Homes in the top 10% of locations ranked by size of private gardens cost 39% more on average than those in the bottom 10%, according to analysis by Savills.
Buyers paid around £424,000 for the average 1,200 square foot three-bedroom home with a large garden, compared with £260,000 for those with the smallest sized gardens.
Across the UK’s regional markets, neighbourhoods in the top decile in terms of outside space also had the highest average value at £353 per square foot.
For homes with the smallest outside space, that figure was almost two-fifths (39%) lower, at £216.
Overall, buyers paid a fifth less (18%) than the local authority average for homes in neighbourhoods with the smallest outside space.
Whereas the premium paid for homes within neighbourhoods that have the largest outdoor space is 8.8% higher.
Frances McDonald, director of residential research at Savills, said: “The value of private outdoor space is one of the pandemic’s legacy trends that’s become permanently ingrained in the home buyer’s psyche.
“Demand for homes with larger gardens and outside space has increased significantly over the past three years, as buyers place a greater value on the lifestyle and wellbeing elements of a home.
“While larger homes with big gardens have always come at a premium, it’s now evident that buyers are also paying more for indoor space if it has a large garden attached.”
The research also revealed a disparity between rural and urban areas, with a greater premium paid for larger outside space in urban markets, where they were more of a rarity.
In fact, the price per square foot for properties in urban areas with the largest gardens (£481) was more than double that of those with the smallest (£216).
In rural areas, where outside space tended to be more prevalent, a premium was still evident, but less significant, at 8.3% versus 12.9% in urban locations; however, the discount for properties with the smallest outside space was more pronounced, at 24% versus 17.7%.
McDonald added: “In rural areas, having a garden is more of an expectation, which means there is a less clear correlation between garden size and house prices.
“By contrast, over the past three years in particular, there’s been tough competition between buyers in more urban locations to secure a property with large outdoor space as they have become vital means of escaping the pressures of metropolitan living.”
Savills found that the largest gardens were on Scottish Islands, Eilean Siar (989m2) and the Orkney Islands (832m2), as well as Wealden in East Sussex (828m2).
While popular relocation hotspots Mid Suffolk (747m2), and West Devon (714m2) also placed within the top 10.
In London, the top 10 boroughs with the largest average outdoor space were all located within Outer London, with Bromley (328m2), Barnet (280m2) and Harrow (266m2) coming out top.
In comparison, the average size of private outdoor space in the Central London boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster averaged at below 100m2.
In Prime Central London, buyers paid on average 28.2% more for a property with a large garden, according to Savills’ prime London index.
