UK’s Passion for Cars Triggers Huge Increase in ‘Concrete Gardens’

British drivers are concreting over their front lawns to make room for their ever-increasing collection of cars, according to research out today from Direct Line.

Close to nine in 10 (85 per cent) households own a car with four in 10 (40 per cent) now owning two or more cars. This coupled with 40% of motorists complaining of limited street parking in their area, has caused one in five (17 per cent) space-starved car-owners* to turn their front gardens into concrete drives.

The cost of on-street parking is also driving motorists to pave over their gardens – over one million** UK drivers pay on average of £439 per year for the privilege of parking outside their home - be it for parking permits or garage rental.

So desperate are drivers becoming for parking spaces that close to one in six (14 per cent) have moved home specifically to gain a garage or drive.

The cost of paving over a garden doesn’t come cheap with research showing car-owners spend on average £1,300 on turning their gardens into drives – with one in 10 (11 per cent) spending more than £3,000.

Direct Line has commissioned the research to tie in with the launch of its new multi-car discount. Policyholders will now be given a discount on their insurance if they insure two or more cars with Direct Line.

For every 2nd, 3rd and up to a maximum of 10 cars the customer will benefit from a 10% discount on the price of the policy. So, for example, a family of four with mum, dad and two children all driving their own cars the family would save 40% on the cost of a policy overall. The policy is also open to friends living at the same address.

The UK is truly a nation of car lovers with Brits spending more on their wheels than almost anywhere else in Europe. One in four motorists say they spend more than £10,000 on a car – and many admit to taking out loans (32 per cent), forfeiting holidays (three per cent) and blowing their savings (44 per cent) to fund them.

Emma Holyer, Direct Line’s Motor spokesperson, said:

“It doesn’t seem to matter how difficult it is to park or how much it costs to keep a second car Brits still buy them. We have turned into a nation of car fanatics foregoing fun activities in order to get our next set of flashy wheels. The two-car household is now more likely to be the three or four car household with the costs of owning the cars running into thousands. To help all those with two or more cars Direct Line will now be offering a discount to anyone insuring more than one car with us.”

Front gardens aren’t just vanishing because of car space – one in 10 (12 per cent) households admit that they’re not green-fingered and want a front garden easy to maintain. Currently five per cent of households are planning to exchange their turf for concrete.

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Notes to Editors:
The research was carried out on behalf of Direct Line motor insurance by YouGov. A nationally representative sample of 2,037 GB adults were questioned online between 6th to 10th January 2006.

*According to the findings 85 per cent of households are car-owners. 45 per cent own one car, 31 per cent own two cars, seven per cent own three cars and two per cent own four cars. 15 per cent of households do not own any cars.
**There are 33.8 million drivers in the UK (Census data, 2001) and according to the YouGov findings four per cent of motorists have to pay for parking outside their property. 0.04 x 33,809,493 = 1,352,380
***According to the findings 86 per cent of households in the UK have spent on average £7,819 on their cheapest car. The findings also revealed that UK households own on average 1.6 cars. £7,819 x 1.6 cars = £12,510.4.