Creating successful neighbourhoods depends on much more than simply building houses. Developers put the quality of the whole environment at the top of their agenda, with bold housing landscapes that are designed to draw people to live and work in the area, as well as protect and shelter their homes.
Today, 67 per cent of new homes are built on brownfield sites, bringing previously developed land back into positive use. In addition to the major benefit of reusing redundant land, brownfield sites enjoy the advantage of often being close to shops, public transport and day-to-day amenities, so that residents are less reliant on cars.
Laing Homes development Langley Park in Beckenham, Kent, is one of many that has eliminated any trace of its brownfield past and maximised the used of space. Recognised by the English Partnerships Award in The Housebuilders Federation (HBF) Greenleaf Awards 2003, Langley Park enjoys a diversity of new housing set in green landscaped parkland. Traditional London-style squares of mews cottages and townhouses overlooking private parkland sit alongside cottages within historic walled gardens and family homes in mature woodland settings, bordering picturesque nature trails. Great care being taken to integrate Langley Park into its surrounding neighbourhood.
The next phase of development, Langley Waterside, is due to be launched in April and, once again, the whole development will preserve and improve the surrounding environment. Buyers will enjoy a natural setting with views over a large mature lake and surrounding nature reserve.
Developers are recognising that simply preserving the environment is not enough. Landscapes also need to be enhanced, as can be seen at another Greenleaf Award winning site, Holly Royde in Didsbury, Manchester, by David Wilson Homes.
Proving the importance of the landscape in successful new housing, the Greenleaf Awards seek out and celebrate the best new housing landscapes where housebuilders have demonstrated continued and proper concern for the environment.
A former brownfield site, Holly Royde received the first-ever special category Greenleaf Tree Council Award. This flagship development sees a sympathetic conversion of a grand Victorian mansion into 12 apartments, and new-build townhouses and apartments set within wooded grounds.
David Wilson Homes went to great lengths to preserve the mature trees on the site and to ensure that the layout of the development took maximum advantage of the maturity and beauty that the woodland provides. The trees have been given ample room to breathe and grow and the layout of the housing is in keeping with the historical nature of the site.
The majority of trees were preserved, with 16 mature specimens being moved out of the line of the building and replanted to retain the original tree-lined driveway.
As an industry, housebuilders plant more than 320,000 trees a year and to mark the day, a number of developers across the country will be planting trees.
And its not only good housing landscape, such as Holly Royde, which makes a valuable environmental contribution. New homes themselves are designed to minimise waste and work in balance with the environment.
The average new home is up to ten times more energy efficient than its Victorian equivalent thanks to modern heating and insulation, resulting in lower running costs and reduced pollution from greenhouse gases. Lower domestic water consumption is also enabled through water efficient fittings in new homes.
Many developers are increasingly using the latest energy generating technology to make new homes even more environmentally friendly and to encourage buyers to become more eco-friendly.
Buying a new house is not just a case of moving to a new home, its about enjoying a whole new lifestyle. Improving the quality of life for house buyers through a carefully designed housing landscape is very safely in the hands of the todays environmentally conscious friendly developers.
For further information on New Homes Week, visit the website at www.new-homes.co.uk/nhw