<b><b>Why is it taking housebuilders so long to realise the potential in the standard garden? Marketing consultant Sheena Ellwood of Ellevation argues that buyers are willing to spend on the garden, so why not provide a proper service?</b></b><br><b>When new home buyers make their choice, are they buying just a new house or are they buying a new lifestyle? If we pay the slightest attention to the trendsetters&amp;’ (and their followers&amp;’) advertising, it is clearly a new lifestyle.</b><br> Apart from some sleek stainless touches in the kitchen, posh brand appliances and the obligatory snazzy bathrooms, what about that other major opportunity - the outdoor living space? Apartment builders already capitalise heavily on this with the must-have terrace or balcony premium. So why is it taking traditional housebuilders so long to see the potential in the standard garden?<p></p><p><b></b></p><p><b><b> dream land</b></b><br> The garden is not just the oddly-shaped bit of land, the minimum the planners would allow, that can be left as badly rotovated, rubble-concealing mud, sometimes with low grade turf all over to keep the weeds down. It is an extension of living space, where the &amp;“barbecue lifestyle&amp;” dream comes true. As such, it can easily add significant value to buyers - …