Developers offering home owners huge sums to sell off their gardens

Property developers trawling for space to build on are pursuing homeowners in the hope they will sell off their gardens.

Large sums of cash are tempting many householders to give up their land to "garden grabs", with house prices slowing and the credit crunch starting to bite.

But angry communities are pressuring councils to stop the practice through the planning process. Wildlife experts also warn huge areas of the capital's green space are disappearing.

One woman told how she was offered £125,000 tax-free for her 300ft garden. Min Halil, from Cheshunt in Hertfordshire, said her neighbours were all selling their gardens to a property developer.

She told BBC1 documentary show Inside Out: "I received one saying they would offer me £125,000 for the majority of the garden. Who could say no to that?"

John Ennis, investments director at Foxtons estate agency, said the number of garden sales in the capital had increased in the past 18 months.

He said:"We are often approached to sell plots of land which may include garden spaces. However all developments are subject to planning."

Developers are particularly keen to buy up gardens because they are currently classified as "brownfield" sites. In an effort to protect green spaces, the Government wants 70 per cent of new homes to be built on brownfield land. But the current definition of the term was drawn up in the Eighties, before garden building was common.

The Wildlife Trust warns that since then, an area of green space 22 times the size of Hyde Park has vanished from London.

Mayor Ken Livingstone has said he intends to revise his London Plan to prevent new development on back gardens in the suburbs. Boris Johnson has also pledged to protect gardens.

The Government urged councils to use their powers to halt garden grabs. A spokesman for the Communities Department said: "New planning rules have strengthened council's powers to reject inappropriate housing development in back gardens.

Inside Out is on tonight (22/2/08) at 7.30 pm.