Longest Running Awards
Launched by Nye Bevan in 1948 in the same sitting of Parliament as the NHS to identify the best ideas among councils’ post-war rebuild, then opened up to market sale homes in 1960 by Harold Macmillan.
For decades entry to the awards has been made in a detailed but standardised format including key facts such as tenure mix and parking allocation. This is the backbone of the most detailed database of its kind in the country, long relied upon by government departments and agencies. This resource is now freely available to anyone seeking inspiration or information about the best of new residential development. This database is a phased release of each year’s shortlisted or winning schemes, thanks to support from MHCLG and paid interns at Newcastle University’s School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape. Shortlisted schemes from 2017 to 2023 are now searchable, with previous years to be added during early 2024.
Homes England use the Housing Design Awards to raise quality in its delivery programmes. It supports a number of special awards each year, including a Masterplanning Award to identify how to deliver higher quality places at pace. Homes England has 2 judges on the panel and uses the awards to train its staff about routes for delivering quality and learn more about which developers and consultants create the best new communities.
Other key client agencies, notably GLA and Ebbsfleet Development Corporation similarly use their participation in the awards scheme to find out where the good schemes are, and who is behind them.
