How Much Can A South-Facing Garden Increase Property Value In The UK?

Properties with south-facing gardens are in high demand, and it’s no surprise why. South-facing gardens benefit from the most sunlight, thanks to the sun rising in the east and setting in the west. Not only do owners of south-facing gardens enjoy more daylight hours outside, but their plants (which rely on photosynthesis to survive) are more likely to thrive.

But can owning a south-facing garden increase your property value and, if so, by how much? To find out, we analysed the average price of properties in each region of the UK and compared this to the median price of properties with south-facing gardens.* Here’s what we found:

In which region of the UK can a south-facing garden increase property value the most?

1. The north west

The north west of England came out top in our findings with the most profitable properties, where south-facing gardens increase property value by 56.5%, selling for £303,994 compared to the average district price of £196,750.

Lucky homeowners in Liverpool can boast the highest property value in the region. Out of the 25 areas we investigated, we found a hefty 135.2% price increase for south-facing gardens (£372,500 compared to £158,402). However, homeowners in West Lancashire are not so lucky as their south-facing gardens increase property value by just 12.3%—selling for £230,000 compared to the district average price of £204,874.

2. Yorkshire and the Humber

Close behind the north west is Yorkshire and The Humber, where homes with south-facing gardens sell for 53.7% more, fetching a median price of £289,202 compared to the average property price of £190,972.

North Lincolnshire locals with a south-facing garden could gain a 99.3% sales increase over their less fortunate neighbours, raking in a median of £324,950 compared to a regular property value of £163,033. But in Hambleton, despite being named one of the best places to live in the UK, homes only gain a 10.6% increase for their south-facing gardens at £285,000, compared to £257,695 for a regular home.

3. The north east

With a 51% average increase in property value, having a south-facing garden in the north east of England is a desirable asset. Up here, the average district property sells for £142,330, compared to homes with south-facing gardens, which sell for a median price of £213,735.

County Durham’s famous market town, Darlington, showed the largest increase in property prices for south-facing gardens in the north east. Sell up here and your property could take 101.9% more than a regular property (£281,495 for a south-facing garden compared to £139,433 for a regular home). Comparatively, in the lower end of the spectrum in Redcar and Cleveland, properties with a south-facing garden sell for just 15.6% above the area’s average (that’s £157,500 compared to £136,221, respectively).

4. East Midlands

Out of the 27 areas we investigated in the East Midlands, we found a good average increase in property value of 50.1% when homes feature a south-facing garden (that’s £330,182 compared to the district average price of £224,330).

Sell a property with a south-facing garden in the city of Derby, and you’re looking at an 82.6% sales advantage, at a price of £322,500 (the average being £176,647). But if you’re selling a home with a south-facing garden in Rushcliffe you’re less likely to profit. Here, property value increases by just 16.3%, which is approximately £50,000 more than the average district property selling price (£350,000 compared to £300,988, respectively).

5. Wales

Homes with south-facing gardens have a 49.3% sales increase advantage compared to the country’s average prices in Wales. At an average price difference of £102,225, a south-facing garden property could fetch £309,715, while the average home is valued at £207,489.

Swansea, Wales’ second-largest city, gains a respectable 84.3% profit for homes with south-facing gardens, pulling in a median of £309,750 compared to the district average of £168,056. But, in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taff in the south, there is just a mere difference of 9.6% between the district average (£132,247) and a south-facing garden property (£145,000).

6. The south east

If you’re wondering which county showed the largest increase in property value in our findings, here it is: Properties with a south-facing garden on the Isle of Wight boasts a whopping 212.2% sales increase. The median price for a south-facing garden on England’s largest island is £775,000, which is a sizeable sum when compared to the district average price of £248,265.

Over in East Sussex, however, the story is a little different. Properties in Rother revealed a mere price difference of 8.6% between the district average (£322,392) and homes with south-facing gardens (£350,000). Overall, the south east revealed an average price increase of £158,271 over the 60 regions we checked, where homes with south-facing gardens rake in 45.7% more at a price of £521,376 compared to the average district price of £363,104.

7. The east of England

A 42.4% property value increase is what we found for homes featuring a south-facing garden in the east of England, selling for £480,437 compared to the district average property price of £337,133.

Head to Welwyn Hatfield in southern Hertfordshire, and you’ll find properties with a south-facing garden are 100.9% more expensive than the district average (£825,000 compared to £410,704, respectively). Yet, just 20 minutes to the west in the well-connected town of St Albans, south-facing gardens only increase property prices by 10.5% (valued at £597,500 compared to the district average of £540,491).

8. The south west

At a regional median of £401.659, property prices are 40.7% more expensive in the south west of England, where the district average property price is £288,424. That means, on average, you may pay an additional £113,235 for a south-facing garden here.

Tourist-favourite destination, Cornwall, wins in the south west, with a 77.4% price increase for properties with south-facing gardens (£475,000 compared to the district average of £267,794). Surprisingly, however, homes in the equally attractive visitor hotspot of the Cotswolds do not benefit from south-facing gardens. They are, in fact, 12.7% cheaper than the district average, selling for a median of only £375,000 (compared to the district average of £429,342).

9. London

We found that properties with a south-facing garden in the region of Greater London sell for 36.1% more than the average home (£761,730 compared to £554,642), which is an average price increase of £207,087.

If you’re lucky enough to live in central London in the City of Westminster and have a south-facing garden, your property could sell for 75.5% more than the district average (that’s £1,650,000 compared to £940,013, respectively). However, sell up in Croydon to the south of the capital city, and you’ll make a marginal 4.7% profit with your south-facing garden (just £407,500 compared to £389,203, respectively).

10. West Midlands

Nearing the bottom of the ranks is the West Midlands, where we found the median sale price for a south-facing garden property to be £338,163—just 34.9% more expensive than the district average price of £253,214.

Properties in the historic market town of Solihull may fetch 64.1% more in sales, at a price of £497,500 compared to the district average of £303,251. But in the cathedral city of Worcester, south-facing garden properties are 14.1% cheaper. Here, the district average price is £190,000 compared to the median price of £221,196 for a property with a south-facing garden.

11. Scotland

We found Scotland to be the region with the smallest increase in property value, at just a 2.8% difference! The average price increase is just £1,525, where the district average property price is £178,661, and the median price for a south-facing garden is £180,186. If you’re looking to sell for a profit here, you might want to think of other ways to increase your property’s value.

The Highlands revealed the best prices, with south-facing garden properties gaining 41.6% more in sales than the district average (£255,000 compared to £180,117, respectively). However, the area with the smallest price increase overall is South Ayrshire, where houses with a south-facing garden are 26.8% cheaper than the average property. Here, homes sell for an average of £150,280, but if they feature a south-facing garden, their value decreases to £110,000.

Methodology:

Homedit.com wanted to find out just how much value a south-facing garden could add to a property’s value, and whether it was worth more, or less, in certain areas of the UK.
To do so, they extracted data from Zoopla. They used the criteria ‘for sale’ (including all property types), keyword: ‘south facing garden’, and searched in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
Next, data was collected from the ONS to find the average price of houses sold in each local administrative unit (LAU) in the UK.
The Zoopla data was then organised by LAU instead of cities using a geospatial join between scraped data and shapefile of LAU using coordinated fields (latitude and longitude) to give an accurate comparison to the Eurostat data.
A threshold of 10 properties for sale meeting the original criteria was used to avoid inaccuracies in the data, meaning some LAUs had to be omitted from this study.
A median price for houses with a south-facing garden was calculated for each LAU, which was compared to each LAU’s average price of all houses sold in order to calculate a percentage increase, or decrease, of houses with a south-facing garden.
The following areas had to be excluded from the findings due to insufficient data, which may have led to an inaccurate comparison:

1. North west: Allerdale; Barrow-in-Furness; Copeland; Eden; Tameside; Oldham; Blackburn with Darwen; Burnley; Hyndburn; Pendle; South Ribble; Knowsley; St Helens; Halton.
2. Yorkshire & The Humber: Craven; Richmondshire.
3. East Midlands: Bolsover; High Peak; Mansfield; Leicester; Daventry; Northampton; South Northamptonshire; Corby; East Northamptonshire; Kettering; Wellingborough; Boston; South Holland.
4. Wales: Isle of Anglesey; Gwynedd; Denbighshire; Merthyr Tydfil; Blaenae Gwent; Caerphilly; Todfaen; Bridgend; Neath Port Talbot; Newport; Flintshire; Wrexham
5. South east: Aylesbury Vale; Chiltern; South Bucks; Wycombe; Hastings; Crawley; Gosport; Shepway.
6. East of England: Fenland; Forest Heath; St. Edmundsbury; Suffolk Coastal; Waveney; Stevenage; Thurrock.
7. London: Barking and Dagenham
8. West Midlands: Redditch; Wyre Forest; North Warwickshire; Nuneaton and Bedworth; Stoke-on-Trent; East Staffordshire; Newcastle-under-Lyme; South Staffordshire; Tamworth; Sandwell; Walsall; Wolverhampton
9. Scotland: Angus; Dundee City; Caithness & Sutherland; Ross & Cromarty; Clackmannanshire; Fife; East Ayrshire; North Ayrshire Mainland; East Dunbartonshire; Helensburgh & Lomond; West Dunbartonshire; Midlothian; Eilean Siar (Western Isles); Glasgow City; East Renfrewshire; Inverclyde; Renfrewshire; Badenoch & Strathspey; Inverness & Nairn; North East Moray; West Moray; Scottish Borders; Arran & Cumbrae; Lochaber; Skye & Lochalsh; North Lanarkshire; Orkney Islands; Perth & Kinross; Sterling.