St Albans and Welwyn developments reflect national trend for new build street names

Forget about ‘Road’, ‘Street’ or ‘Avenue’ – ‘Park’, ‘Green’ and ‘Gardens’ are what it’s all about when it comes to new build developments.

My Home Move looked at over 400 developments from five of the UK’s major housebuilders - Barratt Homes, Taylor Wimpey, Persimmon, Bellway and Redrow - and found a definite trend for street names with an outdoorsy theme.

‘Park’ was top of the list for three of the developers, while the other two placed it second. It accounted for between 9 and 18 per cent of all new builds across the five firms, while ‘Gardens’ was their second most popular choice.

The trend is reflected locally, with the likes of Magnolia Gardens and King Harry Park in St Albans and Clock House Gardens in Welwyn.

‘View’, ‘Place’, ‘Manor’, ‘Grange’ and ‘Court’ also ranked highly among the developers.

Mark Snape, My Home Move’s Corporate Distribution Director said: “‘Green’, ‘Park’ and ‘Gardens’ suggest open spaces, rolling hills and countryside; while ‘Manor’, ‘Grange’ and ‘Court’ play on our sense of heritage and history – all of which appeal to peoples’ aspirations to own a little bit of Britain.”

Mark added: “It would seem that despite our love of gadgets, smartphones and connective technology, as home owners and buyers we are still looking for our homes to represent more than just bricks and mortar; we want them to provide us with an identity.

“And as our home owning aspirations keep on growing year-on-year, with new build sales now accounting for one in every 14 transactions and 57 per cent of aspiring first-time buyers feeling hopeful about getting onto the property ladder, it would seem that there is real value in a name.”