The government's housing and regeneration agency champions need for thriving places and new homes that support the natural environment.
Homes England, the government's housing and regeneration agency, has signed up to the Homes for Nature commitment, which aims to support wildlife and tackle environmental and climate challenges.
Scheme members, which includes almost 30 house builders, have committed to installing a bird-nesting brick or box for every new home built, and a hedgehog highway in every new development. Developers building homes on Homes England sites will be required to deliver these features as part of a broader approach to sustainability and design.
The commitment sits alongside the recently implemented Biodiversity Net Gain regulations, which require all new developments to achieve at least a 10 per cent increase in biodiversity compared with pre-development levels.
Members are also encouraged to incorporate additional features into homes, such as bat roosts, insect bricks and hibernacula, and at a site level, to consider nature-led sustainable urban drainage systems and nature-focused planting.
Homes for Nature was developed by the industry-led On Site Nature Measures Working Group, convened by the Future Homes Hub, an independent organisation established to help the new homes sector to meet climate and environmental challenges.
Sarah Greenwood, Assistant Director for Sustainability and Design at Homes England said:
We're delighted to become a signatory of Homes for Nature, ensuring that our schemes adopt a range of simple but effective measures to support declining and vulnerable species. This commitment is an action we're taking as part of our new Nature Positive Plan, which sets out our role in reversing nature's decline. Through our approach to achieving sustainability and high-quality design, we want to deliver great places to live, for both people and nature.
