Nature
We want to create space for nature on our sites and contribute to improving biodiversity to benefit both our customers and the environment.
Our approach starts with site design and layout, and encompasses use of green infrastructure, habitat improvements, wildlife enhancements and wildlife friendly planting. We recognise our business dependencies on nature and the ecosystems services provided by the natural world.
We partner with nature organisations to ensure our actions reflect best practice. Our current partners are Hedgehog Street, a campaign by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society and People’s Trust for Endangered Species, and Buglife – The Invertebrate Conservation Trust.
Biodiversity net gain
Some of our sites are already integrating a biodiversity net gain approach and we have prepared for the roll out of Biodiversity Net Gain requirements in England from February 2024 and Net Benefits for Biodiversity in Wales. This includes training and guidance for our land and planning, technical and strategic land teams.
Since 2022, at least 22 new sites with implementable or pending planning permission have included provision for biodiversity net gain (BNG). Of these, 31% have BNG of less than 10%, 13% have 10% BNG, and 54% have more than 10% BNG. Our data does not yet cover all business units so we believe the actual number of BNG sites will be higher. The number of new sites with 10% or more BNG will increase significantly from 2024 in line with regulation.
An internal working group with representatives from strategic land, planning, sustainability and technical functions is helping to guide our approach. We are collaborating with others in the sector and government through the Future Homes Hub.
Supporting native species
Wildlife enhancements can play an important role in supporting native species. We aim to integrate enhancements on all suitable new sites and have started with hedgehog highways, bee bricks and bug hotels, bird and bat boxes. We launched guidance for our regional businesses on the installation of bird and bat boxes in 2023 in addition to previous guidance rolled out on hedgehog highways, bee bricks and bug hotels. This guidance includes input from our nature partners where relevant.
Around 3,500 wildlife enhancements have been installed on our sites since 2021 (including bug hotels, bee bricks, bird and bat boxes) and 279 sites have included hedgehog highways.
We have introduced wildlife friendly gardening features in several of our show homes to engage customers. In 2023, we prepared some guidance for our teams on pollinator friendly planting with input from Buglife. The final document will be reviewed by Buglife before it is distributed to our regional businesses which we expect to happen in 2024.
We support Buglife’s B-Lines project to create ‘insect pathways’ of pollinator-friendly habitat through the UK’s countryside and towns. We’ve mapped our sites to see which ones fall on a B-Line and have issued guidance and case studies to our regional businesses to help them engage with the B-Lines project.
Ecological impact assessment
We conduct an ecological impact assessment for all sites, that identifies protected species or habitats. We use ecologists’ reports to identify mitigation measures needed and their recommendations are embedded into the Site Specific Environmental Action Plan, part of our Environmental Management System. Our LEADR system also assesses biodiversity risks, such as proximity to sites of particular importance for biodiversity or protected areas.
Our Home for Nature Toolkit includes practical ideas, costs and guidance to help our teams implement appropriate biodiversity enhancement measures including nature friendly planting. Our Guide to Green Infrastructure incorporates recommendations from the Wildlife Trust and helps our teams to use green infrastructure (such as sustainable drainage and green spaces) to benefit biodiversity, create a strong sense of place, support water management and reduce flood risk.
Engaging our customers on nature
We want to inspire customers to adopt nature-friendly gardening techniques and have helped 2,966 customers to create a more nature-friendly garden by distributing wildflower seeds and home welcome packs with wildflower seeds and bug hotels.
We’ve also added guides to our website in partnership with Hedgehog Street and Buglife and our regional businesses have engaged customers and local communities in nature-based activities.
Examples from our developments
Examples of how we are integrating nature on our sites includes:
- Taylor Wimpey East Anglia has worked with Action for Swifts to incorporate Swift bricks into the exterior walls of 85 new homes at the Burghley Green development, in Cambourne. More S Bricks are planned for Varsity Grange, in Northstowe and plan to install them on our East Leeds extension site. This is part of our commitment to install bird boxes on every new site.
- Our Royal Parade scheme near Canterbury, includes an 11-acre Legacy Park. This has a number of paths and trails, all surrounded by natural habitats designed specifically for wildlife, such as dormice and other indigenous species.
- At our site in Stepps, West Scotland, we improved local marshland, with the creation of new ponds and channels and refuge areas for amphibians, as well as bird and bat boxes and a new butterfly meadow and bare ground areas. Two nature trails were added to encourage residents to get out and enjoy the natural environment. The site also includes amphibian tunnels under the new roads, enabling frogs, toads and newts to migrate safely from the marshland to the neighbouring loch.
- At our Chase site, in partnership with the Wildlife Trust, we developed a comprehensive landscape strategy to enhance its nature conservation value.
- At our Harts Mead site, all existing trees have been retained and bird boxes, bat boxes, hedgehog houses and bug hotels installed. The site includes a ‘Nature Ark’, a multi-habitat unit designed to accelerate habitat growth and benefit butterflies, bees, hedgehogs and invertebrates.
Read more
We participated in the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) Forum and prepared our first disclosure against the TNFD recommendations in our Sustainability Summary. We are developing our understanding of our value chain nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities focusing on the drivers of nature change identified in the TNFD LEAP methodology and those impacts identified through our materiality process. We will build on our reporting in this area over the next few years.
