Girls in garden

Sustainability

Scroll down

At Gleeson, sustainability means meeting the needs of the present without compromising future generations. Sustainability is at the heart of our business, and our approach is based on our relationships with communities, people and the environment.

Communities

We want to create attractive, affordable places for young, first time buyers to live, creating sustainable communities that are here in years to come.

Read more

People

We are committed to ensuring all employees and subcontractors will be treated fairly, kept safe and be paid a fair wage.

Read more

Environment

We take all reasonable measures to conduct our business in a way that minimises our impact on the environment and enhances the land we develop.

Read more



Our Sustainability Targets for this year

Watch our Sustainability Story

Sustainability in action: customer case studies

Our Customer Case studies

Our case studies tell the stories of just a handful of our fantastic customers, explaining their homeownership journeys and how Gleeson has changed their lives, helping them secure their futures.

Read more

UN SDGs

Our business supports six UN Sustainable Development Goals ("SDGs") through its activities:

Read more

Wildlife in your garden

 

100% of developments will incorporate hedgehog highways
(unless specifically advised against by
an ecologist due to busy roads or other mitigating factors).

 

 

We not only try to retain features that are of value to amphibians and reptiles – such as  hedgerows and ponds, we also provide new habitat in the form of new grassland and additional SuDs or ponds. 

 

100% of developments will incorporate planting beneficial
for wildlife with a focus on pollinators including;
• Planting regime, including wildflowers to provide year-round food and protection
• Planting regime to provide food for both nocturnal and diurnal species

30% of homes across all  developments will incorporate either a long lasting bird or bat box.

 

We are delighted to have partnered with Buglife.org to ensure the work we are doing is meaningful, consistent and beneficial to nature and biodiversity.

 

All customers will be receiving wildflower seed packs and a bug hotel within their welcome packs.

Communities, People and Environment

Our sustainable business strategy is built around our relationship with Communities, People and the Environment.

£186,200
vs £273,000 Other housebuilders
Average New Build selling price in
the North of England and East Midlands

87%
Employee Engagement
Top quartile for employee engagement
across all UK companies

2.09tCOe

Scope 1 and 2 Emissions per home sold

Strategy

Our sustainable business strategy incorporates the Group’s strategic objective for growth, together with the environmental, social and economic priorities that are most important to the Group.

Objectives

Increase the number of new homes built and extend our geographical reach.

Targets

To build 2,000 new homes per year by 2022.

Progress

We have a robust platform for continued growth with a strengthened regional management structure. Our site opening plan underpins future growth. We are on track to deliver 2,000 units in the next financial year, achieving our 5-year target to double volume.

Link to UN SDGs

UN SDG 11 – By increasing the number of new homes built we are able to provide access to safe, affordable homes for more people who need them.

UN SDG 8 – As our business grows, we will provide investment, job opportunities, training and skills to more people including apprentices.

Objectives

Build high-quality, energy-efficient homes to the specification that our customers require.

Targets

To be a 5-star housebuilder on all our development sites.

Progress

Our customer recommendation score is 90.6%. This meets our target and puts us in line with the Home Builders Federation five-star rating.

Link to UN SDGs

UN SDG 11 – Our mission is to build high quality homes that provide safe and affordable housing to the people who need them most.

Objectives

Keep our homes affordable through managing build costs, sourcing responsibly and building efficiently, utilising local suppliers and subcontractors where possible.

Targets

To ensure that a couple in full-time employment
on the National Living Wage can afford to buy a home on every one of our development sites.

Progress

A couple working full time on the government National Living Wage can afford a home on 100% of our active sales sites.

Link to UN SDGs

UN SDG 11 – The cost of buying a Gleeson home is less than renting for most buyers and can be as low as £59 per week. This supports target 1 of UN SDG 11 by providing access to
affordable housing.

Objectives

Protect the environment and reduce carbon emissions for the homes that we build and sell.

Targets

To reduce our scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by 30% to less than 1.75 tonnes per home within three years (2020: base year).

Progress

Our scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions per home sold reduced by 18% in the year.

This year we have published our scope 3 emissions and intend to set a target to reduce
these per home sold.

We have established new sustainability policies for Climate and the Environment, Procurement, Packaging, Timber and Waste Management.


98% of our construction waste is currently diverted from landfill.

Link to UN SDGs

UN SDG 13 – We set targets tonreduce carbon emissions per home sold.


UN SDG 12 – We have committed to increasing the proportion of waste diverted from landfill. We have further initiatives to reduce our impact
on the environment, including fuel and water usage, that are currently being developed.

Objectives

“Safety first, always”.


Everyone who is involved with, or affected by, our business remains free from harm and returns home safe every day.

To attract, retain and develop employees who
share the values, culture and objectives of the Group.

Targets

To reduce our health and safety incident rates (“AIIR”) to lower than the industry average.

To maintain our employee engagement score in the upper quartile of all surveyed companies.

Progress

Our AIIR rate for the year to 30 June 2021 was 556 versus the industry average of 264. We have not met our target this year, see page 42 for more details.

In our latest engagement survey we scored 89% which puts us in the top quartile of all companies from an independent survey.

Link to UN SDGs

UN SDG 8 – Our HomeSafe approach reflects our belief that everyone who is involved in, or affected by, our development work has the right to remain free from harm and return home safe every day.

UN SDG 5 – We are committed to ensuring that all of our employees are treated fairly and equitably.

Objectives

To sustainably grow our land pipeline, sourcing
land in areas that are in need of regeneration where homes can be built for sale at low cost.

Targets

To acquire land at an average cost per plot below 15% of expected selling price in order to keep our homes affordable, targeting land in areas of deprivation and in need of regeneration

Progress

64% of our active build sites are on brownfield land, with four out of five in the most economic deprived areas in England. We often choose sites which are not viable for other housebuilders.

Link to UN SDGs

UN SDG 15 – Our developments are located in
areas where there is a need for regeneration; typically brownfield sites that would otherwise remain derelict or unused. We invest in our sites, creating attractive and well-planned developments with green space and biodiversity.

Objectives

To source high-quality sites that are well located to deliver attractive residential planning consents for sustainable development.

Targets

To obtain more planning permissions in each financial year than sites sold.

Progress

We acquired a further ten sites this year with the portfolio increasing by a net three sites. The total portfolio is 71 sites, with six having the benefit of planning consent or resolution to grant.

Link to UN SDGs

UN SDG 15 – Gleeson Land invests in its portfolio and works closely with landowners, land agents, local authorities and communities to secure residential planning consents that are sustainable and sensitive to local ecology.

Read more

Disclosures

TCFD Disclosures

Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures

The Financial Stability Board created the Task Force on Climate related Financial Disclosures (“TCFD”) to improve and increase reporting of climate-related financial information. Responding to the TCFD requirements, we aim to increase our disclosures in line with its recommendations.

Read more

SASB Disclosures

The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board ("SASB") have developed a complete set of globally applicable industry-specific Standards which identify the minimal set of financially material sustainability topics and their associated metrics for the typical company in an industry. 

 

Read more

Our Gleeson business model focuses on creating and enhancing social value into the communities in which we operate. The detail of how we embed the focus of social value into our day-to-day operations are outlined in our sustainability policy which are further supported by a number of other policies focusing on our three key areas of Communities, Environment and People. These policies are reviewed on a regular basis and signed off by the Board of Directors.

All Policies

 

Materiality

Our most material sustainability issues are:

Build quality

Affordability

Health and safety

Land

Carbon emissions