NextGeneration Initiative declares Latimer the UK's most sustainable not-for-profit housebuilder on Benchmark for second year
Latimer, the development arm of Clarion Housing Group, continues to be the most sustainable not-for-profit housebuilder in the country, according to the NextGeneration Benchmark, achieving a Gold Award.
The ‘NextGeneration’ initiative, which is the sustainability benchmark for the UK’s housebuilding sector, assesses the social, economic and environmental performance of the top 25 developers of new homes. It also sets out best practice and seeks to drive change in the industry. Latimer has been a member of the benchmark since 2021.
Latimer has been named joint third among all housebuilders in the 2023 report and has achieved a Gold Award for its continued commitment to driving sustainability in affordable house building.
The report shows that as well as being the highest-ranked housing association developer for the year, Latimer increased its overall score by an impressive 11 points, moving from a Silver Award last year to Gold this year, due to its sustainability strategy which drives the socio-economic development and design standards for its recent projects.
Latimer built 2,032 new homes last year, of which 78% were for affordable tenures. It is currently delivering sustainable and mixed-tenure new communities at a number of projects in regions across England. These include delivering 30% of new homes using Modern Methods of Construction and 20% of new homes being heated without the use of fossil fuels, in line with a target for all new homes to be fossil fuel-free by 2025.
Richard Cook, Group Director of Development at Clarion Housing Group, said:
"I am very proud of the Latimer team. It’s an honour to be declared the most sustainable not-for-profit housebuilder in the country, and testament to the hard work of all my colleagues.
Our vision as an organisation is to build mixed communities and make a long-term difference to the people who live in our homes. This is what we’re doing across the country, and it’s humbling to earn such recognition for our focus on sustainability from our peers.”
Iona Deacon, Associate at JLL, said:
"This year, Latimer received their first Gold Award in just their third year as members of the NextGeneration Benchmark. This achievement, alongside maintaining their 3rd place ranking on the Benchmark from 2022, serves as a testament to Latimer's continued commitment to addressing the climate crisis while delivering much needed homes for people.”
Clarion Housing Group was the first UK affordable housing provider to adopt the pan-European Certified Sustainable Housing Label in 2019, and has since published a yearly Making a Difference report setting out its performance against a range of measures.