Green-Fingered Brits Ditch Outdoor Luxuries in Favour of Garden Improvements
LONDON, May 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --
- Brits increase spend on landscaping, boosting property value
- As a nation the UK will spend £3.9bn on gardens in 2012
- Spend on garden accessories such as BBQs and water features down to just £27
Households are defying the financial climate and increasing spend on landscaping to spruce up their garden and boost property value, according to a new survey.
The annual HSBC Gardens Survey, published ahead of the Chelsea Flower Show, found that Brits will spend an average of £83 on garden improvements, including landscaping, this year - a 10% increase since 2011.
The figure increases to £148 in both North West and South West England, compared to just £20 in the London, where many householders can only dream of a large garden.
While spend on landscaping has increased, the nation's garden budget as a whole is being reduced. The average spend in 2012 on general maintenance is £37 (down 47%) and greenery including plants and flowers just £39 (down 47%).
But it is spend on garden items such as barbecues and water features which has seen the most dramatic cut in the past year - down 67% at £27.
Peter Dockar, Head of Mortgages at HSBC, said: 'The UK has traditionally had a love affair with gardens, but with households facing financial pressures, people have to make difficult decisions about where to spend their cash.
'The survey reveals that spend on non-essential items has gone down in favour of general improvements, including landscape projects. Improving the general outlook of the garden can not only boost quality of life but also help to increase property value.'
While the UK average spend on the garden now stands at £185, down from £296 in 2011, four regions in England buck the trend with higher garden budgets - the East Midlands (£253), North West (£240), South West (£239) and South East (£238) all spend more. The regions with the lowest spend are Yorks and Humber (£112) and London (£124). The total UK spend on gardens for 2012 will be £3.9bn*.
The survey also revealed that while relaxing (72%) is the most popular garden activity, over a third (38%) of households now use their garden to grow fruit or veg.
Further findings from the HSBC Gardens Survey can be found on the HSBC newsroom at http://www.newsroom.hsbc.co.uk/
Notes to Editors:
Survey sample: 2056 British homeowners (aged 18+).
* Number of UK households is 21,407,000 (DCLG Table 804 http://www.communities.gov.uk/housing/housingresearch/housingstatistics/housingstatisticsby/householdcharacteristics/livetables/)
SURVEY FINDINGS
How much spent on garden in 2012?
Days
Improvements in
General inc. Garden Total Total garden
maintenance landscaping New plants items 2012 2011 2012
East Midlands GBP59 GBP112 GBP50 GBP32 GBP253 GBP281 109
North West GBP41 GBP148 GBP33 GBP18 GBP240 GBP236 97
South West GBP25 GBP148 GBP43 GBP23 GBP239 GBP211 102
South East GBP57 GBP101 GBP47 GBP33 GBP238 GBP237 105
Wales GBP24 GBP91 GBP36 GBP27 GBP178 GBP466 100
Eastern GBP35 GBP50 GBP44 GBP33 GBP162 GBP243 112
North East GBP27 GBP66 GBP39 GBP23 GBP155 GBP306 105
West Mdlands GBP18 GBP76 GBP35 GBP26 GBP155 GBP265 94
Scotland GBP46 GBP43 GBP33 GBP20 GBP142 GBP330 69
London GBP34 GBP20 GBP35 GBP35 GBP124 GBP395 74
Yorks and
Humberside GBP23 GBP42 GBP29 GBP18 GBP112 GBP286 90
What do you use your garden for (%)?
All
Relaxing 72
To dry laundry 65
Growing plants 64
Attracting
wildlife 46
Eating al
fresco 41
Sunbathing 39
Growing fruit
or veg 38
Entertaining 33
For kids to
play 26
Exercising pets 23
How important is having a garden?
West East S S
All Scot North-east North-west Yorks Mids Mids Wales East London East West
Very
important 60 49 51 60 60 62 68 68 65 50 59 67
Quite
important 29 40 36 25 23 27 24 25 28 41 28 25
Not
important
at all 10 11 10 15 17 9 8 7 7 7 11 8
Days spent in the garden
West East S S
All Scot North-east North-west Yorks Mids Mids Wales East London East West
Total
days
per
year 95 69 105 97 90 94 109 100 112 74 105 102
How much spent on garden this year?
National average
(GBP)
2011 2012
General maintenance 70 37
New landscape projects 71 83
New plants, flowers etc 73 39
New items such as BBQ,
water feature etc 82 27
Total GBP296 GBP185
For the latest updates, visit the UK Press Office social media newsroom:
http://www.hsbc.co.uk/newsroom
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HSBC Bank plc: HSBC serves 16.1 million customers in the UK and employs approximately 52,000 people. In the UK, HSBC offers a complete range of personal, premier and private banking services including bank accounts and mortgages. It also provides commercial banking for small to medium businesses and corporate and institutional banking services. HSBC Bank plc is a wholly owned subsidiary of HSBC Holdings plc.
HSBC Holdings plc
HSBC Holdings plc, the parent company of the HSBC Group, is headquartered in London. The Group serves customers worldwide from around 7,200 offices in over 80 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, North and Latin America, and the Middle East and North Africa. With assets of US$2,637bn at 31 March 2012, the HSBC Group is one of the world's largest banking and financial services organisations.
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