High price of green space
Apartments in the city with the added allure of a garden are much coveted, says Kirsty Mcluckie
Acity flat with a private garden is a real luxury. Combining urban living with green space to sit out, create an oasis of planting, or a safe enclosed garden for children to play in is a major attraction for many buyers, which pushes up desirability and value.
Outside space can add as much as 20 per cent to the sale price of a property in the city centre of Edinburgh, according to Paul Clancy of estate agents Clancy’s. He says: “Direct access to a private garden is sought-after by young families and they can be few and far between in the city. Many gardens will be shared, or have been built on, so a decent, private space is rare.”
The property at 4A Lennox Street is set over two lower floors of a B-listed Victorian townhouse conversion in Edinburgh’s West End. On the ground floor lies a family room, three double bedrooms and a bathroom. A staircase curves down to a large open-plan kitchen, living room and dining area, which opens out on a private patio and garden.
This level also has a shower room and utility, and a storage cellar with development potential.
The walled, private garden has a lawn and sunny patio, and backs onto Ann Street. If that isn’t enough green space, residents of Lennox Street are also entitled to apply for membership of the nearby Dean Gardens.
Elsewhere in the West End, 8/1 Belgrave Terrace has a living room, drawing room and dining kitchen on its ground floor, with traditional proportions and huge bay windows.
Its downstairs has three bedrooms, the master with access to a very pretty garden.
Colony flats are eternally popular in the Capital. These Victorian properties were designed so that two families could have their own front doors and a private garden.
In locations such as Stockbridge, they can be expensive, but the twobedroomed upper colony at 22 Woodbine Terrace, Leith Links, is much more reasonably priced.
The private front garden isn’t huge, but its beautifully kept and a great sunny spot for sitting out.
Outside space can add as much as 20 per cent to the sale price of a property in the city centre