How much does a garden add to your house price?

A large outdoor space has long been one of the top items on homebuyers’ wish lists, but new numbers have revealed just how much having a large yard 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.

According to real estate agent Savills, house prices in neighborhoods where homes have the largest outdoor space are on average 39 percent higher per square meter than in neighborhoods with the smallest.

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

That means the average three-bedroom house (of 1,200m²) in an area with large gardens would sell for £424,000, compared to £260,000 in a site with smaller gardens – a price difference of £164,000.

In urban areas where large gardens are harder to find, the gap widens, and houses with the largest gardens cost twice as much as those with the smallest.

“The value of private outdoor space is one of the legacy trends of the pandemic that is permanently ingrained in the psyche of the home buyer,” said Frances McDonald, director of residential research at Savills.

“Demand for homes with larger gardens and outdoor space has increased sharply over the past three years as buyers place more value on the lifestyle and wellbeing elements of a home.

“While larger homes with large gardens have always been expensive, it is now clear that buyers also pay more for interior space if they have a large garden attached.”

Yard space isn’t counted toward a home’s square footage, but realtors often list the size of an outdoor space next to it.

In total, buyers pay a fifth or 18 percent less than the average in that municipality for homes in neighborhoods with the smallest outdoor space.

On the other hand, the premium for homes in neighborhoods with the largest outdoor space is 8.8 percent higher than average.

Gardens can DOUBLE the value of real estate in cities

Home sellers in urban areas with large yards — a rarity — see an even higher premium, according to Savills.

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

“Especially in the last three years, there has been intense competition between buyers in more urban locations to secure a property with a large outdoor space, as they have become an essential means of escape from the pressures of metropolitan life,” says McDonald.

Where in the UK are the largest gardens?

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

The largest can be found on the Scottish island of Eilean Siar in the Outer Hebrides, where the average garden is 989 square meters.

That’s the size of more than five standard singles tennis courts, and not far from the size of an Olympic-sized swimming pool, occupying about 1,250 square feet.

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

Next up is the Orkney Islands, where gardens average 832m2, followed by Wealden in East Sussex at 828m2.

Mid Suffolk (747 m²) and West Devon (714 m²) are also in the top ten.

In London, the top 10 boroughs with the largest average outdoor space size are all in the suburbs of London, where larger houses with gardens are more readily available, with Bromley (328 square metres), Barnet (280 square metres) and Harrow (266 square meter). m) get on top of it.

In comparison, the average size of private outdoor space in the boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster in central London is less than 100 square metres. The upper end of that scale is the size of between 8 and 9 average sized parking spaces.

In Prime Central London, buyers pay an average of 28.2 percent more for a home with a large garden, according to the Savills prime London index.