Lioncourt Homes has stepped up its environmental strategy after joining the Homes for Nature initiative, committing to embed biodiversity features across all future developments.
The housebuilder will introduce a series of ecological measures as standard on every new home, aligning its delivery pipeline with wider industry efforts to support wildlife and meet Biodiversity Net Gain targets.
The initiative, led by the Future Homes Hub, encourages developers to take a more proactive role in creating nature-inclusive communities, with a focus on supporting local ecosystems alongside residential development.
As part of the commitment, all new Lioncourt homes will include integrated bird nesting bricks or boxes and hedgehog highways, providing essential habitats and movement routes for wildlife.
ECOLOGICAL FEATURES
The developer will also continue to incorporate wider ecological features across its schemes, including pollinator-friendly planting and sustainable urban drainage systems such as rain gardens, balancing ponds and permeable surfaces. These measures are designed to both manage water effectively and enhance biodiversity on-site.
Additional features already being deployed include bee and insect bricks, bat roosting boxes, bug hotels and hibernacula, creating year-round habitats for a range of species including birds, bats, reptiles and amphibians.
Lioncourt says it will monitor progress annually in partnership with the Future Homes Hub, with reporting focused on delivery outcomes and opportunities to further strengthen biodiversity performance. Interpretation boards will also be installed within developments to help residents understand and engage with the ecological features in their communities.
The Homes for Nature commitment runs until 2030 and applies to all new planning applications submitted from September 2024. Lioncourt’s first fully compliant scheme will be Foxwood Place in Fernhill Heath, near Worcester, a development of up to 130 homes incorporating extensive green infrastructure and public open space.
FUTURE-READY HOMES
Gemma Corrigan, Senior Urban Designer at Lioncourt Homes, said: “Joining the Homes for Nature initiative marks an important step in the continued evolution of Lioncourt Homes as we scale the business and strengthen our technical and environmental standards across every new development.
“Working in partnership with the Future Homes Hub allows us to embed robust ecological measures into our core specification from the outset, ensuring the homes and communities we create are resilient, future-ready and aligned with long-term biodiversity objectives.
“By standardising these features across our pipeline, we’re not only supporting wildlife and enhancing green infrastructure today, but also future proofing our developments.
“In creating new ecological spaces it is essential that our approach to design and delivery continues to improve as well as perform both environmentally and socially for years to come.”
IMPROVED WILDLIFE
Ed Lockhart, CEO at the Future Homes Hub, adds: “Homes for Nature was conceived to help make sure new homes bring benefits in terms of improved wildlife as well as places for people to live and wider economic benefits.
“At a national level, this initiative, which Lioncourt Homes has committed to alongside 27 other leading developers, has the potential to make a major contribution in the survival of important species such as swifts and hedgehogs. I was delighted to see that the swifts were already making themselves at home.”
