like to live like a hermit though, so I'm on the other end of the scale than someone who isn't bothered or who likes the "buzz" and wants to "feel in touch with their neighbours". 

Worries me that when our current housing stock is too old, all that will be left is these horrible, overlooked shoe boxes with 0 privacy. Hate how they build them like this, now. 

However, I usually rule these out BEFORE viewing them. It's usually evident from the pictures (despite estate agent's best attempts to take angles pointing back at the house) and satellite / street view scrutinising. 

Richard1212

BobT36 said:

Not sure you can do, however I pass up on houses (especially new builds) for this very reason. 

It looks absolutely HORRIBLE with all that you see from the garden / back windows is other people's houses looming right over you. New builds are overlooked from every possible direction, including sides and diagonals. Sometimes 12 houses! Ridiculous lack of privacy, on top of most being shoe boxes. 

I could just imagine hating myself every day if I bought something like that, I'd feel so "penned in". This is me who would like to live like a hermit though, so I'm on the other end of the scale than someone who isn't bothered or who likes the "buzz" and wants to "feel in touch with their neighbours". 

Worries me that when our current housing stock is too old, all that will be left is these horrible, overlooked shoe boxes with 0 privacy. Hate how they build them like this, now. 

However, I usually rule these out BEFORE viewing them. It's usually evident from the pictures (despite estate agent's best attempts to take angles pointing back at the house) and satellite / street view scrutinising. 

Nobody said bhsmith's home is a "horrible overlooked shoe box" and I think your remark is disparaging especially as it has been described by the owner as a "lovely" house. Nor does bhsmith think he is "penned in" or he wouldn't have bought it in the first place. I'm sure he took into account all aspects "BEFORE" he bought his present home.

You are entitled to your own opinions but not IMHO at the cost of "looking down your nose" on bhsmith's home. If you are happy in your old Victorian terrace or whatever you have, well that's fine---but others have different priorities. And that is why bh will sell his house to someone who thinks it's a lovely house and does not mind being overlooked by neighbours -----if everybody detested having an "overlooked" garden, half the houses in Britain would not be sellable ( blimey, even a pre-War semi is usually overlooked completely by the other half of the semi, and probably both halves of the semi at the foot of the garden !).  I hope bh comes back to this site to let us know of his success in due course.

mark_cycling00

People may say that the garden is overlooked but that doesn't mean they won't buy it. 

Similar priced houses may have imperfections that are worse, like being next to busy roads or having no parking etc.

Also, many people out there don't care too much about having the perfect garden. They're out a lot, work a lot etc. So you can present the house to appeal to those people your agent can advise I guess 

BobT36

^ No need to be offended on behalf of others. I clearly wasn't talking about the OP's SPECIFIC house, as I've clearly not seen it. 

The question was that they'd been getting a lot of comments from viewers about it being overlooked, and whether other people shared this sort of opinion about houses that are "overlooked". I certainly share it! And simply lamenting that many of these new builds seem to be like that, now. With houses "looming" in from every direction. Might just be me being weird but it gives me an anxious feeling just looking at it in pictures! 

However yes, eventually they will find a buyer who doesn't care, or "overlooks" the fact that it's overlooked. They bought it themselves so, someone else clearly will. 

Abbafan1972

A friend of mine lives on a fairly new Redrow estate and her garden is not overlooked at all.