A unique partnership between the UK’s best known homebuilder and the RSPB promises to see more wildlife-friendly housing developments being built in the area, giving nature a new home.
Barratt Homes has signed an agreement – the first of its kind in the UK – with the RSPB to boost natural habitats at its developments in Ashford using updated landscaping and new guidance.
As the country’s urban wildlife struggles, with 60% of plants and animals facing decline, it is hoped that this agreement between the major homebuilder and conservation charity will help boost biodiversity.
Welcoming the partnership, Mike Clarke, chief executive of the RSPB, said: “With hundreds of thousands of homes needed across the country in the next few years, now is the time for conservationists and homebuilders to pull together to ensure the wildlife is boosted rather than ousted in the process.
“We are confident that many positive steps can be taken to build wildlife into new housing developments, giving nature and people a home and increasing quality of life, and all relatively simply and cheaply.”
The partnership will also see Barratt Homes working with the RSPB to raise employee awareness of wildlife-friendly best practice across its sites in the region and throughout its supply chain nationally.
Mark Bailey, managing director of Barratt Homes in Kent, said “Our partnership with the RSPB demonstrates how we can protect and enhance the biodiversity of the local area, benefitting the economy, creating employment and improving health and wellbeing for our customers and the communities we create.”
Barratt Homes prides itself on creating exceptional homes in the finest locations and recently achieved the maximum five star housebuilder rating for the sixth consecutive year in a customer satisfaction survey conducted by the Home Builders Federation (HBF).
