HOUSEBUILDER POISED TO PROVIDE NEST-BRICK BOOST FOR BRITAIN'S UNDER-PRESSURE SWIFTS

The swift - a species that has been in steady decline

A BRIGHTER future could beckon for the UK's swifts thanks to an ongoing initiative by housebuilder Barratt Developments.

The Daily Telegraph is today reporting that the company will be installing special swift-nesting bricks "in all the houses it builds in ten of Britain's largest towns and cities".

Today's Telegraph report

This should boost numbers for a fast-flying migrant species that has declined substantially over the past 30 years because of lost nesting habitat.

Barratts has already set a precedent by installing similar bricks in one of its developments in Oxfordshire.

The locations where swifts are set to benefit are: Birmingham, Bournemouth, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Ipswich, Manchester, Newcastle and Oxford.

Housebuilders have an unenviable reputation for taking much more out of nature than they put back, but could this be set to change/?

It is hoped that other large housebuilders such as Bellway, Bovis, Galliford, Persimmon and Taylor Wimpey might be prompted to follow the example of Barratts.

Swifts - part of the summer skyscape