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One in eight households has had no access to a garden during the coronavirus lockdown , new figures show.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has released the data after lockdown restrictions were eased in England to allow people to spend more time outside in public spaces.
The figures, based on data from Ordnance Survey and Natural England , show that in London 21 per cent of households have no access to private or shared gardens. However, they are the most likely in the country to live near a park.
More than a quarter of people (28 per cent) in the UK were found to live within a five-minute walk (300m) of a public park, while 72 per cent live fewer than 15 minutes away (900m).
This rises to 52 per cent and 95 per cent respectively when playing fields are included in the data.
The survey also highlighted a stark contrast between the level of access different ethnicities have to an outdoor space.
According to the ONS, people from minority ethnic groups are less likely to have access to a private garden. The data shows that black people are nearly four times as likely as white people to have no outdoor space at home, whether that be a private or shared garden, a patio or a balcony (37 per cent compared with 10 per cent).
Even when the data compared people of a similar age, social grade and living situation, those of black ethnicity were found to be 2.4 times less likely than those of white ethnicity to have a private garden.
Older people, who are being advised to stay at home as much as possible, were found to be the most likely to have access to a garden, with just eight per cent of over-65s living without outside space.
Show all 26 1 /26Best gardens at the 2019 RHS Chelsea Flower Show Best gardens at the 2019 RHS Chelsea Flower Show The Savills and David Harber Garden The Savills and David Harber Garden , endorsed by the Environmental Change Institute, champions the 'benefit and beauty' of trees, plants and grass in urban areas. It does this by filtering the surrounding air with its bio-diverse selection of trees, planted wall filters and a filtration pool. Jazz singer Natalie Rushdie performed during the unveiling of the garden.
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Best gardens at the 2019 RHS Chelsea Flower Show IKEA and Tom Dixon: Gardening Will Save The World Swedish furniture company IKEA collaborated with designer Tom Dixon to create the IKEA and Tom Dixon: Gardening Will Save The World garden. The aim of the garden is to demonstrate the positive impact of ‘urban growing’, the act of cultivating plants in urban areas. ‘The garden aims to show it’s possible, affordable and rewarding to have a place to grow your own food in the city for a healthier and more sustainable lifestyle which has a positive impact on both people and the planet,’ the RHS states.
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Best gardens at the 2019 RHS Chelsea Flower Show IKEA and Tom Dixon: Gardening Will Save The World A robotic arm is used to stimulate the growth of spores as Chinese mushrooms are grown under artificial light.
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Best gardens at the 2019 RHS Chelsea Flower Show IKEA and Tom Dixon: Gardening Will Save The World An attendee of the Chelsea Flower Show takes a photograph of vegetables being grown under artificial light.
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Best gardens at the 2019 RHS Chelsea Flower Show IKEA and Tom Dixon: Gardening Will Save The World The IKEA and Tom Dixon: Gardening Will Save The World garden features an area called 'The Hyperreal Garden', a horticultural laboratory where hyper-natural edibles are grown using hydroponic technology.
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Best gardens at the 2019 RHS Chelsea Flower Show IKEA and Tom Dixon: Gardening Will Save The World A woman views a tower garden at the IKEA and Tom Dixon: Gardening Will Save The World garden.
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Best gardens at the 2019 RHS Chelsea Flower Show IKEA and Tom Dixon: Gardening Will Save The World Chinese mushrooms grow under artificial light.
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Best gardens at the 2019 RHS Chelsea Flower Show RHS Chelsea Flower Show Two Chelsea Pensioners walk past a floral display based on children's television programs at Chelsea Flower Show
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Best gardens at the 2019 RHS Chelsea Flower Show The RHS Back to Nature Garden The Duchess of Cambridge demonstrated her green thumb with the creation of the Back to Nature garden at this year's RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Designed in collaboration with landscape architects Andrée Davies and Adam White, the aim of the wild garden is to provide a 'beautiful natural space for families to get together, play, dig, grow plants, connect with nature and spend time in the great outdoors'.
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Best gardens at the 2019 RHS Chelsea Flower Show The RHS Back to Nature Garden The RHS Back to Nature Garden features a treehouse as part of its design. The treehouse includes a ladder and a rope swing, on which the Duchess of Cambridge, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis have been pictured.
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Best gardens at the 2019 RHS Chelsea Flower Show The RHS Back to Nature Garden Prince George and Prince Louis explore the Back to Nature garden with their parents, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
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Best gardens at the 2019 RHS Chelsea Flower Show Floella's Future stand Actor and TV presenter Baroness Floella Benjamin created a display at the Chelsea Flower Show called Floella's Future . The display a a surrealist feast for the eyes, featuring a large head sculpture, a miniature van on a road, a large foot made of twigs and miniature figurines placed among flowers.
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Best gardens at the 2019 RHS Chelsea Flower Show Facebook: Beyond the Screen The inspiration behind the Facebook: Beyond the Screen garden is the coalescence between our online and offline lives, demonstrating how the ‘smartphone generation is using technology to make a positive change in the real world’. Designed by Joe Perkins, the layout of the garden includes features such as bodies of water, to demonstrate the fluidity between our online and offline personas; and tidal rock pools, which the RHS states symbolise ‘both connection and change and dramatic sedimentary rock formations.
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Best gardens at the 2019 RHS Chelsea Flower Show Facebook: Beyond the Screen Chelsea Flower Show guests write down their top gardening tips and hand them on 'The Message Tree' in the Facebook: Beyond the Screen garden.
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Best gardens at the 2019 RHS Chelsea Flower Show Facebook: Beyond the Screen The Facebook: Beyond the Screen garden features a wooden bank on which deckchairs, a table and a beanie bag are situated, all of which are covered with a canopy. Water and rock formations make up the majority of the design.
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Best gardens at the 2019 RHS Chelsea Flower Show RHS Chelsea Flower Show Lupins on display at the annual garden event at Royal Hospital Chelsea.
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Best gardens at the 2019 RHS Chelsea Flower Show D-Day 75 Garden In November last year, a campaign was launched in support of the creation of a commemorative garden in honour of the 75th anniversary of the 6 June 1944 D-Day Landings in Normandy during the Second World War. The garden features a selection of sculptures paying homage to the soldiers who were present at the seaborne invasion.
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Best gardens at the 2019 RHS Chelsea Flower Show D-Day 75 Garden World War II Normandy veterans pose for photographs as they visit the D-Day 75 Garden at the Chelsea Flower Show.
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Best gardens at the 2019 RHS Chelsea Flower Show RHS Chelsea Flower Show Chelsea Pensioners take part in a photocall on a stand at Chelsea Flower Show
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Best gardens at the 2019 RHS Chelsea Flower Show D-Day 75 Garden Garden designer John Everiss created sculptures of Second World War soldiers by basing his designs on 3D-scanned images he took of volunteers dressed in period army uniforms.
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Best gardens at the 2019 RHS Chelsea Flower Show RHS Chelsea Flower Show A model poses with Peony design body point and hat at Chelsea Flower Show
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Best gardens at the 2019 RHS Chelsea Flower Show Harmonious Garden of Life The Harmonious Garden of Life , designed by Laurélie de la Salle, brings together ‘four kingdoms’ – mineral, vegetable, animal and human – with the four elements – air, earth, water and fire. Featuring a pergola, a pond and an enclosure wall, the garden raises awareness of environmental issues by offering ‘solutions to regenerate our ecosystem in response to global warming, pollution and depletion of resources’, the RHS says.
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Best gardens at the 2019 RHS Chelsea Flower Show The Montessori Centenary Children's Garden The Montessori Centenary Children's Garden celebrates the work of Montessori St Nicholas, a charity which promotes education using the Montessori teaching method. The garden features two greenhouses, one of which allows children to grow micro vegetables and leaves for salads and sandwiches. The second greenhouse is inspired by Victorian greenhouses.
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Best gardens at the 2019 RHS Chelsea Flower Show The Montessori Centenary Children's Garden Children play in the Montessori Centenary Children's Garden , which was designed by Jody Lidgard.
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Best gardens at the 2019 RHS Chelsea Flower Show The Montessori Centenary Children's Garden Visitors inspect the garden, which took inspiration from the Montessori teaching method.
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Best gardens at the 2019 RHS Chelsea Flower Show The Montessori Centenary Children's Garden An insect house hangs from a tree at the Montessori Centenary Children's Garden , designed with a smiley face.
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Parks and green spaces in England are expected to get busier following the relaxation of lockdown measures on Wednesday, allowing people to picnic and sunbathe as long as they observe social distancing .
The average park in Great Britain serves just under 2,000 people, the ONS said, with some in densely-populated areas catering for many more.
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