Property values enhanced by outside space
Investing a little time in tending your garden can really pay dividends when you come to sell your home, according to the latest research by propertyfinder.com. Home buyers and sellers believe that a garden can add as much as 17% to the value of a property – on an average property this is an excess of more than £35,000.
Gardens really add to a property’s appeal, and it is not just families who desire outside space. 57% of all people rate a garden as essential in their choice of a property, whilst a further 26% said it was highly preferable. Only 3% of people would rather not have a garden of any kind.
Green fingers grow money
But Nicholas Leeming, director of propertyfinder.com warned home sellers not to be complacent about the state of their gardens:
There is a tendency to think that merely having a garden is enough to attract buyers. The reality is that 85% of dwellings in the UK have a garden and one that is in a state of disrepair is more likely to put off potential buyers than attract them. 84% of people are put off by bad décor in a house, this sentiment extends to the outside of the property and the garden.
Nearly 75% of people said that they would be instantly attracted to a property that had a well tended front garden, whilst 93% would be put off by a neglected and littered front lawn.
Nicholas Leeming continued:
House prices obviously depend to a large extent on the wider market, but there are things sellers can do to add to the desirability of their property and this will directly affect the price the property commands on the market. A well tended garden is the ultimate value add.
Neglectful sellers lose the spring in their step
Sellers are more optimistic than buyers about the amount of value a garden could add to a house, with almost a third of those questioned believing it could add more than 25% to the value of their property. However, an equal number of sellers admitted tending to their garden just once a month or less, diminishing their property’s value.
Nicholas Leeming concluded:
Spring and early summer are traditionally the busiest seasons in the property market, and also the time of year that the weeds grow most quickly. For people looking to put their property on the market, it would be foolish not to make the extra effort to show off their properties to their full potential. Property prices are ultimately dictated by the consumer – who on average expects to pay quite a significant premium for a well tended garden. It truly is a case of money growing on trees!
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