A groomed garden adds £2,000 to home values

A well-kept garden can add up to £2,000 in value to a British home, according to new research.

Insurance firm AXA has revealed that homes with tidy back yards can be worth £1954 in value – more than four times the £473 the average person spent on their garden in the past year.

Twenty-four per cent of people said they only spent between £1 and £100 last year on their gardens, whilst 18 per cent spent between £101 and £200 and 14 per cent between £201 and £400.

With the nation reluctant to part with their cash when it comes to their gardens, it’s no surprise that many of us turn to DIY. Jobs often completed by homeowners include planting flowers (90 per cent), power washing patios (74 per cent) and building garden furniture (51 per cent) and sheds (40 per cent).

Jobs that people would hire a tradesperson to complete are often larger, and include building garden walls (64 per cent), terraces (61 per cent), new fences from scratch (58 per cent) and felling trees (59 per cent). This can only be a good thing when you consider that 44 per cent of people would not check planning permission before performing garden tasks including those listed above.

However, not to be outdone, there are a number of tasks that the nation would like to learn, including designing a new garden (41 per cent), building a garden wall (37 per cent), installing a water feature (36 per cent) and building terraces (34 per cent).

Most people spend around nine hours a month working on their gardens. However, if they were to hire a gardener, they would only ask them to work six hours – a third less time. They would also pay £10 an hour for a gardener, making it around £60 a month to look after the average garden, plus any additional time spent on doing smaller jobs.

For larger jobs, many people would only want to part with less than £500 per task, even though we now know this could add up to four times the value to a home. For building a fence, most people would only want to pay £364, installing a pond £290 and designing a new garden just £390.

Gareth Howell, managing director of AXA Insurance, said: “Over the past year our research has shown that the UK is a nation of keen hobbyists, with 40 per cent of people claiming gardening to be their main hobby. However, whilst learning a new skill is important, there are also times when it may be best to hire a professional.

“The fact that 44 per cent of people don’t consider planning permission when carrying out relatively large gardening jobs highlights just how important it is to ask for expert help every now and again. Whilst we are encouraging the nation to enjoy DIY and the great outdoors, when it comes to certain tasks you may want to brush up on your skills and knowledge first!”

Region	Amount invested in garden over the last year	Perceived value a well-kept garden adds to a property
East Anglia	£511	£2,306
South West	£392	£2,151
South East	£412	£2,118
North East	£556	£2,110
London	£580	£2,080
East Midlands	£428	£2,038
North West	£398	£1,934
Scotland	£514	£1,825
West Midlands	£428	£1,821
Yorkshire and the Humber	£507	£1,638
Wales	£407	£1,565

Task	Average amount would pay a tradesman
Design a new garden	£390
Build terraces	£378
Build a new fence from scratch	£364
Lay patio	£351
Build a garden wall	£337
Install a pond	£290
Building a shed	£230
Install a water feature	£229
Fell trees	£215
Build garden furniture	£198
Lay new turf	£190