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 

It’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

The findings 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 profitability 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 five (60%) 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.

Delving into those findings, 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 flooring. Why has the same approach never been applied to outdoor spaces? Doing so would certainly speed up sales, according to our findings. They 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%), wildlife gardens (17%), raised bedding areas (15%) and bird baths (14%) are what house buyers are most likely to look for, followed by new driveways (14%), bin storage (13%) and privacy screening (12%). 

And in an age when social media and image are driving so many buying decisions, it’s perhaps unsurprising to find that kerb appeal is playing a role in property sales too. More than two-fifths (43%) said they care more about the appearance of the front of their home now – including their garden, driveway and features like the front door – than two years ago. Why? Reasons vary, from people simply wanting to improve their home’s appearance from the outside (44%) or increase its value (29%), to wanting to keep up with neighbours (10%). The savviest of housebuilders will use this knowledge to their advantage, using clever designs to show just how to achieve that perfect exterior finish to improve their sales.

Castlethorpe Homes is one developer which has seen a strong connection between buyers’ reactions to the exterior of their developments’ properties and subsequent buying decisions. Chris Warner, managing director at the firm, said: “The exterior of our properties and the wider development are undeniably important in the buying journey, because the quality of how they look on the outside puts faith in the quality of the interior. The feedback from our customers is that they’ve bought a home because the specification from the landscaping and externals to the internal finish and look, are all as one. But people often see the outside before they see the inside, so when we set the bar high with the external aesthetics, they feel reassured that they are buying a quality home. From our experience, if you don’t do that, you’re less likely to get the sale.”

When the commercial opportunities from creating thoughtful garden landscapes are so abundantly clear, housebuilders and developers should begin rethinking their approach to new builds’ gardens today, to secure a competitive advantage in what predictions say will be a tricky market for months to come. 

Ben Warren is managing director of landscape products at Marshalls