House builders should devote more attention to the exterior landscaping of new build developments in order to enhance the saleability of ‘turnkey’ projects, says paving manufacturer Brett.
“No longer can developers rely on selling a property by simply adding an asphalt driveway to the front and a lawn to the rear of a new property by way of landscaping,” says Andrew Gill, Marketing Manager at Brett Landscaping.
Gill continued: “Nowadays, homebuyers expect external spaces to be designed and installed with the same care and attention to detail as interior spaces.”
“It would therefore be reasonable to suggest that the landscaping of a property is a key part of their purchasing decision, helping to set the tone in a customer’s mind and condition their subsequent viewing of the rest of the property”.
Brett say that, given these changing conditions, there are significant economic benefits to investing in a development’s landscaping, but house builders are not always aware of the advantages. According to Andrew Gill, “historically, the budget set aside for landscaping is too often seen as a buffer fund to absorb any cost overruns elsewhere on the build, so designs get downgraded to suit.”
“Whilst this can help with the overall project costs, we would argue that it is a false economy in the longer term as properties can take longer to sell and buyers will look to offset the on-cost of having to upgrade the landscaping against the amount they are willing to pay for the property.”
There is also the question of surface water management to consider with local authorities starting to establish an approval framework with regard to integrating Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) into new developments. This means that there are now functional as well as aesthetic benefits to creating high-quality landscaping. “Flood management technologies such as permeable paving provide developers with increased scope in land usage at the same time as improving the appearance of the site, at little – if any – additional cost,” explains Andrew Gill.
Brett Landscaping believes that for both aesthetic and functional reasons it is now high time that the outside of a property received the same care and attention as the inside within the development process.
“Few housebuilders today would think of not fitting out a new property in a way that shows it off to its best effect – especially when it comes to kitchens and bathrooms. It would appear short-sighted not to give outdoor spaces the same priority, especially as these are increasingly seen as providing a vital ‘extra room’ to the property through the summer months.
“Yet all too often we see ‘identikit’ developments where the initial landscaping does nothing to enhance the property. It seems ironic that, in recent years, some of the best examples of new build hard landscaping have been seen within the social housing sector,” Andrew Gill adds.
In the private sector, by contrast, Brett Landscaping reports that it has seen many examples where the initial hard landscaping on a new property is quickly removed and replaced with higher specification product. “This would appear to suggest that the new homeowner is willing to pay more to get the look that they want,” explains Andrew Gill. “It would therefore seem sensible to install it in the first instance thereby saving time, money and materials – and potentially increasing the initial sale price of the property for the developer.
“Housebuilders who fail to recognise this trend are likely to find it increasingly difficult to maintain their position in the long term as the expectations of increasingly savvy buyers increase over time,” Andrew Gill concludes.
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