Havering and Barking and Dagenham may be wise spots for garden lovers to settle down, as new research reveals they are among the cheapest London boroughs to own private outdoor space.

Compiled by grass seed and fertiliser company The Grass People, the research found London has the most expensive gardens in the country, clocking up an average of £2,348 per square metre.

This dwarfs the average of £376 paid for gardens in Telford, which the research suggests has the most affordable spaces.

Between the London boroughs, the most expensive by a stretch was Westminster (£31,948) and Kensington and Chelsea (£28,617), with City of London in third with an average of £15,910 per square metre.

The data suggested it costs £2,050 in Havering and £2,024 in Barking and Dagenham - far below these figures and less than the London average, with only Harrow, Bexley, Bromley, Croydon and Sutton coming out more economical.

Commenting on the research, Chris McIlroy, a spokesperson for The Grass People, said: “We found the research to be surprising that the difference in the cost of gardens differs so much throughout the UK, and even in the same city, depending on the type of house you own."