Biggest housebuilders pledge to support wildlife on new developments

A group of UK housebuilders have signed up to a commitment to support wildlife on their new developments. 

The Homes for Nature commitment will see a bird-nesting brick or box installed for every new home built, as well as hedgehog highways created as standard on every new development taken through planning from September 2024. 

Barratt, Vistry, Taylor Wimpey, Redrow and Persimmon are among the 19 firms, together responsible for building more than 90,000 homes a year, to have so far signed up to the voluntary commitment. 

The pledge has been developed by the industry-led On-Site Nature Measures Working Group, convened by the Future Homes Hub. 

According to the hub, a minimum of 300,000 nesting bricks and boxes are required to support swift populations and other bird species across the country. 

Other wildlife-friendly features include bat roosts, insect bricks and hibernacula - places where animals can seek refuge, typically used by reptiles and amphibians during the colder winter months. 

Outside of homes, housebuilders will look to install nature-led sustainable urban drainage systems and pollinator-friendly landscaping. 

Ed Lockhart, chief executive of the Future Homes Hub, said: “Homes for Nature is a fantastic opportunity to create many more homes for wildlife, bring people closer to nature and at the same time provide a helping hand to some much-loved and critically endangered species. 

>> Read more: Will the government’s biodiversity plans prove a net gain for the housebuilding sector?

“A commitment to installing integral nest bricks or boxes and creating hedgehog highways as standard is a simple but effective way to support our precious wildlife, including the iconic swift and hedgehog.” 

The initiative will run until at least 2030, with annual reporting to track progress and to identify further suitable measures that could be introduced to support other wildlife. 

Becky Ingham, chief executive of Action for Swifts, said: “For centuries swifts have shared our buildings and homes by nesting in the nooks and crannies of old style buildings. In recent years the loss of nesting sites has had a major detrimental effect on this Red-Listed species.  

“It’s heartening to now see the commitment from so many major developers towards installing integral bricks, which will last the lifetime of the building and provide our Swifts and other cavity nesting birds with long-term habitat.”