Buying House, Lawn seems to be moss rather than grass

[compact]

Hi were thinking of buying a house, the garden seems to be mainly a springy moss rather than grass.
Can you tell what it is from the photos?
A few of the lawns around are similar.

Any thoughts on what is causing it (apart from someone likes it)?

Finally if you can spot it, would it be possible to grow a grass lawn instead.

Thanks

 

[Burnerman]

Give the lawn plenty of light, scarify it as much as you can and feed it. ....it'll recover quickly enough.
John

 

[Deluks]

Get some lawn sand from a garden centre. Sprinkle it all over, wait a few weeks for it to turn black and then rake out. As mentioned by John, scarifying, should be done at least once a year. Aerating the soil couple of times a year is also a good idea. Spring/autumn.

http://www.lawnsand.co.uk/

An electric lawnmower type scarifier makes it an easy job, otherwise metal tined sprung rake and some graft.

Appears to be a puddle in the third picture? Which probably means waterlogged ground due to clay soil underneath, which will happen after periods of heavy rain.

 

[Mikefromlondon]

this video might help as well how to scarify a lawn. http://www.lawnsmith.co.uk/lawn-care-videos/aerate-rake-scarify/scarify-rake-lawn.htm

 

[compact]

Thanks for the video, sounds like I have a fun summer ahead

According to Soilscapes, it's:

Soilscape 17: Slowly permeable seasonally wet acid loamy and clayey soils
Texture: Loamy and clayey
Coverage: England: 7% Wales: 15.1%
England & Wales: 8.2%
Selected area:
230km2
Drainage:
Impeded drainage
Fertility:
Low

Habitats: Seasonally wet pastures and woodlands
Landcover: Grassland with some arable and forestry
Carbon: Medium
Drains to: Stream network
Water protection: Main risks are associated with overland flow from compacted or poached fields. Organic slurry, dirty water, fertiliser, pathogens and fine sediment can all move in suspension or solution with overland flow or drain water
General cropping: Mostly suited to grass production for dairying or beef; some cereal production often for feed. Timeliness of stocking and fieldwork is important, and wet ground conditions should be avoided at the beginning and end of the growing season to prevent damage to soil structure. Land is tile drained and periodic moling or subsoiling will assist drainage