CD Hood, commercial builders Cambridge, are pleased to see that the building industry is becoming more sustainable, according to the NextGeneration benchmark, which is the only assessment of its kind that ranks the top 25 home builders on sustainability. Among the most sustainable home builders are the Berkeley Group, and Crest Nicholson, who have maintained last year’s second position. 

The assessment is carried out over a six months period, and for those developers responsible for constructing over 50% of new homes in the UK each year with a combined construction value of £5 billion.

 ‘This year’s results demonstrate that an elite group of nine home builders are driving best practice in sustainability in the sector. This is the sixth year the benchmark has been undertaken and the improvement in performance from the first benchmark in 2006 is remarkable, with companies battling to outperform each other across 50 different categories and achieving an average improvement of around 10% since 2006,’ said Philip Hirst from NextGeneration.

‘At a time where government is reviewing much of the key legislation that governs sustainability in home building, NextGeneration members provide a beacon of how the private sector can collaborate to deliver sustainability performance beyond legislative requirements,’ he added.
 
C D Hood commercial builders in and around Cambridge are always striving to use sustainable materials for our building projects.

As reputable Cambridgeshire commercial builders CD Hood Ltd take a keen interest in planning issues.  Recently Paul Sutton, Cheffins’ head of planning has been raising the debate  about the  planning policy reforms announced at the beginning of September, saying they are big on concept but short on detail. He said: “We had expected some fleshing out of the new National Planning Policy Framework but, instead, we have several broad proposals which are targeted at using the development industry as an engine of economic growth.” Most media attention has been focused on a proposal to allow homeowners to build bigger extensions – but this is of benefit mainly to jobbing builders rather than a major economic driver.

Although the Prime Minister has stressed that he is determined to “cut through the bureaucracy” holding back economic growth, Sutton believes it may be some time before there is any real economic impact from these proposals because new legislation will be required to implement them “Currently, it is sometimes possible to negotiate over the level of affordable housing on a site, or to apply for a change of use from business (B1) use into flats. But for the most part, until the details of the new proposals are more clearly defined, it is a matter of wait and see.

Sutton said: “Although we believe these measures are the start of a prolonged Government initiative to speed up planning decisions, the big question is when will they come into effect?

We are feeling in a spring mood at CD Hood Ltd so we have decided to give away £50 worth of vouchers to one lucky Facebook follower. To enter all you need to do is to LIKE and Share our Facebook offer with your friends, and we will choose at random one lucky winner. *T's and C's do apply.

T's and C's:

*1. Just LIKE, share our offer to enter, you must be able to accept direct FB messages so we can let you know if you have won. 2. UK residents over 18 only, unless a consenting adult enters for a minor. 3. There is 1 prize, a £50 Argos voucher.4. Entrants accept this terms and conditions when entering. The prize is non-transferable. The judge’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. No cash alternative will be offered. 4. The winners will be notified on Facebook by the 28th May 2012. The winner must be willing to have their name and address published and may be required to take part in any post-event publicity. 5. The name of the winner will be made available on www.facebook.com/cdhoodltd and www.cdhood.co.uk 10. Personal data supplied by the competition entrant may be used by CD Hood Ltd. Entry to the competition is deemed acceptance of these rules.