The market for garden rooms and buildings (including value-added services) was worth an estimated £110m in 2010, down 14% on the previous year, according to the latest market data from AMA Research. By mid-2011, the forecasts are that the market will be down a further 5% to around £105m in 2011.
There are three main types of garden buildings which make up the market, says AMA: modular garden rooms (43% of the market by value), log cabins (32%) and timber framed buildings (24%). By volume, log cabins form the largest part of the market at more than 75%.

As the market has developed, AMA says there has been an increase in the choice of roof finishes available, and the provision of different colours, as well as a trend towards different shaped garden buildings. Working from home has become more popular in recent years, which has contributed to garden building sales.

While 2011 is set to be a difficult year, future prospects for the market are more favourable in 2011-15 as the economy and the sector come out of recession and start to return to growth, AMA has forecast. The volume of units sold is estimated to increase at a lower rate than the increase in the value of the market, and is forecast to reach 30-32,000 units in 2015, up more than 15% on current volumes.

This trend is expected to continue in the medium to long term due to growth at the premium end of the market, says AMA, and the increased share of modular and timber framed garden buildings at the expense of lower value log cabins.