How does your garden grow ... (your portfolio)?

[Vanessa]

Over the past few weeks, I've returned to my TV roots and been doing a lot of TV filming for the Royal Horticultural Society.  I've been filming and editing packages on their gardens and flower shows, so have been tapping into the gardening world!

 

 

Two things have become very obvious to me:

 

1.  Due to the economic climate, people are increasingly interested in gardens for family activities and land to grow their own produce.

 

2.  There is a roaring trade in chalet type log cabins being sold as home offices.  You need a garden for that.

 

Are gardens large enough to accommodate this going to become a commodity?

 

Are houses going to become more popular as a result, both in terms of sales and for rental?

 

Are we, as Landlords, making the most of our properties gardens as an asset?  I know I'm not and it is something I want to look into more in the future.

 

At our holiday lets, we have decked the back gardens and put out potted palms to give a "holiday" feel ... plus supplied garden furniture and sun loungers.

 

 

What does the tribe think about the importance of gardens in the context of the future of property investment and capital growth?

[Jayne Owen]

Tough question Vanessa.

In our experience, houses with gardens remain popular with families, though garden maintenance isn't necessarily a priority. Areas with communal grounds - eg, flats - we are making look as attractive as possible with as little planting as possible. Two of the flats - the ground floor ones - have a small courtyard area of their own, but these don't seem to be used.

Perhaps I'm not thinking widely enough, but I'm not sure how investors can make more of gardens in the typical rental property (ie, terraced, semi) without incurring cost that generate little return. There may be some leaway in properties with much larger gardens, ie including shed storage, office or workshop might enable an increase in rent, but in this area (S Wales) I'm yet to be convinced.

I'll watch this thread with interest, as I'm interested to hear what others in the tribe think.

Jayne
www.twitter.com/jayneowen
Trading as Mozaique Property
Buying, selling, renovating and letting property throughout South Wales

[Vanessa]

Thanks for the comments Jayne.

I agree about the ROI on a garden in the short term, but wondering if it may have longer term rewards?

Could a great garden be a USP (for instance) in a crowded rental market?

Does a home office in the garden add value to a property?

[Rob Hubbard]

Hi,

Picking up on what Jayne has already said, I agree that gardens are popular with families.

I think whatever the investment property style is, If it does have a garden you should consider it as another room in the house and maximise its potential.

Some examples.....

A south facing garden would benefit from a patio/decked area, I think the umberella/lounger idea is great, the same goes for a table & chairs.

An enclosed garden that maybe doesnt get as much light would suit those types of plants that grow well and are less maintenance, also decked or hard paved so as to keep low maintenace.

Hard paving, decking, yards, balconies etc. benefit from some planting. I would advocate troughs rather than pots as these are lower maintenance and you may also consider adding those water retaining crystals to the soil mix as well.

Another good addition to any garden is an external light and in the right location/property maybe even a wall mounted IR heater too!

My pet subject, cost v value prevails again I would always advocate involving a professional in planning your garden. This however can be as simple and as cost effective as chatting to the local garden centre or nursery for advice on types of planting. Its important to give them the right information and to advise that there is a higher probability that the planting will be not neglected but lets say not as nurtured as it might be!!

Generally, I have found that these sort of people are realy helpful as its their passion and we all know that most of us enjoy talking about what we love.

Rob

Sourcing genuine property deals in Wakefield and the Five Towns
Follow me on Twitter @walkerfox
Read my blog http://walkerfox.wordpress.com/
Skype: walkerfox
Email: [e-mail]
07960 753550
Northern Property Tribe Next Meeting http://tiny.cc/e4gv8

[Linsey Evans]

Rob Hubbard said:

Hi,

Picking up on what Jayne has already said, I agree that gardens are popular with families.

I think whatever the investment property style is, If it does have a garden you should consider it as another room in the house and maximise its potential.

Some examples.....

A south facing garden would benefit from a patio/decked area, I think the umberella/lounger idea is great, the same goes for a table & chairs.

An enclosed garden that maybe doesnt get as much light would suit those types of plants that grow well and are less maintenance, also decked or hard paved so as to keep low maintenace.

Hard paving, decking, yards, balconies etc. benefit from some planting. I would advocate troughs rather than pots as these are lower maintenance and you may also consider adding those water retaining crystals to the soil mix as well.

Another good addition to any garden is an external light and in the right location/property maybe even a wall mounted IR heater too!

My pet subject, cost v value prevails again I would always advocate involving a professional in planning your garden. This however can be as simple and as cost effective as chatting to the local garden centre or nursery for advice on types of planting. Its important to give them the right information and to advise that there is a higher probability that the planting will be not neglected but lets say not as nurtured as it might be!!

Generally, I have found that these sort of people are realy helpful as its their passion and we all know that most of us enjoy talking about what we love.

Rob

Sourcing genuine property deals in Wakefield and the Five Towns
Follow me on Twitter @walkerfox
Read my blog http://walkerfox.wordpress.com/
Skype: walkerfox
Email: [e-mail]
07960 753550
Northern Property Tribe Next Meeting http://tiny.cc/e4gv8

How refreshing to hear a landlord/property person standing up for a well designed garden.

I agree totally that an outdoor room is the best approach to rental property gardens. It would surely help to get the best price if people thought they had somewhere secure for their children to play, that was also a great space to step outside and have dinner on a sunny day without needing too much back breaking work.

Planting needs careful consideration in a rental property and there are loads of tough plants that only need a trim once a year and will put up with being neglected and being subjected to some abuse by children. Just because a plant is tough doesn't mean it can't fulfill several functions - screening, scent, year-round interest, etc.

The layout it key and it's really worth having a plan prepared in order to maximise the use of the space as an outdoor room and accommodate users with different needs - adults and children. If you include a covered area you can extend the use of the garden into the autumn. Just a simple awning over the patio would do. Provide some simple lighting so that the garden can be used in the evenings. It doesn't have to be expensive, there are some great low-voltage spotlights available off the shelf that can be quickly and cheaply fixed. This way you're covering security and outdoor living at the same time.

I understand the question of cost, but surely a property with a nice, easily maintained garden is easier to rent and get a top rental income on than one without?

I'm not convinced about the value of providing people with space to grow vegetables. Some people definitely want this, but they often don't realise how much time and effort it requires. They have an idealised notion of the good life and have little concept of how long they'll need to spend outside in order to achieve this. So, whilst they might start off with good intentions, the garden will end up looking a mess when reality catches up with the tenants. As someone with a garden and an allotment, I'd love to encourage more people to garden and grow food, but in reality the time needed is often a deal breaker.

So, that's my thoughts on the idea. Again, I say its nice to hear property investors/developers speaking about gardens which normally don't get much consideration.

Thanks

Linsey
www.linseysgardens.com
Garden design in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Surrey, London, Hampshire and shortly Cyprus.

[Brian Heath]

Well well, Vanessa.

As a trained garden and landscape designer, hopefully I can add a few things - although I must say, the contributions so far have been great.

I will give this a bit of thought, rather than rush in with impulsive input; even though this is my most pet subject, really.

I would like to invite specific questions, though, if I may? So long as they are on-topic, I will do my best to give good answers - if that is all right with you. I'm not very good at cost benefit, but I may be able to suggest surprisingly neat solutions to complex problems, if there are any out there.

I will also look out some useful illustrative links, which everyone may benefit from.

I remember in the very early days of this forum (or was it another one?), some very creative renovators put up photos of the results of their enterprise - including garden make-overs. Perhaps we can make use of the 'photos' section of the forum now to show some examples: we could probably rustle up quite a few amongst us all - the good, the bad and the not so bad (the gardens, that is....:-/) with a commentary as to assessed uplift value to the properties.

I really must make a wordpress-type blog soon, and post up a lot of illustrations I glean from here and there.

Meanwhile...

I'll be back when I've sucked then of my pencil sufficiently...

Brian

[Rob Hubbard]

Linsey

I totally get what you mean about the veg patch, a rental should imho be generic unless its for a niche market, this gives maximum appeal everytime. Therefore a garden should not be neglected hence my advice to treat ads another room.
Slightly off topic but parallel in some ways. I was showing some clients a property, it had a cellar. Now, it could and would only be used as storage and was fit for purpose. However, the clients couldn't see beyond the concept of an underground room and with that the obvious potential problems and therefore were put off.

Nobody would have paid a premium for the extra space in that property so why waste money or even stress about it? Work smart with what you have

Rob
Linsey Evans said:

Rob Hubbard said:

Hi,

Picking up on what Jayne has already said, I agree that gardens are popular with families.

I think whatever the investment property style is, If it does have a garden you should consider it as another room in the house and maximise its potential.

Some examples.....

A south facing garden would benefit from a patio/decked area, I think the umberella/lounger idea is great, the same goes for a table & chairs.

An enclosed garden that maybe doesnt get as much light would suit those types of plants that grow well and are less maintenance, also decked or hard paved so as to keep low maintenace.

Hard paving, decking, yards, balconies etc. benefit from some planting. I would advocate troughs rather than pots as these are lower maintenance and you may also consider adding those water retaining crystals to the soil mix as well.

Another good addition to any garden is an external light and in the right location/property maybe even a wall mounted IR heater too!

My pet subject, cost v value prevails again I would always advocate involving a professional in planning your garden. This however can be as simple and as cost effective as chatting to the local garden centre or nursery for advice on types of planting. Its important to give them the right information and to advise that there is a higher probability that the planting will be not neglected but lets say not as nurtured as it might be!!

Generally, I have found that these sort of people are realy helpful as its their passion and we all know that most of us enjoy talking about what we love.

Rob

Sourcing genuine property deals in Wakefield and the Five Towns
Follow me on Twitter @walkerfox
Read my blog http://walkerfox.wordpress.com/
Skype: walkerfox
Email: [e-mail]
07960 753550
Northern Property Tribe Next Meeting http://tiny.cc/e4gv8

How refreshing to hear a landlord/property person standing up for a well designed garden.

I agree totally that an outdoor room is the best approach to rental property gardens. It would surely help to get the best price if people thought they had somewhere secure for their children to play, that was also a great space to step outside and have dinner on a sunny day without needing too much back breaking work.

Planting needs careful consideration in a rental property and there are loads of tough plants that only need a trim once a year and will put up with being neglected and being subjected to some abuse by children. Just because a plant is tough doesn't mean it can't fulfill several functions - screening, scent, year-round interest, etc.

The layout it key and it's really worth having a plan prepared in order to maximise the use of the space as an outdoor room and accommodate users with different needs - adults and children. If you include a covered area you can extend the use of the garden into the autumn. Just a simple awning over the patio would do. Provide some simple lighting so that the garden can be used in the evenings. It doesn't have to be expensive, there are some great low-voltage spotlights available off the shelf that can be quickly and cheaply fixed. This way you're covering security and outdoor living at the same time.

I understand the question of cost, but surely a property with a nice, easily maintained garden is easier to rent and get a top rental income on than one without?

I'm not convinced about the value of providing people with space to grow vegetables. Some people definitely want this, but they often don't realise how much time and effort it requires. They have an idealised notion of the good life and have little concept of how long they'll need to spend outside in order to achieve this. So, whilst they might start off with good intentions, the garden will end up looking a mess when reality catches up with the tenants. As someone with a garden and an allotment, I'd love to encourage more people to garden and grow food, but in reality the time needed is often a deal breaker.

So, that's my thoughts on the idea. Again, I say its nice to hear property investors/developers speaking about gardens which normally don't get much consideration.

Thanks

Linsey
www.linseysgardens.com
Garden design in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Surrey, London, Hampshire and shortly Cyprus.

[Vanessa]

Really great contributions from everyone.

Linsey - welcome! Great to have you here!

Thanks for the input about child-friendly/safe. I had not thought of that. Also, we should consider pet friendly if we are going to allow pets?

If the tenant gets involved with the garden, it is similar to "putting down roots" ('scuse the pun!). They may stay longer as a result.

On the flip side, when people neglect gardens, it can give the street a "down at heel" appearance.

Do other LL's supply lawn mowers and gardening tools to encourage tenants to keep the garden neat?

[Brian Heath]

Well, here's my three-pennyworth...mostly in the form of random observations:

Every property should be looked at for its own unique potential, which includes consideration of its outdoor spaces, even if fulfillment of that potential ends up in practice being a variation on a common theme. (Example of a common theme: these progressive spaces, starting from the rear lounge window with its sliding patio doors - decking, lawn, shed, scruffy bit, back gate).

The unique potential could be quite different in a house for sale than the same one for rental (more anon on this).

Every property should be weighed up in market terms separately and distinctly in relation to adults, children, pets, and storage; the more so in terms of the outdoor space.

The back end of a garden can be a separately rentable facility if there is rear access.

The 'value' of a front garden can be that you are able to park an extra vehicle on it.

Space at the side of a house is often under-utilised, at both ground and first floor levels.

Dolf de Roos (international multi-millionaire property investor) divulged one of his key secrets once to maximising yield from a domestic property as being the construction of a car-port wherever possible.

What value would you put on the avoidance of voids if this could be clearly attributed to how the garden was set up?

Apparently there is a tax loophole by which stuff bought to kit out a BTL property can be accounted for for capital allowances. This could be thousands rather than hundreds in relation to a garden.

The concept of the 'outdoor room' (well said, Rob and Linsay) is an incredible potential waiting to explode into public consciousness, in my view.

A very large, robust, retractable awning over a decking area has a lot of merit.

In order of profitability, these three things should normally be well worth their relatively small cost:

Low-voltage garden lighting circuit; outdoor tap; outdoor protected socket for lecky.

With a closely-run fourth perhaps: an automatic irrigation system

Outdoor storage facility for big items (including childrens' play things): underneath decking, and inside seating boxes made from decking planks. These boxes can also be useful in themselves in childrens' play.

Consider the value of rear garden space to a neighbour who wants to grow vegetables.

A large secure shed at the bottom of a garden has rentable value to a neighbour if there is rear access too.

Will return to these themes (and others of their ilk) in due course.

A lot can be said about 'the office in the garden'.......all very positive indeed

[Nick Dare]

In my experience, a well laid out patio garden with freshly planted flowers in the borders, good quality garden furniture, outdoor lighting and external power sockets etc can help to rent a house to a family, especially in urban areas.

If our Summers do indeed get warmer and warmer, I would expect us to start copying Mediterranean countries and Argentina etc, where the garden is a family / entertaining space. Why not build in a decent BBQ and maybe a drink cooler / food prep area?

Just 2 notes of caution - beware the foxes (no Londoners, they are not friendly pets) and don't expect your tenants to water the plants!

[John Corey]

Gardens take work. Many tenants are not interested. A few are.

A garden might make a property more popular when renting but it will likely have little impact on the return produced. Maybe you can earn slightly more or you can reduce the voids.

If you supply a lawnmower to the tenant you are responsible for the upkeep. If they are injured using your equipment you are liable.

When the property is sold the garden can be a bigger factor in terms of what buyers want and what they are prepared to pay.

John Corey
Follow me on Twitter-> www.twitter.com/john_corey
www.ChelseaPrivateEquity.com/blog

[Brian Heath]

I just want to broaden this slightly to consider an angle I have thought about for a long time, which seems to me to be a real opportunity.

Gardens in terms of adding rental value are marginal at best. In terms of potential capital value uplift though they could be part of quite a different ball game.

I am thinking in terms of combining garden spaces to make bigger unitary land areas.

If you look at a map, plan or Google Earth type view of a residential area, it can be quite striking how higgledy-piggledy the layout of gardens is - and also how they in reality often form significant-sized 'green' spaces which happen to be cut up into lots of chunks by things called boundaries.

Often, the whole rear garden of a property is too big for the owner or user. Hence, the back half of the bulk of rear gardens in many areas is often very under-utilised space.

If you were to separate these rear halves from their more valuable house-halves, and then combine a few adjoining rear halves into one undivided plot, you could end up with something you could look at in quite a different way - mostly dependent on access, of course.

Property investors are in a unique position in relation to controlling land: they can do so piecemeal, adding one to another to another. They can do this through purchase; leasing; option agreements; even licensing.

Just as an experiment, try looking at a bird's eye view of the rear of any of your own properties, and see whether there might be any scope for you in this direction. If so it could for example be worth buying a neighbouring property at whatever omv you can negotiate, rent it out on a 'face-washing' basis only, and then quietly work up a plan and strategy for releasing uplift value from about a third of the area of the whole plot.

Just by way of example:

I live in a little house in the corner of a small cul-de-sac estate of predominently starter homes in a densely populated part of a major town. Because maximum density has been achieved by the original builders, you would not think that more could be packed in.

However, there is scope, by redefining boundaries.

I am attempting to upload photographs here (which may fail - we'll see). By combining two neighbouring oddly-shaped gardens and incorporating garaging and forecourt spacing for three vehicles, a complete new building plot can be created, without really losing parking facility overall because the original provision (2 spaces per household) has been proven in practice to be too great.

Apart from planning permission, all that is needed to create this is to negotiate option agreements (to include profit-sharing provisions) with existing owners. In the longer term, actually buying these properties and temporarily renting them out could achieve the same end.

Another aspect of adding capital value to garden space is to develop the concept of the 'annex'. This need not be attached to the principal residential building. Neither does it need to be a permanent structure. Hence it need not necessarily require planning permission (though gaining this may be well worth pursuing anyway).

An annex can be rented out. If this happens, a capital value can be attributed to it by normal commercial valuation methods (rolling up an annual income into a purchase price to pay in order to gain the right to receive that income).

An example of this, which I am dealing with at the moment, is of a large 1930's family house on a corner plot where the owner has built a large high-quality workshop at the back end of the rear garden, has a double-gate rear entrance to it, and has laid down a hardstanding which will take a vehicle. She is renting this to someone who is restoring an old motorbike. He has exclusive access to a secure lockable facility with power to it. She is very motivated to sell the whole property so this rear development is thrown in with the whole with, technically at least, vacant possession.

If considerations like water, insulation, safety and waste disposal are brought into it, this sort of facility has small-scale hobby/business type potential - though you are coming into planning territory at least there, admittedly.

As part of a home-business, study or studio use for a user of the house (owner, tenant, sub-tenant, lodger, family member, guest) you have a real asset.

If the neighbour next door is willing to make the back part of this garden available, this can be tacked onto the annex quarters you are developing.

I know a number of large families who have made bedrooms for teenage children in summer houses, which you can say is a low-key variation of this theme.

Another one I am handling now is to do with a 160' long, narrow garden at the back of a mid-terraced property. The back end of this runs along the western boundary of an old defunct builders yard. Clearly this yard could become a building plot one day. The building site could be significantly enlarged by incorporating up to a dozen or so halves of rear gardens which surround it now, and in some cases border other boundary gardens here too.

At the moment, my clients garden acts a a kind of 'ransom strip', should this ever happen. I will try to make this happen.

Meanwhile, the bottom 75' could be sub-divided into three small plots, a good lockable shed put in each, and each rented out to a neighbour who can drive his car and park it securely in the builders yard (if I make a financial arrangement with the yard owner), in front of his own 'shed' .

Potential gross gain to the rear garden owner: maybe £100 a month in total from a total outlay of £1,000. Say this balances out overall in terms of cost/benefit. Whatever uplift can be gained in the future via an options + planning route is then a very significant bonus.

Brian

Wessex Property Management Services
Bridge House
7, Bridge Street
Taunton
Somerset
TA1 1TG

Skype bryan.heath

[Brian Heath]

Just a few final thoughts from me (at least, I think they are final :-)).

Gardens as 'living spaces' can be thought of in similar terms as in how one would consider internal spaces within a home.

The only real difference is in exposure to elements of weather.

It is quite enlightening to consider how one can make a garden living space emulate an indoor living space to some degree.

Take a conservatory, for example, which can function as a dining room, a lounge, a guest bedroom, a play-room, a covered swimming pool area, a banqueting hall (depending on scale), a restaurant, a greenhouse, or even a conservatory.

A conservatory with a tiled roof is these things even more closely, and will probably be called an extension.

A conservatory/extension is only that because its walls, in the form of double sliding patio doors usually, can be closed and secured. Without these large glass sliding doors, the same structure would be not much more than a covered patio.

So why not build a covered patio? Lots cheaper, no fuss, easy to construct, probably does not need planning permission, could be nearly as useful (especially in a rented property), and, if designed and built carefully, could probably be converted into a conservatory/extension one day if expedient.

"Why not do the full monty in the first place", I hear you say: because it is not cost-effective. But a step-by-step development plan towards that final built outcome may be.

There is a tool that I anticipate property investors will make increasing use of in the future as a management tool: the floor plan. There is free, user friendly software available for the amateur to use nowadays to make floor plans.

Be that as it may - this could be explored in another thread.

I would advocate it for simple outline garden plans. A garden, in use, is just a collection of functional outdoor living spaces. These spaces can be plotted easily and quickly and versatily on such software; and also be planned, development-costed, programme-managed, databased, filed for management purposes, linked to spreadsheets and photographs, used to create brochures an consultation documents - all manner of uses.

Such home-made plans can also be used for drafting out ideas for generating income and/or value from outdoor spaces.

I think there is scope here.

By way of example: suppose you design a free-standing pergola to go up in the middle of your large rear garden.

Not much value in that, you might say.

But:

This immediately delineates space - the space in front, and the space behind. Delineated space determines function.

You reinforce function by tacking some screening onto the sides of your pergola.

You decide that some of this screening will form a visual barrier.

You hide ugly things behind that screen (clothes drier, for example).

You create a bar-b-q station in front of it, which benefits from a wind-shelter effect.

You set up a table and seating area on the next quadrant of your pergola.

You erect an inexpensive gazebo here too, which is supported by the pergloa's verticals.

On the fourth and final quadrant you plant a grapevine to grow up to cover your pergola attractively and give you grapes.

Next year, you (or your tenant buyers, who are so pleased with all this by now that they want to pay for enhancements), decide to extend the pergola in two directions, add some solid roofing, create a bicycle shed in one wing, and a wendy house for the children in the other. They consult with you, and you draft this out on your filed-away original garden floor plan

You rent out the ugly space behind all this to a retired neighbour who wants to grow lots of flowers for cutting and veggies for scoffing, and who would gladly give you and/or your tenant with his inevitable surpluses too. He will provide his own water from next door. You provide a shed, hire of which from you is included in his licence agreement.

All this can be worked out on your outdoor floor plan. Takes a pleasantly spent hour or two, maybe, and modified in due course. You can print this off, and discuss it with whomever. You can use it to obtain estimates, quotes, cutting lists for the local timber yard...

And I haven't yet started to talk about harvesting rainwater from roof areas, gravity-fed low-cost automatic irrigations sytems, grey-water recycling, low-voltage ring-mains put around the edge of the whole garden, mulching, using artificial grass instead of real, roof-gardens, a little run for the bantams, and a pen for the Jack Russell......

life is too short, sometimes.

However, try a floor plan

You could start here, perhaps:

http://www.roomarranger.com