Focus on outdoors as houses get bigger

Waikato people love dining al fresco in their backyard, but outdoor space is shrinking.

A survey commissioned by Mitre 10 asked more than 1500 New Zealanders their opinions on the size of backyards and what they were doing to make the most of them.

Those from Waikato, Southland and Wellington were the biggest socialisers and enjoyed dining outside.

Mitre 10 chief executive Neil Cowie expected the trend of home entertainment in the outdoors to continue when the rules around drinking and driving tighten on December 1.

Of the total pool of respondents, 46 per cent said they used the outdoor area for socialising and having drinks rather than sports or gardening.

"In line with this trend of the 'outdoor living room', we're seeing huge popularity in wicker outdoor furniture," said Cowie.

"It's a low-maintenance product and creates quite a stylish look. We expect to see double-digit growth for wicker products this season and next year we are likely to have more wicker than wood in our outdoor furniture range for the first time."

Most survey respondents, 84 per cent, agreed they liked the idea of the traditional Kiwi quarter-acre paradise - a large plot of land with a standalone house on it, and almost all said they would rather live on the traditional quarter-acre section than in high-density housing.

More than half of respondents felt that their outdoor living space is smaller now than what they had growing up.

Half of the respondents attributed this to sections of land getting smaller, while 35 per cent believed houses were getting bigger, so there's less room on a section for an outdoor living space.

David Lugton, managing director of Hamilton real estate agency Lugtons, said backyards had shrunk over the years because of decreasing section sizes, increasing house sizes, and "the predominance of single-floor housing".

He said 20 to 30 years ago a lot of new houses were two-storey, but now people prefer a single level.

Lugton said section sizes were decreasing to keep costs down.

"The old quarter acre . . . which was quite the norm back in the 50s and 60s went down to 800 square metres, then down to 750sqm."

He said the norm now in subdivisions was for 600sqm or smaller.

"A lot of people just want a bit of grass out the back," he said. "Enough room for a barbecue, most people are pretty happy with that."

Waikato respondents were second most likely to pay someone else to mow their lawns (14 per cent), behind Auckland (16 per cent). The national average was 11 per cent.

Data from QV confirmed the average house floor size was trending upwards, and had done so constantly over the past hundred years, except during the inter-war and Depression period.

Houses were an average of 131.7sqm in 1900 and grew to 205.3sqm in 2006. Cowie said the love of outdoor living spaces was consistent with purchasing trends.

"We've seen for a long time that the home improvement and building market is going from strength to strength," Cowie said. "This just goes to show that New Zealanders are very attached to their living spaces and making the most of them."

The Mitre 10 research showed 36 per cent of New Zealanders would look to move to a property with more outdoor space if they shifted house.

Only 16 per cent wanted a smaller outdoor space or one with minimal maintenance.

But nearly 40 per cent of respondents had made a renovation decision that would help them avoid having to do maintenance for an outdoor living space.

DIY was popular for these projects, with 63 per cent doing the work themselves or along with family and friends.

Cowie said Kiwis had taken action to make the most of the ever-shrinking backyard, looking to customise it to fit their preferences and lifestyle or just make the most of it.

"We know from the research that the most popular additions to the backyard are planters and pots, decking and fencing, and this is backed up by our sales data.

"There's also the quintessential Kiwi barbecue, which New Zealanders are paying more for. The average spend on a barbecue is currently between $600 and $700, and that's trending upwards as people demand top quality and increase their investment in their outdoor living spaces."

- Waikato Times