Vegetable Plots Are Growing in Popularity for Home and Apartment Buyers
Developers are increasingly building “grow gardens” into single- and multi-family properties
By Ruth Bloomfield
Wall Street Journal
Feb. 10, 2021
Some people took up running during the pandemic, others turned to baking or bought a pet. Graham and Caralyn King found solace in growing their own food, a pastime to which the British have historically turned in times of crisis.
During World War II, for example, the British Government urged those left at home to “dig for victory” by growing produce in backyards and public parks to beat food shortages. The pandemic has cultivated a similar zest for homegrown fruit and vegetables—which hasn’t gone unnoticed by property developers.
With only a modest backyard at their home in the market town of Darlington, in northeast England, Mr. and Mrs. King gained more space for food growing by securing a $55-a-year allotment, small tracts of land which have traditionally been made available by local governments.
They got their plot in April, when the U.K. had just entered its first national lockdown. Before that they had been confined at home, venturing out only to buy food and or take a walk. Their allotment gave them a reason to spend six to seven hours out of the house every day, preparing their plot, planting seeds, tending existing plants and digging a wildlife pond. By the summer, they were harvesting courgettes, beans, potatoes, celery, and leeks.
“It got us out of the house, and it is good exercise,” said Mr. King, who now writes a blog detailing their progress. “Without it we may have imprisoned ourselves, and I dread to think of the state of mind that would have led to.”
Real-estate developers are increasingly offering allotments, and the multifamily alternative, “grow gardens,” to new residents, alongside more urban lifestyle offerings like movie theaters and spas.
“We are all considerably more health conscious than we have been in the past,” said James Hyman, head of residential agency at Cluttons estate agents. He says it is trendy, particularly in cities as a distraction from urban living, and it feeds into our interest in sustainability.
Over the past two decades, Di Appleyard, a spokeswoman for the National Allotment Society (NAS), said growing interest in sustainability and organic food had led to an enthusiasm for allotments. Even pre-pandemic, the average waiting time for an allotment was up to 18 months, according to the Association of Public Sector Excellence (APSE). Some local governments have such long waiting lists they are no longer accepting new allotment candidates. In the borough of Camden, north west London, some 1,000 people have their names down for 200 plots.
This summer, Grosvenor Britain & Ireland, which manages the property holdings of the Duke of Westminster, one of Britain’s wealthiest landowners, unveiled plans for Salt Cross Garden Village, a development of 2,200 new homes 5 miles northwest of the city of Oxford. Work is expected to begin in 2023.
The 450-acre site will feature around 200 individual allotment plots which Silvia Lazzerini, project director at Grosvenor, believes will enhance its feel-good factor. “We want to create places where people enjoy a good live-work balance and can get back in touch with nature and grow their own food,” she said.
Residents will pay a small annual fee to rent an allotment at Salt Cross Garden Village, said Ms. Lazzerini, and they will also be able to work in a community garden on site, orchards, and streets lined with planters in which they can plant small crops and edible flowers.
Meanwhile, work is under way at King’s Road Park, where 1,843 new homes are being built on the site of a disused gasworks in the Sand’s End neighborhood, 4 miles west of central London.
This development will include a private members’ club and movie theater, and landscape architects Gillespies has incorporated communal orchards and grow gardens within the site. A spokesperson for Gillespies said they “will be designed to encourage residents of the new neighborhood to actively participate in growing fruit and vegetables and harvest their own produce.”
Prices at King’s Road Park start at $1.08 million for a one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment measuring 577 square feet. A three-bedroom, three-bathroom apartment with 1,525 square feet of space is listed for $4.62 million.
The residents of Elephant Park, a $3.43 billion project that will have 2,689 homes in the Elephant & Castle neighborhood of central London, will also be able to grow their own vegetables and flowers.
“The idea for providing grow gardens at Elephant Park is not just about giving people the chance to plant and nurture their own food, but also to create opportunities for residents to meet their neighbors and feel part of a community,” said Kristy Lansdown, project director for developer Lendlease.
Prices at Elephant Park start at $785,750 for a one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment measuring 569 square feet. The most expensive home currently listed is a two-bedroom, two-bathroom, 809-square-foot apartment priced at $1.4 million. The development will be completed in 2025.
Grow gardens aren’t only an urban phenomenon.
Legal & General Homes, part of the Legal & General financial services company, is also embracing the feel-good factor that gardening can bring. It is currently building 1,000 houses and apartments at the Buckler’s Park development, near the popular commuter town of Crowthorne, 33 miles west of London. Work on the 10-year project started in 2018 and when complete, there will be a communal garden, allotments, and even beehives for residents to tend. Prices start from $538,000 for a two-bedroom, two-bathroom, 890-square-foot apartment.
The grow-your-own trend is also gaining traction beyond the U.K. In the Taiwanese city of Zhubei, Christie’s International Real Estate is listing a three-bedroom, three-bathroom apartment in The Urban Mountain III, a modern building designed to give urbanites a taste of country living. The balconies are planted with native species of plants and trees, many of which are edible, to allow for what the developer, Banmu Tang Environmental Integration Group, describes as “urban foraging” of herbs and fruit.
Water features provide a habitat for fish, shrimp, crabs, and frogs, and the building also has a communal kitchen so residents can dine together, and a rooftop tearoom built from traditional wood and mud. The apartment is listed for $2.32 million.
Meanwhile, in Las Rozas de Madrid, a town 12 miles north west of the Spanish capital city, work is under way on Escalonia III. When complete in 2023, residents will be able to grow their own produce on its rooftop vegetable garden, which will feature 59 individual raised planters which will be automatically watered using harvested rainwater. There are also plans for a rooftop orchard which residents will be able to tend and harvest collectively.
Prices for the 195 apartments at Escalonia III start from $413,000 for a two-bedroom, two-bathroom, 94-square-meter apartment. The building is the final phase of a $100.24 million development of 400 properties by AEDAS Homes.
Mr. Hyman believes that the trend for food growing in modern buildings will continue post-pandemic.
“More people will be working from home, and will have time to look after some plants,” he said. “And to be cynical, it is a cheap thing for developers to provide, planners love it, and there is a demand. It is still something which is evolving, but it is going to be something people will still want to see provided in their developments post-Covid.”
Back in Darlington, Mr. King believes he and his wife will keep on working the land after the pandemic. Time won’t be a problem. He now works from home for a call center and Mrs. King is retired.
“The allotment is our happy place. We can’t imagine it not being part of our lives now,” said Mr. King. “To be honest, what I like is the growing and the doing. I don’t actually like vegetables.”
