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30 October 2007
Countryside Properties has been ranked as the leading privately owned housebuilder with regard to its sustainability practices and reporting.
The UK's top 20 housebuilders have been ranked according to their sustainability practice and reporting in a new report entitled 'Building a Sustainable Future' published today by NextGeneration.
The NextGeneration initiative brings together the UK's top home builders with three key stakeholders: a major investor in the sector (Insight Investment - a part of HBOS), a well-respected non-governmental organisation (WWF-UK) and the public sector funder of affordable housing (The Housing Corporation). The report included the analysis of publicly available information and meetings with the companies.
Countryside Properties was praised for having very extensive publicly available information covering environmental, social and economic impacts, and scored above average in all three sections. It also had the overall best performance in the Strategy, Governance and Risk Management section.
Alan Cherry CBE DL, Chairman of Countryside Properties, says: "We recognise that innovative responsible development creates added value and is fundamental to our future. We are therefore very pleased with the results of this report. With the Group's track record and skills we believe we are well placed to meet the challenge of sustainability and the significant opportunities that exist for developers with the appropriate abilities. Businesses and industry now have a great responsibility to reduce carbon emissions and we have already taken important steps to ensure we are able to meet the Government's target of building zero carbon homes by 2016."
The assessment criterion reflects the significant changes in sustainability requirements for developers over recent months. These include, for example, the introduction of the Code for Sustainable Homes, the introduction of new water efficiency standards and changes in regulatory requirements for waste management.
The report shows that these 20 home builders, who are responsible for building more than half of all new homes in the UK last year, have recognised the importance of sustainability and are getting to grips with the challenge of making all new homes zero-carbon by 2016.
Further details of Countryside Properties' sustainability performance can be accessed at www.countryside-properties-corporate.com/ese
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Information correct as at 30/10/2007