Award-winning homebuilder Lioncourt Homes has reaffirmed its long-term commitment to supporting biodiversity and wildlife across its developments after becoming a part of the Homes for Nature initiative, led by the Future Homes Hub.
Homes for Nature complements the Government’s Biodiversity Net Gain targets and encourages housebuilders to take a more proactive approach to supporting wildlife within new communities.
As part of the commitment, Lioncourt Homes will introduce a range of ecological measures designed to create nature-inclusive developments that support local ecosystems while enhancing residents’ wellbeing.
Under the scheme, every new home delivered by Lioncourt Homes will include an integral universal bird nesting brick or box and hedgehog highways. These simple but effective features provide safe nesting and movement routes for wildlife and will be delivered as standard on all new developments.
In addition to these measures, Lioncourt Homes will continue to incorporate nature-friendly planting schemes designed to support pollinators and enhance ecological diversity, alongside sustainable urban drainage systems (SuDS) where appropriate. These features may include rain gardens, balancing ponds and permeable surfaces, which help manage surface water responsibly while also creating valuable habitats for wildlife.
Furthermore, the commitment encourages a range of additional ecological enhancements, many of which are already being delivered across Lioncourt developments. These include insect and bee bricks, bat roosting tiles and boxes, bug hotels and hibernacula, providing vital shelter for insects, birds, bats, reptiles and amphibians throughout the year.
Lioncourt Homes will review progress annually and report on installations, working closely with the Future Homes Hub to monitor outcomes and identify opportunities to further enhance biodiversity.
Interpretation boards will also be installed within public open spaces to help residents understand the ecological features within their community and the benefits they bring.
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.”
Ed Lockhart, CEO at Future Homes Hub, said: “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.”
The Homes for Nature commitment will run until 2030 and applies to all new planning applications submitted from September 2024 onwards.
Lioncourt Homes’ first development to deliver all measures in full will be Foxwood Place, a new scheme in Fernhill Heath near Worcester.
Located off Dilmore Lane, Foxwood Place will deliver up to 130 new homes alongside generous areas of public open space, providing the ideal setting to demonstrate Lioncourt’s comprehensive ecologically led approach.
Lioncourt Homes recently secured a five-star customer satisfaction rating from the Home Builders Federation (HBF) for the 11th consecutive year, reflecting the company’s continued commitment to quality, sustainability and customer care.
