Credit: Homes for Nature
Voluntary commitment signed by 20 major developers could see nature-friendly measures become the norm in new developments
More than 20 of the UK's largest homebuilding companies have signed a voluntary commitment to install bird-nesting bricks and create hedgehog highways on all new developments.
The Homes for Nature commitment, which has been signed by Barratt Developments, Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey, Redrow, and Bellway, aims to support swift populations and many more species across the country by incorporating more nature-friendly features in new homes.
In addition to promising to make nest bricks and boxes and hedgehog highways mandatory in all new low-rise homes, the housing developers have said they will consider introducing additional nature-friendly features in homes, such as bat roosts, insect bricks, and shelters for hibernating animals.
Signatories to the Homes for Nature pledge, who together build roughly 90,000 homes a year, have also said they will consider nature-led sustainable urban drainage systems and pollinator-friendly landscapes in their developments.
The initiative, which was developed by an industry-led group convened by climate organisation Future Homes Hub, will come into effect in September and is designed to run until 2030. The companies have committed to annual reporting to track the impact of the project and identify other measures that could be folded into the scheme.
"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," said Ed Lockhart, chief executive at the Future Homes Hub. "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 technical and customer guidance for the installation of the nature measures on development sites is now being developed with the RSPB, Action for Swifts, Hedgehog Street, and the NHBC, the Future Homes Hub said.
"We are delighted to have been asked to help to develop this initiative, which will make a huge difference for wildlife in the built environment," said Nigel Symes, head of business conservation strategy at the RSBP. "We know that these measures work, and are truly encouraged that the home building sector is coming together and committing to delivering them at scale. Meanwhile, providing for nature will, we are sure, create better places for people."
Campaigners have long called for swift bricks - a normal building brick with a hollow inside that can be used as nesting sites - to be made mandatory in new homes to protect the endangered high-flying bird.
Becky Ingham, chief executive of Action for Swifts, said it was "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".
The measures come in addition to the Biodiversity Net Gain requirements, which calls for all housing and infrastructure developments to result in 10 per cent more nature than there was before.
In recent years, some housebuilders have come under fire for their efforts to lobby against environmental rules, including carbon reduction targets for the sector and nutrient neutrality rules which would have placed new requirements on developers to make sure their schemes do not harm rivers.
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