Legal & General Homes is to be the UK’s first housebuilder to try and measure the social impact and value of its developments through a social value charter.
In partnership with the Social Value Portal, it is looking at how much social value it can create for the community at Buckler’s Park in Crowthorne, its 250-acre development site in Berkshire.
L&G has created a social value charter that will monitor and communicate how much value its development produces.
It said the charter is a long-term, up-front public commitment by a development investor to deliver positive community impact to the future population.
It is measured in a total social value number in monetary terms and by specifying the assets being created for the community’s benefit.
It comes on top of what development investors have to do through Section 106 and planning obligations.
James Lidgate, Legal & General Homes chief executive, said: “We have started to look at how our housing developments can support the local economy and community around an asset over the long term.
“This is exactly what we are doing in Crowthorne, where we are creating a socially useful development that will contribute to the local economy and create the best possible environment for our residents.”
L&G said the charter allowed it to identify the challenges and opportunities for the community Crowthorne and how its development could help.
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