LANDSCAPING & EXTERNAL WORKS 63
BESPOKE GARDENS FOR BIGGER MARGINS
With 2024 likely to continue being a challenging year for sales, Ben Warren of Marshalls explains why bespoke and ‘templated’ gardens will help housebuilders unlock extra income from their developments
I
t’s the question so many in the industry are asking: how can housebuilders make new homes more desirable and secure all important sales, in a time of such uncertainty? At the tail end of 2023, orders for new houses fell for the fourth month in a row. And although house prices in December were 1.8% lower than at the same time the previous year, increased borrowing costs are continuing to slow down demand. Teamed with the scrapping of the Help-to-Buy scheme in March, many would be forgiven for having a less-than-positive outlook for the year ahead. However, Marshalls recently undertook research which showed the answer could lie in what’s outside a property, rather than within it.
LUCRATIVE LANDSCAPE DESIGNS he fi ndings of the research, which questioned 2,001 adults in the UK, show that housebuilders and property developers could not only attract more buyers if they offer premium garden
options, but they could also increase their profi tability and speed up the time it takes to secure a sale.
According to the research, over half (51%) of people would be more likely to consider buying a new build home if it had a landscaped back garden. More importantly, nearly a quarter of people (23%) said they’d be willing to pay more for a new build if they got to choose from a choice of templated gardens, and the work was done before they moved in. A further 16% said they’d be willing to pay more for a new build if they were able to opt for a bespoke garden and have it ready for their move-in date. For those who would like to choose from a range of move-in ready templated garden designs, three out of fi ve would be willing to pay up to 20% more of the overall property price. For those who would like a bespoke garden, 58% would be willing to pay up to 20% more. elving into those fi ndings, we can estimate that just a 6% increase in property value would equate to between £12,000 and £32,000 in additional
revenue, depending on the property’s location. This is purely for offering the buyer the opportunity to have their garden of choice created before they move in.
It’s long been common practice for housebuilders and property developers to offer their customers a choice of other features like kitchens, bathrooms and ooring. Why has the same approach never been applied to outdoor spaces? Doing so would certainly speed up sales, according to our fi ndings. hey also showed that nearly two-thirds (60%) of people make up their minds about whether they want to live in a property within one minute of seeing the outside.
BIODIVERSITY & BEAUTY BRING IN THE BUYERS
Biodiversity tops the bill when it comes to the features that appeal to prospective buyers – which has the potential to work hand-in-hand with newly introduced biodiversity net gain requirements. Planters, hanging baskets and real grass areas (21%), as well as trees (20%),
NEARLY A QUARTER OF PEOPLE (23%) SAID THEY’D BE WILLING TO PAY MORE FOR A NEW BUILD IF THEY GOT TO CHOOSE FROM A CHOICE OF TEMPLATED GARDENS
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