James Fisher
With RHS Chelsea around the corner, and the sun shining, it is perhaps not a surprise if you are feeling green-fingered. Not only is it important to have a nice garden (after all, what would the neighbours think), it could pay off, with new research suggesting that sprucing up your garden could add £20,000 to the value of your property.
Regency Living has crunched the numbers from various data sources (think Home Logic, Checkatrade and more). While this may not be the most robust analysis, it does give a steer on what features you may want to prioritise in your garden.
So, top of the list? A new garden room or office (if you have the space). This could add an average 7.5% to your house price which, based on the current UK average of £268,548, comes out at £20,141. Hardly surprising, considering that houses with more rooms tend to be more valuable than houses with less rooms. But always nice to have a ballpark number.
Next up, a conservatory. The smart Victorian type please. Again, while this may eat up garden space, you do gain another room — and boost your house price by 7% (£18,798).
A smart conservatory is always a pleasing addition. This one from Marston & Langinger by Alitex ought to do.
In third place, an outdoor kitchen, very de rigueur. Like all these things, it depends on the scale of your project. But with grills, a smoker, refrigeration, storage, dining table, lighting, heating, and some fancy landscaping, Regency Living reckons you could add 5.6% to your property value (£15,039). And that’s not including a Big Green Egg…
The following features are relatively unexciting. A prefab timber summer house (£13,427) here, landscaping (£12,085) and patio or decking (£11,548) there.
Quite rightly, at the bottom of the list you will find a hot tub. It may add a relatively modest 3% (£8,056). They are statement pieces, but not good ones.
Sales and marketing director, Tim Simmons, says that ‘when it comes to property value, a home is worth exactly what someone is willing to pay for it, so if you’re creating something unusual and a step above the competition, even in modest ways, you’re going to capture buyer attention and inevitably increase the price they’re willing to pay.’
So if you are looking to sell up, now you know which bits of the garden to have a look at. But having a nice garden is about so much more than just money, so get out there and give it some character regardless.
