Lack of space may cause more garden thefts

A new report by insurance provider esure published today reveals that homeowners could be the victims of theft as they fail to correctly store items of value away and leave them in the garden.

The report shows that more than 10% of homeowners will be spending in excess of £500 on their gardens this year purchasing furniture, tools and equipment, yet many of them will not have adequate and secure storage for these purchases.

With over 650,000* homes having had something stolen from their gardens in the last 12 months, the company is urging people to make sure they have suitable locations to lock valuables away. With many people converting the traditional storage spaces such as lofts and garages, this only leave garden sheds and other outbuildings for storing items of value.

The research also exposed that 93% of those surveyed regularly leave out items in the garden such as jet washers, tools and kids' toys. A spokesman for the company suggests that with homeowners often storing household items in their garden sheds, the line between home contents insurance and garden & outbuilding insurance is becoming blurred. He said that homeowners should check their insurance policy to see what objects are covered as garden items and which are covered under the home insurance and store the items accordingly.

* 3 % of the UK population is 649,814. (Total number of households in England and Wales is 21,660,475 - Office for National Statistics, Key Statistics KS18 Tenure, 2001 Census.) In total, 13 per cent of homeowners in the UK have had an item stolen from their garden or one of their outbuildings.