Research survey names Chesterfield as top place in UK for access to green space

The Green Giants market research exercise commissioned by home improvements company Eurocell placed Chesterfield in top spot with a score of 30.8 out of 40, just ahead of Mansfield in second place.

The scores account for factors such as the distance people must walk to reach their nearest park, public garden or playing field and the number of homes with private outdoor space, based on figures from the Office of National Statistics and current listings on property website Rightmove.

According to the research 95 per cent of all homes and flats in Chesterfield have such space – with an average size of 249 square metres – which was the highest proportion of any area included in the study in the country, and properties are an average 296 metres from their nearest public green space.

Beth Boulton, marketing director at Eurocell headquarters in Alfreton, said: “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.”

She added: “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.”

The rankings, which included the top 100 towns and cities by population outside of London, put Salford and Manchester bottom of the list with respective scores of 11.1 and 12.5, trailing behind Aberdeen, Slough, Southend Portsmouth, Watford, Liverpool and Glasgow.

The rest of the top ten consisted of Telford, Rotherham, Warrington, Crewe, Stoke, Wrexham, Barnsley and Burton upon Trent. For more details, see eurocell.co.uk/blog/uk-best-cities-for-outdoor-space-revealed.

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