Which regions have the highest percentage of homes with gardens?

Despite many people accusing the UK of being ‘land grabbing’ and building concrete jungles, you might be surprised to learn that most regions haven’t actually been built on that much. According to a report from the BBC:-

• 56% of land is used for farming
• 34.9% is natural
• 2.5% is classed as ‘green urban’

Which means only 5.9% of the land in the UK is actually built on.

Country wise, Scotland has the least: 2.1%; Northern Ireland 3.5%; Wales 4.2% and England: 8.8%. In contrast, England has the most ‘green urban’ land (3.8% vs 0.9% in Scotland.

They have a great calculator you can pop in your postcode and find out what the split is for your area.

Thinking of moving from being a city dweller to a rural idle?

With help from Rightmove, Compost Direct have done some more calculations which show the percentage of regions which have homes with gardens. So if you are looking to move out of a city and want the best chance of finding a home with a great garden, this might be a good place to start!

It won’t be a surprise to anyone that places like Wales and Scotland are pretty much top of the list for homes with gardens, but a great central location is where I’m from: the East Midlands. Where I live, I can access London on the East Coast Line in just over an hour to Kings Cross – my commute is often shorter than those that used to go in daily.

Another surprise might be that London doesn’t have the biggest shortage of homes with gardens, it’s actually Aberdeen and it’s Shire that is bottom of the list!

So if you are looking to find a nice house with a big garden at a great price, check out this data and start searching!

See the infograph below:

What to look for if you’re buying a house with a garden

Five key things to look for and confirm:

1. Clarity of boundaries
2. Access to the back garden, especially if you have muddy dogs or children!
3. Aspect – if you love the sun and enjoy gardening, a South or West facing garden is often favoured
4. Somewhere to hide or place your bins
5. What plants are in the garden – check for any invasive plants such as Japanese Knotweed or Giant Hogweed

Greenest spaces in GB:
South Wales - 90.5%
North Wales - 89.1%
North East - 88.1%
South East Wales - 86%
East Midlands - 85.2%
East of Scotland - 85%
Yorkshire and The Humber - 84%
Highlands and Islands - 83.6%
West Midlands - 83.3%
North West - 83.2%
East of England - 82.5%
South of Scotland - 80.7%
South West - 80.6%
West of Scotland 79%
South West/Mid Wales - 78.9%
South East - 74.3%
London - 71.1%
Aberdeen City and Shire - 70.7%

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