Why Property Owners Want More Outdoor Space
As summer approaches – albeit only for a few days before the sun inevitably takes another year-long sabbatical – there’s no doubt that Brits will be spending more time outdoors. Whether it’s a barbeque in your backyard, or a Pimm’s in the park, there is no other season that makes us more reflective about how much we love the great outdoors. The British property market has come to reflect this trend, especially since the pandemic, which is why today we’ll be tackling the question of why property owners want more outdoor space, and why considering mutual ground maintenance is worth your attention.
Pandemic
Recent Rightmove statistics show that terms associated with outdoor space, such as “garden” and “balcony”, became increasingly popular after the coronavirus pandemic. As we were confined to our homes, and had our outdoor expeditions limited to one hour each day, our appreciation for nature and outdoor space became amplified. Many of us undertook gardening as a hobby, making us more invested in our outdoor places and interested in its maintenance, and came to see our gardens, local parks and daily walking routes as a form of respite from the stresses of the crisis. Although the pandemic is now wreaking a little less havoc on our lives, its impact can still be felt, most notably through the attractiveness of working from home. The popularity of hybrid working models means that we are spending more time at home and in our local communities, making us en masse more invested in our gardens and neighbourhood’s green spaces. So, although it is undeniable that property owners want more outdoor space, the quality of this space is just as important.
Value
Well-maintained outdoor spaces can add value to our lives via enriching our mental health, but they also add monetary value to our properties. A recent study by the AA concluded that a well-maintained garden can boost the value of your property by up to 5 per cent, with landscaped features boosting this percentage even higher. If you don’t have a garden to spruce up, or lack the budget to give your yard a renovation, fear not – property owners wanting more outdoor space seem similarly content with being in close proximity to parks and green spaces. Research from 2019 shows that urban properties within 100 meters of public green spaces demanded a higher asking price on the property market when compared to similar builds over 500 meters away. Considering our heightened appreciation for communal green space in the aftermath of the pandemic, we anticipate that this increase in value has been amplified for 2022. In short, well-maintained and accessible green spaces – whether a part of your property or outside your plot – can boost property values significantly, and should certainly not be ignored or neglected by developers and homeowners.
The Issues With Outdoor Space
A survey of over 1000 Brits concluded that 60 per cent of those surveyed spent more money maintaining their outdoor space in the summer of 2020 when compared to the summer of 2019. Although this is not surprising when considering the multitude of hobbies we undertook across the nation during the pandemic, it does raise the issue of outdoor maintenance being expensive. This extends beyond the remits of our gardens, and into the portions of land that are the concern of neither landlord, tenant, nor homeowner – the mutual ground that is the responsibility of the developer. Not only do these mutual ground spaces damage the value of the surrounding properties if left in a state of disrepair, but the potential confusion over whose responsibility these areas are to maintain can result in conflict between neighbours. Many developments do not have groundskeepers anymore, and home builders often do not have the infrastructure nor resources to deliver long-term mutual ground solutions, meaning that an external company needs to be hired to tend to communal features.
The Solution
In the event of any emergency works, or ongoing neglect to a community’s mutual ground space, many home builders opt for companies such as Virtu to carry out mutual ground-related works. Grounds maintenance companies such as ours will assess the unique needs of your development and broader neighbourhood before constructing a routine maintenance plan for the benefit of residents and developers alike. Our contractors all comply with our accreditation process to ensure they are competent, safe and suitably insured, making us a trustworthy company for groundskeeping services on either a small or large scale.
Looking to take the stress and confusion out of mutual ground? Contact Virtu using the form listed below to enquire about our range of grounds maintenance services: