The gold standard

With so much new housing flowing onto the market, it is not always easy to tell the good from the bad and the ugly. To help buyers make up their minds and encourage housebuilders to construct better homes, a new awards scheme, Building For Life, has been launched.

Its awards will be made every six months, and the first winners have now been announced. The scheme is an initiative from the Government's Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE), in association with the House Builders Federation and campaigners including The Civic Trust.

"In so many areas of life, from buying cars to buying food, we are offered plenty of choice, but when it comes to new housing, all too often - unless you are very rich - the choice is missing," says design guru Wayne Hemingway, chairman of the Building For Life judging panel.

"When demand is so strong, housebuilders don't have to work hard to build better quality, but we are hoping to change that and encourage better building and therefore a better environment. Research has shown that only 30 per cent of us would consider buying a new home, so something has to be done to offer more to appeal to the other 70 per cent."

The awards scheme judges assess:

Quality of layout

Landscaping

Amenities: footpaths, cycle routes and access to bus routes

Overall property design

Room sizes

Natural light

Community feel

The judges' job is to get a feel for the properties, look at the plans and materials, make visits and imagine what it might be like to live there.

Seven Gold and seven Silver CABE awards have been made to projects around the country. The first recipient was Copthorn Homes for its Abode development, designed by Proctor Matthews Architects as part of Harlow's Newhall residential scheme for 2,800 homes.

The award, presented by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, was made jointly to Copthorn and Newhall's landowners, Jon and William Moen. Features of the scheme include the use of brick, timber, slate and thatch, interiors filled with sunlight, low energy running costs and excellent landscaping.

"It is a fantastic accolade, and an honour to be recognised as symbolising best practice in the industry," says Neil Armstrong, marketing director of Copthorn. "Because this was a prototype, the project did cost slightly more than we anticipated. But we have seen a huge amount of interest from potential buyers. We have just two homes, out of a total of 82, left to sell."

Armstrong adds that news of the award is already having an impact in the industry, with a stream of housebuilders looking at the project. He does, however, have one concern about the awards. "Because they are new, they don't yet mean anything to the consumer. It has to be made clear exactly what Building For Life means."

In response, Hemingway says: "The idea behind the scheme is to encourage better-quality design and building, as well as helping buyers to demand better homes."