One in ten Fife homes have no outdoor space

Almost one in 10 Fife homes do not have a garden or any outdoor space, new analysis shows.

Mental health charity Mind says spending time outdoors during the coronavirus crisis can be an important way to boost our mood, help manage mental health problems, and improve our physical well-being.

But Office for National Statistics figures show that many households in the Kingdom have been living without access to gardens during the lockdown.

In Fife, nine per cent of households have no access to a private garden, balcony or patio – that’s lower than the national average of 12 per cent.

The figures also reveal that the average Fife garden is 318.9 square metres – smaller than the national average of 332.7.

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While most people are now allowed outdoors for unlimited exercise, people who are particularly vulnerable to Covid-19 are still shielding themselves at home.

The Resolution Foundation think tank says the lockdown has “brought to the fore a whole range of housing-related inequalities”, including insecurity for renters, overcrowding, and a lack of access to gardens and green spaces.

Lindsay Judge, principal research and policy analyst, said: "Post-pandemic we need to ensure that housing policy focuses on quality and security, as well as quantity. That should mean homes – and housing contracts – that are fit for all types of families.”

Nationally, the area with the fewest homes without gardens is South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear,, where only three per cent of residents go without.

At the other end of the scale is City of London, where 93 per cent of properties lack outdoor space.

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