You’ve decluttered your home, given it a lick of paint, hidden the pets and purchased some fragrant fresh flowers. All these are tried and tested ways of making a great first impression to potential home buyers.
But what about the garden?
According to a recent national survey of 100 independent estate agents, if you really want to sell your house quickly – and secure a top price – the single most important garden feature is a well-maintained fence, which offers privacy and security.
Forest Garden is the UK’s leading manufacturer of timber garden products and can produce over 50,000 fence panels a week. It welcomes the findings but is not surprised. Head of Marketing Lynsey Grinnell said: “Each year sales of fence panels increases and, as modern gardens become smaller in new-build developments, the demand for security and privacy increases.
“The whole fencing market is changing,” adds Lynsey. “There is an increasing demand for unfussy horizontal linear designs as opposed to the rustic look. Regardless of the size of the garden, British homeowners are very anxious to clearly mark out the boundaries of their land and the garden fence is an attractive and relatively maintenance-free way of achieving this. Fencing also provides an ideal backdrop for plants, as well as protecting the garden from the extremes of the British winter weather.”
Forest Garden also sells a Decibel Noise Reduction Panel, which will reduce noise by up to 30dB. This award-winning innovation helps cut down irritating and intrusive noises such that generated by road traffic, garden machinery and inconsiderate neighbours.
The top ten garden features that will help secure a speedy and profitable house sale, according to the estate agents, are:
- Secure fencing to maintain privacy and security
- A well-maintained lawn
- A selection of trees and shrubs
- A garden shed
- A garden conservatory
- Well-maintained beds and borders
- A barbecue area
- Garden lighting
- Plants and shrubs in containers
- A children’s play area
The least popular garden features, when it comes to selling your home, were: ponds, statues, wildlife areas, bird feeding stations, roses and artificial grass.
“Gardening is much more than simply a healthy hobby and this survey clearly demonstrates that certain features will lift a property above others in the race for a sale,” said Graham Paskett, managing director of Paskett Public Relations. “The housing market is becoming increasingly challenging and our survey identifies some clear guide-lines to homeowners wanting to beat any downturn.”