Garden size and house value

[Garden1212]

We have a large 3 bedroomed house with a small garden-think patch of grass-enough for the kids to have a little slide and swing.
Plus a decking area-big enough for table and 4 chairs.

I have been given the opportunity to buy some additional land at the bottom of my garden, which would make my garden 4+ times the size, changing my small garden to a large garden.

Does the size of a garden really increase the house value?

I'd love a bigger garden, but I'm not sure if its really worth the money as we only plan to stay here 3-5 years.

if you can afford it, absolutely - 10k for land is incredible. I’d ask an estate agent for a valuation, but it opens up so much opportunity to extend your home and/ or have outdoor buildings and still have an entertaining and garden space. Families want space - we had a smallish garden and big house and the garden made me want to move once I had a child and a dog running about the place - had our garden been bigger in our old house we would probably have lived there forever.

There was a plot of land next to my house up for sale. Very tricky to build on due to topography (it didn't have any planning permission). I asked an estate agent about it. He said the land was really only worth something to me, as the groundworks required to build on would be far too high to make development feasible. But I already had a good sized garden, so it wouldn't add that much value to my property. I didn't buy it, eventually sold the house and the plot remains unsold.
Definitely ask a local agent. But also, value is not just financial - if you love to garden it may be much more valuable to you than to someone else.

As said above get an estate agent to tell you how much value it would add to your house. If they have few options of who to sell it to (only adjacent properties) you may be able to make them a lower offer particularly if the Agent doesn't think it will add that much to your house value.

Absolutely I'd jump at the chance

Depends on the size of it, but would almost certainly buy it.
The bigger size of the plot means your house will be worth more

op why do you think you’ll only live there for 3 to 5 years? By buying this land could you extend / put an office in the garden so that you stay longer? Is it an area you’d like to stay in longer?

Personally I would buy it without hesitation but then that’s because I wouldn’t buy a house with such a small garden. My garden isn’t huge but is has enough space to entertain and have lots of kids playing on play dates.

the other thing you’d need to think about is do you have time to do gardening? If you don’t and you can’t afford to spend on gardeners then it might not be worth the hassle for you.

I’d be biting their hand off.

We moved from a house with a moderate sized garden (about 100 x 30 ft) to a small bungalow with a huge garden. One of the people viewing our house said the garden was too big! I couldn't believe it, maybe it was just a way of not offering full price? Most people said the garden was lovely. Eventually we extended the small bungalow to suit the big garden, and although we are still beating back the jungle sometimes, I'm very glad we did it.

I definitely would as I see £10k as a bargain for land and it gives you so many more options. You'd need estate agents to say whether it's a sound investment in terms of recouping the costs however it would definitely make your house more attractive meaning a quick sale is more likely. Id not buy a family size house with a small garden.

if you can afford it, absolutely - 10k for land is incredible.

It's not though in OP's neck of the woods. If her house is worth £100k, which includes the land it currently sits on AND a house, a similar sized plot with no planning permission, nothing should be cheap as chips. Remember it's no use to anyone other than OP.

Say her house was in the SE and worth £1m. Would you think £100k for an extra bit of garden was a bargain? I suspect not somehow!

This was my first thought

I get that the financial side has to be part of the consideration, what about the improvement to you lives in the mean time? Is that not worth something?

When we did our kitchen we knew we wouldn't add as much value as we spent - but it was about having a nicer space for us to live in.

I would. Even if it doesn't add the whole 10k to the price of the house, it would certainly add a lot of it, plus would make the house much more desirable and easier to sell. Add that to the bonus of the use of it in the meantime and it's a no-brainer to me.

Say her house was in the SE and worth £1m. Would you think £100k for an extra bit of garden was a bargain? I suspect not somehow!

If my 1m house had a small garden, I absolutely would pay 100k more for 1 4 times as big. I have a much bigger plot than my next door neighbour. Granted I have an extra bedroom and reception room, but I paid 200k more than she did for hers 2 years previously (not much difference in market in that time). And we're not talking 1m house either.

See if you can negotiate a bit as there will be legal fees and fencing costs.
But even at £10k I’d jump at it.

she says it will quadruple her garden. So commensurately yes a 1m property with a 100k price tag for land would be equally appealing.

Yes, makes your house far more attractive to all sorts of buyers: young families, gardeners, people with pets. I’d snap it up.

she says it will quadruple her garden. So commensurately yes a 1m property with a 100k price tag for land would be equally appealing.

If that was the case land prices where I am would be an awful lot higher than they are!

I bought land off a neighbor to double the size of my garden. Was absolutely a great move, especially with young children. It meant we stayed instead of moving for a bigger garden. £10k is probably what it would cost to move to somewhere the same value, so also better use of money.

right. I’m based in the south so I guess that’s why we have a difference in view.

A bigger garden was on my list of essentials so I'd snap it up for 10k. But then I can't put myself in the mind of a buyer who doesn't want a big garden so I'm not much help.

I guess it will either be a selling point or a neutral point. Even families aren't into gardening would find it a useful space when the suns out and kids are off school or for dogs to run around if they have them.

A 30ft x 100ft garden would be big around here. Ours is around 50ft wide and 25ft deep. It’s on the small side but there’s plenty of more expensive properties with similar sized gardens.

If you don’t buy it what will happen to the land? You might feel a bit hemmed in if someone else buys it and overlooks you. Even worse if they manage to get planning permission, or build a party shed with a hot tub………

Buying more land is a bonus to a family home IMO

I was granted planning permission to double the size of my house because of the size of the plot. Owning more land gives you options (including selling some on to the neighbours at a profit in the future) and it prevents it being used to the detriment of your property. I would bite their hand off (you could maybe try haggling on the price a little if you were so minded? )

I'd bite their hand of OP, even if it doesn't add the full £10k value to the house (although I reckon it would) you'll get the enjoyment out of having the extra garden space for as long as you live there and surely thats worth the difference even if you don't make it all back on resale.