Does a garden add value to your property?

The Gardening Season has arrived and its time to mow the lawn, clean the patio and dust down those sun loungers. Gardening evokes pleasure in some and horror in others and I’ve been thinking about the financial benefit a garden might bring to a property and considering the question - does the outside space around our home actually add any value to our property? One good indicator is the queue at the till of your local Garden Centre, we Brits certainly seem to be a nation of gardeners and we do love our gardens.

Whether you’re buying a house as a home or as an investment property how should you view the outdoor space? It might be that you’re a keen a garden, but these days we seem to be looking at gardens more as areas to entertain (even in our inclement climate) than as areas for food production and flower cultivation. The general consensus is that an outside entertaining area can certainly add value to a property, and some surveys suggest by as much as 20%.

As I generally show in my newsletters, there are always two sides to the argument where property is concerned and it might be worth considering what you want to use the outside space for before purchasing a property, you really don’t want the maintenance of that garden to become a burden. If you’re not a keen gardener then a house where the outside space is neat, tidy and easily managed could be the one for you.

From an investment point of view the maintenance of the garden will rest with your tenant and therefore you should consider how you can simplify that task by putting in a neat patio, possibly reducing the size of your lawn by using gravel creatively and buying some pots and planters to create interest in the garden. The neighbours of your tenants will welcome a tidy, well kept, outside space I’m sure.