The NextGeneration initiative, which benchmarks the sustainability performance of the UK’s largest homebuilders, has selected Redrow to receive the 2019 NextGeneration Innovation Award. This is awarded to a homebuilder that has demonstrated initiatives that go far beyond the criteria used for the benchmark. This award builds on our success in 2018 where we won gold for the third year in a row in the NextGeneration Benchmark.
We have secured this prestigious award in recognition of our commitment to supporting healthy communities by developing a unique social value calculator.
Created in partnership with research consultancy Simetrica, our social value calculator’s assessment methods are consistent with the guidance advocated in HM Treasury’s Green Book on quantifying the social impact of its policies.
The innovative calculator presents a monetary value against individual outcomes over a 25-year period, the typical length of a mortgage. For example, the tool calculated that over 25 years, 1 hectare of green space could contribute £9.7 million of social value, while having a pub, bar or restaurant in close proximity to a development can generate around £1.9 million.
As the first developer to carry out research on the social value associated with multiple aspects of home building and community creation, our ground-breaking work ensures we have a clearer, more holistic perspective on the impact of the placemaking decisions. It also allows us to take a more strategic approach to design and community planning and further our knowledge and perspective on the features and characteristics of a new development which are most likely to make people happier and healthier.
The research findings derived from our social value calculator could also be drawn upon in the formulation of an industry wide framework to provide consistency in the measurement of social value in new developments across the UK.
Will Heath, Group Development Director at Redrow, comments: “At Redrow we are dedicated to providing our customers with a better way to live. That means more than just building great homes; it extends to the places and communities we create too. We have always known instinctively that customers valued these features but lacked a way of quantifying their benefits. This is why we developed our social value calculator and are today thrilled to see it recognised so highly by NextGeneration.
“The introduction of the calculator has already enabled us to have more informed conversations with local authorities and planning teams about our homes and investment in community focused infrastructure and we are excited to see how these recommendations further improve people’s wellbeing going forward.”
NextGeneration’s Executive Committee comments: “The NextGeneration Executive Committee is impressed by the ambitious scope and scale of the project submitted by Redrow for the Innovation Award. The Social Value Calculator offers a robust, academic, industry leading tool which focuses on a part of sustainability we recognise is of growing importance in the homebuilding sector. By developing this tool, Redrow not only promotes positive change on a large scale across their own business but also to the wider industry.”
We work closely with communities to base our designs around what is important locally, creating attractive places to live which encourage healthier lifestyles and instil a strong sense of community spirit. In 2018 we committed £184 million to improving local communities, which included the provision of facilities to support education, health, and transport.
To ensure we place a strong emphasis on creating thriving communities across all of our developments across England and Wales, we have also created our own set of measureable placemaking principles to adhere to, which includes creating safe, attractive and friendly streets.
For further information on our eight placemaking principles, visit https://www.redrowplc.co.uk/sustainability/thriving-communities/
