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Yup, shade, poor drainage and heavy use (including pets, paddling pools etc.) make many small lawns far more hassle than they're worth.
Both our neighbours gardens hold water when we have a heavy downpour, no such issues with my devil lawn.
@jono84 I'm trying to work out if that's a good thing. Lawns being waterlogged makes maintaining a lawn very difficult, but it suggests that the water is at least being held before percolating slowly downwards. Fake grass drains really well, which could mean that the water gets into the subsoil quite quickly. I don't know whether that's good or bad, but it's obviously 100% better than paving, which has instantaneous runoff.
Where are you? You can have a functioning 'family lawn' in the majority of the UK with natural watering and no feed. Different if you want a bowling green or something.