About The Housing Design Awards

About The Awards

The only awards that join the major built environment professions – RICS, RIBA and RTPI – with DLUHC, GLA, Homes England and major stakeholders, such as NHBC, in finding the best new places to live.

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 DLUHC 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.

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About The Awards

Awarding Development Projects Since 1945

Longest Running Awards

The Housing Design Awards was given a mission back in 1948 which continues today: to raise quality with information. No other awards programme offers 100s of detailed case studies and films unpacking what works well. In fact, many don’t even tell you why a winner won.

1000+

Projects

200+

Awards handed out

24+

Multidisciplinary Judges

Commercial Partner

"VELUX was founded on a similar principle to these awards – to create healthier indoor climates to improve the health of occupants – and so it is a great privilege to join with the Awards in partnership."

Throughout our 75-year history, our passion has been bringing healthy indoor environments using daylight and fresh air, and at the heart of this are homes which are well designed with the end-user in mind. These awards promote all that is good about housing design."

Neil Freshwater, VELUX.