As more and more Brits start to enjoy the long summer evenings and relax in their gardens over the upcoming bank holidays, new research by over 50s insurance provider RIAS reveals that gardens across Great Britain are worth £9.3 billion, with green-fingered gardeners investing the huge sum in kit to look after and upgrade their gardens.
The RIAS ‘Cash in the Garden’ report reveals that Great British gardens could have a total value of up to £5,000 per household, covering the garden shed, its contents and other items including solar powered lighting and greenhouses.
With a particular passion for gardening the over 50’s, who between them clock up 8 million of the UK’s gardens worth £5.5 billion alone. In addition, today’s over 50s are spending almost £200 each year on plants, shrubs and lawn maintenance to ensure sure their gardens are in full bloom come summer – which collectively amounts to an annual £1.54bn.
A man’s shed is his castle
The age-old garden shed – the most popular item across Great Britain – is found in over half of all gardens nationwide (54 per cent), and in almost two thirds (60 per cent) of over 50s’ gardens, equivalent to 4.8million green spaces. The shed is followed by solar-powered lights, which feature in a third of over 50s’ gardens (33 per cent), and greenhouses found in a quarter (25 per cent).
Once the dumping ground for the children’s old toys, dirty football boots and outgrown bikes, garden sheds are now home to garden items and equipment at a cost of around £1,386, meaning that nationwide garden sheds are collectively worth £7 billion, and those belonging to the over 50s alone can be valued at £4.4 billion.
Janet Connor, managing director at RIAS, commented: “As the over 50s get their homes back to themselves once again, or move towards part time working or retirement, their gardens really are becoming their sanctuaries, with lots of time and money being ploughed into the maintenance and upkeep of their gardens. And it’s this value of just over £5,000 per household that needs to be protected, with garden sheds becoming a treasure chest of gardening gadgets.”
Garden goldmine
Almost half (47 per cent) of over 50s risk being uninsured up to the value of £2.6 billion because they may not have any insurance cover in place to protect their garden items. Just four per cent of over 50s – equivalent to 320,000 gardens – have taken out additional cover to ensure their gardens’ contents are covered.
How does your garden grow?
With eight out of 10 (88 per cent) over 50s getting their hands dirty and not enlisting the professional help of a gardener, having the right kit is vital. Popular domestic gardening tools that over 50s use, such as spades, forks and rakes feature in over three quarters (78 per cent) of all garden sheds, along with smaller gardening tools (77 per cent) and lawnmowers (64 per cent)-With the typical lawnmower costing just under £150, that’s a huge £768 million towards the overall value of over 50s’ garden sheds across the country.
The RIAS ‘Cash in the Garden’ report also found that over half (57 per cent) of the over 50s in Great Britain use their gardens to grow their own fruit and vegetables, so it’s no surprise that they spend more on the upkeep of their garden than any other age group on new foliage, plants and shrubs to refresh and update their garden
