FIX up your garden for summer and you’ll have a haven to enjoy in warmer weather, plus you could see your home’s value rocket.
Making meaningful changes needn’t cost a fortune either.
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Phil Spencer, TV property expert and founder of the property advice website Move iQ, reckons a well-kept garden could add as much as 20% to the value of your property.
The average UK property is now valued at £296,699, according to the latest data from lender Halifax.
That means you can boost the value of your home by just shy of a whopping £60,000 with a few simple improvements.
Phil told The Sun: “Improving your garden is one of the most effective ways to add value to your home.
“Making your outdoor space more attractive will typically cost less than an interior renovation, and needn’t require lots of specialist skills.
“Even if you’re not green-fingered, there will be things you can do yourself that make a big difference.
“After all, plants are more forgiving than plaster and plumbing – if you make a mistake, they grow back.”
Even if you are not looking to move, you might want to fix up your garden for hosting barbecues or just relaxing in fine weather.
If you are looking to make a sale, a well maintained outdoor space can make all the difference.
Phil says: “An inviting garden makes a home feel bigger – in the warmer months it’s like an extra living space – and it will make your home appeal to a wider pool of buyers, such as young professionals who like to entertain, families, pet owners and retirees.”
Here are a few inexpensive ways to make your garden grow the value of your home…
Pot on
Work with what you have by making more of flowers or plants already in the garden.
Phil says: “Try repotting your existing plants into new and attractive tubs, or giving old and tired pots a lick of paint.”
Ikea sells heavy duty pots for £5 that can be painted. Or B&Q has terracotta plant pots for under £2.
Make the most of pretty flowering varieties or splash out on some new shrubs that can be strategically located in patio areas.
Pots of varying sizes and colours can work well when grouped together.
Hang in there
It’s not just about what you have on the ground. If you’re tight on space, look up and think about other options.
Phil explains: “A few good quality hanging baskets will brighten up even the smallest space, and you can add a dash of colour to your borders with flowering bedding plants.”
You can currently buy a hanging basket for just £2 from Poundland. You then just a need a little soil in the bottom and add some colourful bedding plants.
Keep a look out at Aldi and Lidl for cheap prices on plants.
Lighten up
You can still enjoy your garden after the sun goes down – just add a little lighting.
Phil says: “Colourful solar-powered lights can instantly turn your garden into a feature, rather than just the space outside the house.
“You don’t need an electrician to install them, as they’re self-contained and not connected to the mains.”
Poundland sells solar lights that you an just bash into the ground for £1.
Phil adds: “The right lights will enable you to enjoy the garden more on warm evenings, and should look good through the window even when the weather is bad.”
Add a garden room
If you’ve got a bigger budget, installing a summer house is an easy way to create extra living space or a room that you can use, according to Phil.
He says: “In most cases, as long as the summer house is less than half the size of the garden, planning permission is not required – but it’s worth checking this with a local planning officer first.
“A high-quality, insulated shed can serve as an office pod, a den, a gym or just a cabin for the kids to play in.”
If you’re feeling hands on, then the materials would cost around £3,000.
Getting one installed will cost more, with prices starting at around £5,000 for materials plus about £1,500 for installation, plus VAT.
Phil adds: “Done well and depending on the size, a decent garden room could add between 10% to 20% to the value of your home.”
Cook outside the box
Everyone love a barbecue in the summer but if you take things up a notch, you can make your space even better for cooking up a storm.
Phil says: “While a full outdoor kitchen is the ultimate in garden glamour, typically adding between 5% and 10% to the value of a property, you can enjoy the fun of al fresco cooking and spend much less dough.
“Outdoor pizza ovens start at just a few hundred pounds, and bring a much bigger wow factor than a traditional barbecue.”
We managed to find a pizza oven for just £89 currently on sale at Dunelm.
How to find gardening bargains
Doing up your garden to enjoy on warm and sunny days needn’t cost the earth.
Sun Savers Editor Lana Clements explains how to get a top deal on items for the garden…
You can bag big savings on plants, shrubs and flowers, as well as gardening tools and furniture.
Many retailers have flash sales across entire seasonal ranges – often these promotions tie into payday at the end of the month or Bank Holiday weekends, so keep a lookout.
Sign up to mailing lists of your favourite brands and you’ll be first to know of special offers. It can be worth following retailers on social media too.
Use a price comparison site to search out the best value items.
And keep a close eye on the specialbuys at Aldi and middle of Lidl drops which drop a couple of times a week and usually mean great value seasonal items for your outdoor areas.
If you are not in a hurry to buy an item, try adding it to the shopping cart online and leaving it for a couple of days.
Sometimes big brands will try to tempt you into the sale by offering you a discount.
And always check if you can get cashback before paying.
It’s especially worth using sites such as Topcashback, Quidco and app Jamdoughnut when buying bigger ticket items such as garden furniture as you’ll get a nice kickback.