We work with Government agencies and private landowners to identify and bring forward land for development, often improving the environmental condition of the land in the process. We work with suppliers to help them bring forward the new technologies that we need to meet increasingly challenging building standards and with subcontractors to help them improve their environmental and safety standards.

We aim to create communities where people aspire to live and we can only achieve this by working with existing communities. We engage in dialogue with local people and local authorities in order to address any impact that our developments may have on the local environment and infrastructure. We regularly hold public exhibitions for our developments where we invite the community and local authority to talk to our specialist planners and architects about their concerns and aspirations for developments.

Barratt has always been concerned with housing affordability issues and has worked closely with financial institutions and Government for a number of years to improve access to mortgage funding for customers. As a result we are currently working with a number of partners to help people onto and up the housing ladder.

In 2010 we set out to introduce best practice guidance for community consultation to achieve an effective and consistent approach to pre-planning consultation. We have recently launched ‘Barratt Consult’ best practice guidance to strengthen our internal processes so that we keep communicating and engaging with local communities throughout the life of our developments and beyond.

We also set out last year to carry out a consultation with key local government stakeholders across the country to understand how they rate our organisation and their relationship with us. We achieved this target in August 2010 when Ipsos MORI reputation centre undertook a survey of local authority stakeholders on our behalf. The results of this survey are being analysed for incorporation for future consultations.

This has allowed us to gain an invaluable insight into the requirements of these partners and how to deliver both their goals as well as viable and sustainable schemes.

Our team for many partnership developments combines the internal skills and resources of our local housebuilding division with specialist urban regeneration expertise from Barratt Urban Regeneration and commercial development expertise from Wilson Bowden Developments. Through this collaboration we can also demonstrate an enviable record of delivering high quality developments and specialist public sector projects. This approach enables us to build great schemes, work closely with the partners and local people and harness the wider community and economic benefits of developments, for example, by generating local employment and apprenticeships.

The Delivery Partner Panels are working with the HCA to develop its substantial land holdings over the next three years. Barratt is one of only two major housebuilders appointed to all three panels.

We have made a good start to our work on the panels and have secured three major developments:

• North Prospect, Plymouth – estate redevelopment and refurbishment (240 units).
• Park Prewett Northern Area, Basingstoke – greenfield site development (300 units).
• Charter Road, Newcastle Under Lyme, Staffs – estate redevelopment (116 units).

During the year we have also started work on other key HCA sites at Silverdale Colliery and Lambton Cokeworks.

We deliver the full range of residential and commercial developments directly and in partnership with other developers. Our key principle is to adopt a flexible approach, so that we tailor the development structure to the circumstances of each development and the partners involved.

Barratt is operating a number of developments in joint ventures that are specifically designed to satisfy the balance of the landowner’s aspirations whether they are quality, value creation, legacy, local employment or a combination of these. Joint ventures can be tailored to suit the landowner’s appetite for risk and reward. Essentially the agreed value of the land and the developer’s margin proportionally can be adjusted to reflect the expected risks of sales revenues and development costs.

Through Kickstart Investment Support, the HCA invested up to £15m of equity funding into eight schemes. This gave the HCA typically a 30%–40% equity stake in each scheme and an entitlement to a share of the profit or loss that the scheme generates.

As a development partner for the National Affordable Housing Programme (‘NAHP’), we have been given direct grant funding which allows us the flexibility to use the funding in the most efficient way. For example, at Heritage Park, Silverdale, the NAHP grant was used to maximise the efficient use of resources, to assist cash flow and drive down finance costs.

During the year ending 30 June 2011 the Group made charitable donations of £45,700 (2010: £36,100).

Developments by Barratt East London and David Wilson Homes South Midlands won coveted Building for Life Awards in 2010, recognising our commitment to good design and place-making. They were two of only ten schemes across the country considered outstanding enough to achieve the accolade. Our winners were:

• St Andrew’s, Bromley-by-Bow, London: a major scheme close to the 2012 Olympic venue. Judges reported: “Attention to detail, inventive use of brick, and a creative approach to massing result in a scheme that integrates well into the local area.”
• Fairfield Park, Stotfold, Bedfordshire: a multi-developer scheme creating 1,200 homes in the mature grounds of a listed former hospital. It was praised for its “unique character”.

The competition awards Gold, Silver and Bronze standards to developments following assessment under the five headings of: character; environment and community; design and construction; street parking and pedestrians; and attention to detail. There are categories for standard, non-standard and multi-storey schemes. The best scheme in each category receives a national award.

Following the success of the annual competition, Q17 plays a central role in our planning application process. All new schemes are now assessed against Q17 and prior to submission for planning they must demonstrate that they will meet Bronze standard as a very minimum.

We have also introduced Q17 champions in each or our divisions. It is the Q17 champions’ role to organise site assessments and promote the benefits of Q17.

The national winners of the Q17 competition 2010 are listed below:

1. High Royds, Menston – Barratt David Wilson Homes Yorkshire West – Standard Category

This award was for great place-making, exploiting the existing former hospital building to set out a distinct character for the new development. The design

has a simple but effective material palette respecting its local context. Some design elements reflect the hospital building, while newer contemporary features add

a modern touch. Another feature was the well-structured layout with overlooked streets to improve security, good use of feature buildings and excellent attention to detail.

2. The Fairways, Biddenham Vale, Bedford, Great Denham, Phase 1 –

David Wilson Homes South Midlands – Non-Standard Category

The strict design code for the scheme has led to a design which has a very strong character reflecting local architectural form. The design creates a well-structured layout, with public spaces and streets defined by continuous frontage featuring recognisable architectural elements from the surrounding area.

The scheme also features views over the neighbouring golf course. The materials work well together to support the design concept.

3. Great West Quarter, Brentford – Barratt Homes West London –

Multi-Storey Category

This major redevelopment comprises apartments, public squares, a new transport hub, shopping facilities, and local employment opportunities, all within the shadow of the retained historic Art Deco buildings formerly occupied by Glaxo-Smith-Kline. The scheme has a well-structured street pattern with links to the surrounding area, and good overlooking of the streets and spaces. Distinct modern architectural design style and a controlled material palette create a striking environment, which sets a high standard and complements the historic feature building.