As outdoor living spaces become more of a priority for Brits, a new study has revealed that Mansfield is one of the best areas in the UK for residents to access green space.
The Green Giants research, from home improvement specialists, Eurocell, looked at several important factors that homebuyers have to consider when searching for a new home.
This comes after reports that access to green space has been linked to a reduced rate of anxiety, stress and loneliness. Recent government data reveals that the average rating of personal well-being in the UK has declined in the last year.
Mansfield comes in 2nd place overall in the country, with the average size of homeowners private outdoor space at 246 metres squared. Residents in Mansfield also have less distance to walk to get to the nearest park, public garden or playing field, at 287 metres, and of all homes for sale on RightMove, 94% have a garden.
The Eurocell report looked at access to private gardens and outdoor space, the size of each outdoor space, and proximity to public parks and green space, to reveal the UK’s ‘green giants’ – and those where there’s room for improvement.
Market town Chesterfield, in Derbyshire, comes out on top as being the best place to live in the UK for access to green space. Close to the Peak District, Chesterfield is surrounded by the woodland walks and diverse habitats of the national park.
Of the data analysed, 95% of all homes and flats in Chesterfield had private outdoor space – the highest of all in the country. Nationally, the figure stands at 89%.
Residents in Salford are likely to experience the biggest deficit in green space, and face the greatest challenge when seeking out green space.
Manchester was just ahead in 99th place, with the second fewest percentage of homes and flats with outdoor space in the UK at 79%. Only Watford has fewer, at 77%. Homes in Manchester also had some of the smallest sizes of gardens, on average – the fourth smallest in the UK, to be exact.
Despite it being close to the Highlands, residents of Aberdeen have one of the furthest treks to seek green space, with only 63% of new property listings online have private outdoor space.
The top 10 cities/towns in the UK for outdoor space
| Position | City | Total Index Score out of 40 |
| 1 | Chesterfield | 30.8 |
| 2 | Mansfield | 30.2 |
| 3 | Telford | 30.2 |
| 4 | Rotherham | 30.0 |
| 5 | Warrington | 29.9 |
| 6 | Crewe | 29.8 |
| 7 | Stoke-on-Trent | 29.8 |
| 8 | Wrexham | 29.6 |
| 9 | Barnsley | 29.6 |
| 10 | Burton upon Trent | 29.5 |
The 10 cities/towns in the UK with the least outdoor space
| Position | City | Total Index Score |
| 100 | Salford | 11.1 |
| 99 | Manchester | 12.5 |
| 98 | Aberdeen | 15.2 |
| 97 | Slough | 16.4 |
| 96 | Southend-on-Sea | 16.5 |
| 95 | Portsmouth | 16.7 |
| 94 | Watford | 17.1 |
| 93 | Liverpool | 17.3 |
| 92 | Southampton | 17.3 |
| 91 | Glasgow | 17.8 |
Beth Boulton, marketing director at Eurocell, said: “Outdoor space is hugely important for our health and well-being – it breathes life into a home and helps us to de-stress when we need to.
“Outdoor space has become a much bigger priority for homebuyers since the COVID-19 pandemic – when many people started working from home for the first time. Since then, working from home has become much more of a norm for millions of people. The daily commute is no longer a good source of fresh air!
“We’ve seen a big spike in the number of people choosing to expand their home by utilising their outdoor space, such as with the introduction of using garden rooms as a home office. In most cases, planning permission isn’t necessary, so they’re a great solution for both adding more space to your home, but also potentially more value when you come to sell the property.”
Methodology
To create this data, Eurocell used garden and green space figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) and extrapolated data from properties currently advertised on Rightmove for each of the top 100 cities in the UK by population (excluding London). These figures were then ranked, and given a weighted score out of 100. From this, a score out of 40 was determined and the results ranked.
The top 100 UK cities by population were taken from World Population Review. Data correct as of February 2024.
Posted on 04 April 2024
