Sixty per cent of London homes on the market have access to a garden but would-be buyers can expect to pay a premium of £64,000 on average for the outside space, according to new research from estate agent Benham and Reeves.
If this week’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show is making you green with envy for outdoor space, spare a thought for show locals in the exclusive Kensington & Chelsea borough where homes with gardens come at a £166,000 premium on average.
While the south-west London area commands the highest premium for outdoor space across the capital by far, more central boroughs such as Westminster, the City of London and Camden also have £100,000-plus premiums for gardens.
Outer London areas like Bexley, Havering and Waltham Forest have the highest percentages of garden homes currently for sale, with Bexley in south-east London commanding one of the lowest premiums for outdoor space at £47,000 on average. Across London, premiums are only lower in Barking & Dagenham where homes with gardens are priced £41,000 higher than those without.
The private garden premium for flats has jumped more than two per cent in the year to April, according to Knight Frank. The average asking price for a London flat with a private garden is now 19 per cent higher than one without, up from 16.6 per cent in April 2021.
“The increase in the garden premium shows the race for space triggered by the pandemic is far from run, and access to outdoor space remains high on buyers’ wishlists,” said Knight Frank senior research analyst Chris Druce.
One in five London households (20 per cent) do not have access to a private or shared garden, according to the Office for National Statistics, the highest percentage of any region in the UK.