"The size of this green space will vary drastically depending on where you choose to buy and those looking in built-up urban areas where space comes at a premium will not only pay more for the pleasure but WILL find that their garden space is considerably smaller"
- Ruth Beeton - Home Sale Pack
New market insight from Home Sale Pack reveals which parts of England homebuyers should be looking at if they want to secure the biggest gardens the country has to offer.
Summer is almost upon us, bringing with it high hopes for long, sunny days. So Home Sale Pack has analysed current residential listings data to see where homebuyers have the best chance of finding a home with a garden, before delving into government Land Use data* to gain insight into which of England’s Local Authority districts are home to properties with the largest, and smallest, gardens.
82% of homes for sale come with garden space
The good news for garden-hungry homebuyers is that 82.2% of homes currently on the market in England come with gardens.
Garden stock is at its highest in the East Midlands where 90.9% of homes come with a garden, followed by the West Midlands (88.3%), Yorkshire & Humber (87.3%), and the North East (87%).
London has by far the lowest stock in the country, with only 61.6% of current listings boasting a garden.
North West stock stands at 83% and in the South East, it’s 83.2%.
Where boasts the largest gardens?
While garden stock is plentiful across most of England, not all gardens are created equally and average sizes vary significantly from one area of the country to another.
Analysis of government Land Use data shows that across England, the average garden size stands at 255 square metres.
London has the smallest gardens. The city as a whole offers an average size of just 100 sqm, while analysing gardens on a Local Authority level, reveals that the capital also accounts for 21 of the 25 districts with the smallest garden footprint.
The only non-London areas to appear among the 25 LA districts with the smallest average garden size are Portsmouth (81 sqm), Manchester (102 sqm), Brighton & Hove (112 sqm), and Liverpool (113 sqm).
Buyers who are keen to secure a home with a generous garden should avoid these locations and focus their search in other areas of the country.
The largest gardens are found in Wealden, East Sussex, where the average size is a sprawling 700 sqm.
In Mid Suffolk, the average garden measures 692 sqm, followed by Waverly (653 sqm), Tandridge (639 sqm), Uttlesford (620 sqm), Malvern Hills (617 sqm), West Devon (602 sqm), the County of Herefordshire (597 sqm), South Norfolk (596 sqm), and Mole Valley (595 sqm).
Buyer demand is high for garden properties
However, buyers who have their heart set on a home with a garden can’t afford to hang around because 44% of all current listings in England that boast a garden are already sold subject to contract, with demand reaching as high as 47.1% in the North East.
Ruth Beeton, Co-Founder of Home Sale Pack, says: “A garden is always a strong pull for potential buyers and, for those in search of their own slice of green space, the good news is that the majority of homes listed on the market come with a garden.
"Of course, the size of this green space will vary drastically depending on where you choose to buy and those looking in built-up urban areas where space comes at a premium will not only pay more for the pleasure but WILL find that their garden space is considerably smaller.
"Despite the varying size of gardens across the nation, there’s no doubt they are hot property.
"This means that buyers should put themselves in a position where when they find the property they want, they can move quickly to put in an offer and close the deal before someone else comes along, perhaps with deeper pockets, and swipes it out from under them.”
