A Growing Solution To A Growing Housing Problem?

At Prestige & Village, we understand the importance of community life, and there are many things which bring people together. There is no denying the importance of allotments in many parts of England.

However, a recent study by a known name in the housing sector has highlighted a solution some people will appreciate, and others will be firmly opposed to.

England’s allotments could provide space for over 600,000 new homes, according to the findings of the latest research by the estate agent comparison site, GetAgent.co.uk.

Research carried out by GetAgent found:

There are an estimated 4,554 allotments across the country
There are an estimated 166,606 plots in these allotments
The average size for an allotment is 250 square metres
This would mean there is a potentially 44,401,500 square metres of allotment space
This space would be enough to build 604,513 new homes, based on the average property size coming in at 73.45 sqm

The price of the average new build property in England is £348,298; and extrapolating this out, this could lead to £210.5bn worth of property.

This can be a solution across the country

London is home to the greatest potential use of allotment land, with more than 7m sqm of allotment space
Using allotment space for property in London could create 95,575 new homes, and this would be worth £50.3bn in market value
The next most significant place in the UK which could benefit is Tyne & Wear, which has 291 allotments, covering 2.8m sqm
This space could be used to create over 38,000 new homes

Other areas which have significant allotment space include:

West Midlands, with 35,442 allotments
Greater Manchester, with 32,788 allotments
County Durham, with 27,478 allotments
West Yorkshire, with 22,566 allotments
Hertfordshire, which as 22,301 allotments

All these locations could potentially accommodation more than 20,000 new homes in their area

Excluding London, the areas which would see the highest potential value of new homes are as follows:

Hertfordshire, coming in at £10.4bn
Surrey, coming in at £8.5bn
The West Midlands, coming in at £9.3m
Tyne and Wear, also coming in at £9.3m

Founder and CEO of GetAgent.co.uk, Colby Short, said; “Allotments can play a very important role within the community, particularly in our major cities, providing the outdoor space that many look to in order to relax, unwind and socialise. So in this respect, they are probably more valuable than any bricks and mortar market value. However, we desperately need more homes, an issue that the government has been woefully poor at addressing. While we don’t suggest that allotments are the answer, we wanted to draw attention to the fact that more must be done.”

Colby Short also said; “Rather than sacrifice the nation’s allotments, there is a great deal of brownfield and wrongly classified green belt land that could go some way in helping deliver more homes. But until the government decides to pull its finger out, it will continue to sit unused and of no use to anybody.”

At Prestige & Village, we care about our community, and supporting others. We aim to provide you with as much help and assistance as we can. If you have any property or housing questions, please feel free to contact us today.