• Design and Sustainability

We consider the design of the space around the homes we build to be as important as the homes themselves. We look to create places where people feel welcome and safe and where the residents feel motivated to invest in their community over the long term. This can form the basis of a healthy and sustainable community.

To achieve this there are various standards we measure ourselves against and principles we follow:

• Good urban design will consider the quality, character and density of the buildings, the public spaces, and car parking (so it does not dominate streets).
• The ‘Building for Life’ standards give a useful set of questions to apply to our urban design and influence our design decisions. We are developing a design tool that will help us to apply the principles consistently across all of our developments.
• We aim to design our developments in line with Secure by Design principles (the nationwide initiative intended to reduce crime through scheme design) and we often consult with police liaison officers to discuss our plans.
• Our larger developments will often include the extra community facilities needed to create lasting communities, for example schools, shops, a village hall and new transport links.

It is important to make sure that each of our developments have what is needed to give the community the identity and the facilities needed to thrive.

• Regeneration

The house-building industry, including its supply chain, is a major contributor to both national and local economies as part of the wider construction sector through the employment it creates and the investment it makes in the sites it builds.

Every home we build creates jobs, both on our sites and within our supply chain. Most of our employees and site workers are recruited from the areas around our offices and sites. Our work can have a positive effect on economic growth by providing skills and training, local labour schemes and extra job opportunities for local people.

• Regeneration

Where appropriate, we aim to hand over ownership and responsibility for the roads, sewers and public open spaces in our developments to the relevant local authority or water authority as soon as possible once they have been completed and technically approved.

On many sites there are areas or facilities that will not be transferred to local authority ownership or where a different form of management may be of more benefit to the growing community. In these situations we aim to make sure that long term management suitable for our customers, surrounding residents and community groups is put into place before the end of our construction programme. We have considerable experience in the use of private management companies, community development trusts and management led by affordable housing providers.

On our developments we aim to provide the facilities and opportunities needed for the communities living in them and in the surrounding areas to grow and strengthen.

We are committed to achieving and maintaining the highest standards of health and safety management and, in doing so, provide a safe working environment for all our employees and subcontractors. Our health, safety and environment procedures set out the roles and responsibilities of all our employees and those who work with us. We aim to continually improve our health and safety management system year on year. Our main aim is that everyone working on or around our developments goes home safe and well at the end of every day.