How much does a garden add to your house price?

A sizeable outdoor space has long been one of the top items on home buyers’ wish lists – but new figures have revealed just how much having a big garden adds to the value of a typical home.

Gardens became even more important during the pandemic lockdowns, and new data suggests buyers are still willing to pay a hefty premium for their own patch of grass.

House prices in neighbourhoods where homes have the largest outdoor spaces are on average 39 per cent higher per square foot than in those with the smallest, according to estate agent Savills.

Lawn lovers: British home buyers typically pay 39% more for their properties, in areas that have a lot of big gardens 

In the top 10 per cent of locations for garden size, buyers will typically pay £353 per sq ft – falling to just £216 per sq ft for the bottom 10 per cent.

That means the average three-bed house (measuring 1,200 sq ft) in an area with large gardens would sell for £424,000, compared to £260,000 in a location with smaller gardens – a £164,000 price difference.

In urban areas where big gardens are harder to come by, the gap widens even further and homes with the biggest gardens cost twice as much as those with the smallest.

‘The value of private outdoor space is one of the pandemic’s legacy trends that’s become permanently ingrained in the home buyer’s psyche,’ says Frances McDonald, director of residential research at Savills.

‘Demand for homes with larger gardens and outside space has increased significantly over the past three years, as buyers place a greater value on the lifestyle and wellbeing elements of a home.

‘While larger homes with big gardens have always come at a premium, it’s now evident that buyers are also paying more for indoor space if it has a large garden attached.’

Garden space isn’t counted towards the sq ft measurements of a home, but estate agents will often list the size of any outdoor space alongside it.

Overall, buyers are paying one-fifth or 18 per cent less than the average in that local authority for homes in neighbourhoods with the smallest outside space.

In contrast, the premium paid for homes within neighbourhoods that have the largest outdoor space is 8.8 per cent higher than average.

Gardens can DOUBLE property value in cities

Home sellers in urban areas with large gardens – something of a rarity – will see an even greater premium according to Savills.

The price per sq ft for properties in urban areas with the largest gardens (£481) is more than double that of those with the smallest (£216), it said.

‘Over the last three years in particular, there’s been tough competition between buyers in more urban locations to secure a property with large outdoor space as they have become vital means of escaping the pressures of metropolitan living,’ says McDonald.

Where in the UK are the biggest gardens?

Savills also looked at where in the UK homeowners enjoy the biggest gardens.

The largest can found on Scottish Island of Eilean Siar in the Outer Hebrides, where the average garden is 989 metres squared.

That is the size of more than five standard singles tennis courts, and not far shy of the size of an Olympic swimming pool, which covers around 1,250 sq m.

Garden state: Eilean Siar in the Outer Hebrides, where locals have no shortage of green space

In next place is the Orkney Islands where gardens average 832 sq m, followed by Wealden in East Sussex at 828 sq m.

Mid Suffolk (747 sq m), and West Devon (714 sq m) also place within the top ten.

In London, the top 10 boroughs with the highest average size of outdoor space are all located within outer London where larger homes with gardens are more readily available, with Bromley (328 sq m), Barnet (280 sq m) and Harrow (266 sq m) coming out on top.

By comparison, the average size of private outdoor space in the central London boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster is below 100 sq m. The upper end of that scale is the size of between 8 and 9 average-sized parking spaces.

In Prime Central London, buyers pay on average 28.2 per cent more for a property with a large garden, according to Savills prime London index.

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk