If you have purchased a property with a tennis court or you are thinking about buying a house which has room for a tennis court you are possibly wondering if this will be a wise investment.
Increasing Your Property Value in the Current Economy with a Tennis Court
The publication of property data over recent months indicates that the Pandemic has hit country house prices and availability with an overall fall of around 3% in the last year. This has encouraged owners of such houses to explore ways of increasing property value including the option of building a tennis court in their garden.
The general consensus amongst property experts is that adding a tennis court to a country house will increase the value by at least £75,000 and possibly more than £100,000. With the construction costs of a court being as low as £25,000 and rarely more than £50,000, adding a tennis court would seem to be a very wise investment, even for the less sporty amongst us. After all, what other options for investing in your property offer the potential of a three fold return on your investment?
Key Considerations when Adding a Tennis Court to Your Property
Based on the above, you might be expecting tennis court builders to be inundated with requests for new tennis courts from home owners. However, before going ahead with a new tennis court you will need to take into account a few key considerations. For example, you cannot just build a court anywhere you like on your land.
Tennis courts on paddock land require a formal change of land use, whilst even a court within the garden may result in a lengthy planning process.
If the property happens to be a listed building then the local Council’s Planning Officer will need to be convinced that a court within the garden will not have an adverse impact on the setting of the listed building.
If you wish to put the court outside your garden in what is deemed agricultural land, then a Planning Officer may argue that a tennis court would impact on the wider open countryside.
In other words you need to think carefully about the design and location of your proposed tennis court.
Using a green surface with fencing which is reduced in height along the sides can help to reduce the impact. Similarly, an inconspicuous location, hidden by existing or proposed hedge screening, will help to make the court more acceptable in planning terms.
Equally important is the need to back up your planning application with the appropriate national and local planning policy justification. It is surprising how important it is to draw Planning Officer’s attention to the relevant planning polices to support the introduction of your tennis court.
A tennis court brings significant added value. Therefore, it is worth taking the time and effort to think carefully about the design and location of the court as well as ensuring that the planning issues are fully addressed and if you are keen tennis player hope that the weather is kind to you too!
For more information about buying your next home, please contact Premier Property Search on 01962 793100 or email enquiries@premier-propertysearch.co.uk
