Previously, if your home had a swimming pool or underground garage, you were considered to have a luxurious asset. These properties were able to charge more and held a wider appeal among buyers and estate agencies. While they continue to have that desirability, there is a new asset that puts your home into a more prestigious category of selectability: the garden.
It may seem like a relatively humble property asset in comparison to a swimming pool, however, following the 2020 pandemic and its resulting lockdown, demand for homes with a garden has skyrocketed. Not only are homeowners more appreciative of having an outside space, one that allows them a personal and natural escape should they be required to isolate again, but a modern generation are seeing the potential benefits of outdoor spaces that previous generations failed to utilise.
Historically gardens have been used as a play for children to play, families to relax, and for flowers to be grown. Their utility has been relatively basic and often they are used for purely aesthetic purposes. Many will have their own shed full of tools and equipment that is used seasonally. However, even those who enjoy a regular BBQ outside each week are not using their outdoor space to the same capacity as many new homeowners are.
Now, gardens are being used for more. They are becoming community hubs, micro-farms, space for summer houses, and second kitchens full of pizza ovens and fire pits. Soil and outdoor spaces are being utilized as a room, one that can cultivate and support businesses and hobbies. Remote workers are establishing garden offices and chefs are growing their own food. Even those who want to keep their garden as a place for nature are doing so beyond basic flower beds, building wild spaces to encourage their own unique ecosystem.
As neighbourhoods become increasingly local-conscious, with residents building groups online and promoting small enterprises and clubs in their community, gardens become a necessary asset, offering a place to meet and share interests. Musicians are building studios behind their homes, barbers setting up their own shops, and yoga instructors holding classes outside.
So, what does this mean for those with gardens?
If you have a garden, it puts your home in a great position should you be interested in selling it. Properties with gardens have not only appeared in more searches than ever before around the UK but their value has also gone up.
However, if you’re not interested in selling, then you are in the fortunate position of having many ways in which you can utilise your garden. It is a blank canvas of opportunity for your property. There are many articles online and groups dedicated to the inspiration of cultivating your outside space around your life. The age-old idea of gardening revolving around plants and paving stones is becoming quickly redundant, and it is being replaced with enterprise, hobbies, and community.