Crest Nicholson develops sustainable community in Street
According to the latest NextGeneration benchmark survey, the UK’s housebuilders are responding well to the Government’s ‘Big Society’ sustainable community objectives.
In particular, Crest Nicholson, which is currently delivering a mix of apartments and houses of both two and three storeys at the ICON development in Street, has for the third year running emerged as one of the leaders at the top of the annual rankings.
NextGeneration is an independent review that aims to drive best practice by encouraging the residential sector to embrace more sustainable design and delivery. The benchmarking process puts Crest Nicholson, along with the rest of the UK’s top 25 home builders, under the spotlight of the Homes and Communities Agency and WWF-UK to review the sector’s progress in creating sustainable communities.
Over the last few years housebuilders have focused on the environmental issues associated with sustainability, such as energy and carbon reduction, however developers also play a vital role in creating sustainable communities, both within the developments they create and within the wider community. It is against this backdrop that the 2010 benchmark has focused on sustainable communities, a concept that recognises the wider role of social and economic issues in delivering sustainable development.
In this year’s NextGeneration survey Crest Nicholson was commended for its focus on creating integrated and cohesive public environments, with the provision of open space and community facilities serving to instil a wider sense of social and community engagement within a development.
This is a principle that has been firmly applied at ICON, which has been designed to encourage residents to take an interest in sustainability and the environment. The development features several open public spaces throughout the site to encourage community integration, including formal avenues, wild areas, a village green, landscaped zones, ponds and reedbeds, with many residents enjoying the views from their homes, in addition to their own private gardens.
Chief Executive of Crest Nicholson, Stephen Stone, said: “Creating integrated and sustainable communities forms a core part of our business strategy, and we place a great deal of emphasis on the role that urban planning plays in encouraging a genuinely sustainable community to emerge within any new development. Community cohesion and quality of environment are both factors that purchasers are increasingly taking into account, and the fact that we have recently achieved an outstanding average customer satisfaction score of 90% is testament to the way in which we have responded to that demand, not only in building quality new homes, but in creating an environment in which people genuinely want to live.”
Laura Osborne, Sales Manager for Crest Nicholson, added: “Purchasers are looking for new homes that tick every box, and quality of design, sensitive integration and management of public realm are all essential considerations in terms of creating a place where people want to live. In this respect, ICON is proving to be a particularly popular option, with more than 80% of the development already sold, and the community ethos that is emerging here has been a significant factor in terms of attracting new buyers.”
ICON consists of 108 one, two, three and four-bedroom homes. Prices start from £104,950 for a one bedroom Nouveau apartment and range to £269,950 for the four bedroom Alberti. For more information please visit the on-site Sales and Marketing Suite between 10:00am and 5:00pm.
