Case study: Partnering to innovate in housing

Today, around 40% of UK emissions are attributable to the built environment. Considering this, we’re taking steps to help make the nation’s homes more efficient and resilient.

In January 2025, we teamed up with three innovative development partners – TOWN, gs8 and igloo Regeneration – to help advance cutting-edge solutions that enable more sustainable housing and drive progress across the sector. Together, we will develop three demonstration projects – with 200 homes – across Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Cheshire to trial solutions to issues such as housing sustainability, affordability and design innovation.

With sustainability a key focus of the demonstrations, each project will pursue targets to achieve upfront carbon levels of less than 300kg CO2/m2, operational energy use intensity of 35kWh/m2/year and a minimum 15% biodiversity net gain.

Our hope is that, by achieving these targets and uncovering smart solutions, we can create a scalable blueprint for the wider industry to help build quality, energy-efficient housing for people across the UK.