Building for a healthy life.
At Hopkins Homes, we believe a healthy place to live begins beyond the front door. That’s why we carefully consider how each development works as a whole, from the way it responds to the local landscape to its green spaces, walking and cycling routes, streets, parking and places where neighbours can meet.
Our commitment is already being independently recognised. Some of our developments have completed the Building for a Healthy Life assessment process and received a Commendation, with further sites progressing through assessment. Every future Hopkins Homes development will also enter the process from the planning stage, helping us create welcoming, well-connected neighbourhoods that are designed to thrive for years to come.
What is Building for a Healthy Life?
Building for a Healthy Life is England's most widely used independent design assessment for new residential developments. Endorsed by Homes England, it evaluates how well a development performs against 12 key measures that contribute to creating successful places to live.
The assessment looks beyond individual homes and considers the wider neighbourhood, including:
- How easy it is to walk, cycle and move around the community
- Access to green spaces and local facilities
- The quality and character of streets and public spaces
- How well new homes fit into their surroundings
- Opportunities for nature and biodiversity
- The overall experience of living in the development
Independent assessors review each scheme against these criteria, providing an objective measure of design quality.
What it means to build for a healthy life...
1
Nature links
Routes that connect people, places and wildlife
2
Active travel
Walking and cycling made easy
3
Community spaces
Places to meet, pause and enjoy
4
Inclusive homes
A range of homes for different needs
5
Local landscape
Designed around existing trees and landscape
6
Character
A distinctive place with village character
7
Streets & spaces
Attractive streets with clear frontages
8
Wayfinding
Simple streets that are easy to navigate
9
Healthy streets
Green, people-friendly streets
10
Parking
Cycle and car parking carefully planned
11
Green & blue spaces
Open space, play, drainage and nature combined
12
Fronts of homes
Welcoming homes with clear public and private spaces
Our building for a healthy life developments
Bramford, Suffolk
Church View, Bramford
Wixams, Bedfordshire
Hopkins Homes at Wixams
Halesworth, Suffolk
Chediston Place, Halesworth
Why is it important?
Buying a home is about more than choosing the right property. It's about choosing a place to build your life.
A well-designed neighbourhood can make everyday life easier and more enjoyable. Thoughtful street layouts encourage walking and cycling, attractive open spaces provide places to relax and play, and strong connections to surrounding communities help create a genuine sense of belonging.
Building for a Healthy Life helps ensure these factors are considered from the earliest stages of design.
For our customers, it provides confidence that the development has been independently assessed against recognised national standards for placemaking and design quality.
Raising the Standard Across Every Development
By committing every future Hopkins Homes development to Building for a Healthy Life from the planning stage, we're embedding these principles into the way we design communities from day one.
As Graeme Smith, Group Innovation & Design Director at untypical, explains:
"Building for a Healthy Life is one of the most rigorous independent measures of design quality available to the housebuilding sector. Committing every site to this standard is not a marketing exercise – it is a statement about the kind of housebuilder we intend to be."
Looking Ahead
For future homeowners, this commitment means greater confidence that Hopkins Homes developments are being designed with long-term quality, sustainability and wellbeing in mind.
It's part of our ongoing ambition to create places that not only look beautiful on day one, but continue to thrive for generations to come.
As every new Hopkins Homes development enters the Building for a Healthy Life assessment process, we're reinforcing our commitment to delivering thoughtfully designed homes and neighbourhoods that people are proud to call home.