Green-Fingered Brits Ditch Outdoor Luxuries in Favour of Garden Improvements

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May 15, 2012, 01:48 ET

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

http://twitter.com/hsbc_uk_press

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.

http://www.hsbc.co.uk/newsroom

SOURCE HSBC PFS