Building Research Establishment

[Paul Dubery]

I recently contacted the above organisation to see if they were aware of, or had a position on, swift bricks in the hope they were valuable influences in the industry. This the rather disappointing response I received.......


"Hi Paul. Thanks for getting in touch. We generally don't promote the use of a single solution, as this may not end up being the best outcome in all situations. Most projects that use BREEAM will appoint an ecologist and the project is awarded credits for implementing the measures proposed by an ecologist that enhance the site's ecology. These could include swift boxes or similar if the ecologist felt they were appropriate for the site. Hope that answers your question."

Paul

Sent via BT Email App

[Cally Smith Huntly & District Swift Group]

Very disappointing.  The knowledge gap on swifts needs and habits is enormous and there seem to be more organisations with no clue or care.  How on earth do we address this, it seems almost impossible sometimes.

Cally

[Alistair]

Doesn’t surprise me we just have to keep on banging on!

I’ve commented on 2 applications recently and in both cases sparrow boxes were specified by an ecologist despite in one case it being in the area of the local swifts with vesper flights carried out above the defunct pub and in the other the ecologist couldn’t have missed my 10 white boxes on the my house cable…

Also just sent a suggestion to the local town council asking if they could put a generic statement such as the one below when commenting on planning applications rather than no comment….

Kingsteignton Council wants the local environment enhanced for wildlife by new developments and supports measures such as the preference of the use of UK native plant species in development planting plans, the installation of integral swift nest boxes (also known as a universal nest box) as in British Standard BS 42021:2022 as they can be used by four red listed species (swift, house martin, house sparrow and tree sparrow) as well as unlisted species and the creation of hedgehog highways in property boundaries.   

How do we get to talk to the ecologists or the housing associations that employ them or again the architects?  NHBS has a good little blog which people can see when they visit their website…..

Perhaps  a petition should be started to campaign to promote a single solution…

Alistair

KIngsteignton Swifts 

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[Nick Bentham-Green]

If it's an MOD site, then please send me the details , as I do still have some contacts within MOD Conservation.

Nick

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From: swiftsloc...@googlegroups.com <swiftsloc...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Alistair <alis...@alofanglia.plus.com>
Sent: Wednesday, October 1, 2025 9:21:47 PM
To: swiftsloc...@googlegroups.com <swiftsloc...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [SLN] Building Research Establishment

 

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[Cally Smith Huntly & District Swift Group]

Hi Alistair and all.

I think your generic statement is excellent and would work if you have your council on board.  I am lucky to have built a good relationship with our planners but still it doesnt mean it all goes our way!  

On the subject i do not want to have a go at ecologists and there really are some excellent ones out there but, in general terms they are not qualified to understand the habits of swift, swallow or martin and goodness knows they cannot be expected to know the ins and outs of every creature though having said that there are many ecology firms that give a big list of species they will survey but mostly never swifts i might add.  IF the ecologists do not know how to mitigate or even survey then they should perhaps ask for the expertise of local groups.  Just because many of us do this for free doesn't mean we are not knowledgeable or credible!  

Another problem is the planning system of course.  I have found many building surveys are commissioned by ecologists when there aren't swifts about or at least not so easily recognised as nesting on the building or nearby.  ie: wrong months of the year.  I have come across a few situations where i know there are swifts nesting but they weren't recognised by the ecologist, because either wrong time of year or the ecologist didn't understand the clue that low flying swifts might indicate nearby occupancy.  ie:  recorded only as spotted if recorded at all.  They are doing bat surveys most of the time and even with all the equipment they use these days i think it must be difficult to do a proper swift survey!  We add our records to the planning system so they flag up but we are a handful of people, how can we possibly cover it all!

Another problem i come across is when i have actually got to starting a conversation with building owners about their HMs, swifts whatever, offered help and guidance when the time comes knowing they will soon propose some works and then 6 months down the line, planning goes in, they get the ecologist on board and expect the ecologist to know and cover everything i have spoken about.  Door shut. Happens all the time and unless you get a chance to contact the said ecologist and are given the opportunity to help, the mitigation doesn't always happen at all or isn't always successful through lack of knowledge.  Some ecologist will take offence at being contacted too!  I didn't want to have a go but i have done!

Who knows the answer.  It's a mess tbh and swifts should be better catered for by now.

Cally

[Mike Priaulx]

Hi Cally/ Paul/ all,

Regarding BRE, I'm very familiar with them as in my proper job I've been doing BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) assessments for over 20 years.

Swift bricks are supported by BREEAM and have been since the 1990s, and also by the now defunct (due to the 2015 government) counterpart assessment Code for Sustainable Homes,

and many hundreds if not thousands have been installed as a result of these assessments over these decades (and suitable installation has to be proven at post-construction stage too).

However, BRE do rely on ecologists to provide good advice which relates to Alistair's point.

My templates for contacting ecologists are in the SLN library and I believe the quality of output regarding "universal" bricks rather than sparrow terraces & other boxes in particular is improving, but there's still progress to make.

NB Note that I think we have to accept ecologists will only undertake surveys when a developer or other party pays them to do so, regardless of the time of year - however it's important that they word their report to reflect what they will see at that time of year and what they won't, and also the significant limitations of a short survey even during breeding season.

Our Swifts & Planning group provides planning advice at swifts....@gmail.com !

All the best,

Mike

Member of SLN Swifts & Planning Group

+++

Cally Smith Huntly & District Swift Group <huntlysw...@gmail.com>: Oct 01 12:48PM -0700

[Cally Smith Huntly & District Swift Group]

Thanks Mike

Maybe another round robin of letters to ecologists is needed by us all?  I did this a good number of years ago in our area but no response.  Won't like being advised i guess.  Seed sowed maybe if nothing else!

Cheers

Cally

[alofanglia]

Maybe some examples which shows existing swifts don’t need to be around to ask for swift boxes in new builds as they will find them. I think the current logic of  planning is if species are not there then don’t need to provide for them…..

The other thing is I wondered if housing associations have meetings as again installing boxes enhances the environment for the humans and they could be targeted…..

Alistair 

Kingsteignton Swifrs

Sent from my iPhone

On 3 Oct 2025, at 11:48, Cally Smith Huntly & District Swift Group <huntlysw...@gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks Mike

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[Cally Smith]

Indeed Alistair

I know some swift groups have worked closely with Housing Associations, for me its just another job i haven't managed to get to.  Sure some will respond here. It's definitely another angle.

Cally

Cally Smith 

Founder of NES Swifts (formerly Huntly Swift Group)

T: 07411 808 573
E: huntlysw...@gmail.com
Facebook/huntlyswiftgroup | Instagram/huntlyswiftgroup

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[Louise at Bolton and Bury Swifts]

Hi Alistair/Cally & All,

On the points you raised Alistair;

Tanya and Edmund in Sedbergh successfully required Swift Bricks to be included on a new estate in Sedbergh, Cumbria. The builders chose Manthorpes, they have only been in a couple of years at most and without any calls have had occupation by Swifts this summer! 

Re Housing Associations many seem to have a policy/requirement to, 'Add social value' when they are spending money on renovations. It is through this that I have been successful in getting some Swift Boxes installed on a few schemes locally. I highly recommend making connections with local Housing Associations, whether or not their properties currently house Swifts AND especially if they do! 

Be great to hear of others successes with Housing Associations.

Best Wishes 

Louise

Bolton and Bury Swifts 

https://www.facebook.com/BoltonAndBurySwifts

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From: swiftsloc...@googlegroups.com <swiftsloc...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Cally Smith <huntlysw...@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, October 3, 2025 8:02:17 PM
To: swiftsloc...@googlegroups.com <swiftsloc...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [SLN] Re: Building Research Establishment

 

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[amboyce...@gmail.com]

Hello Alistair, Louise, all

We have been working with Raven Housing Trust in Surrey  since 2019 for the Banstead Swift Colony. At the start it was hard, and it took a lot of persistence (but I am good at that).

 They do indeed have funds that are ring fenced for community/environmental good. Swift boxes and bricks fit into that. HAs also like and need good PR stories to share, so swift conservation is a nice story for them to share and you can sell that part to them too. They made a short film made on our work that was shared on this group, which I think remains on their RHT LinkedIn account. You can look at our FB page for updates on their work with us in the past.

We currently have 19 available nest sites in the colony with 12 swift nest boxes (6 twins) of which 10 of those nest box sites were installed by RHT. Swift bricks are due to be installed between now and next spring. 

I would say that communication goes from being brilliant to poor at times, but things have gotten done and we appreciate their commitment. 

I agree with Louise, approaching each HT would be worthwhile. Many have very large housing stock and this enables some big gains in swift conservation and provision of bricks or nest boxes, once they are engaged.

Best

Annie and Barry

Banstead Swifts

Surrey

[Graham Knight]

Hello all

Does anyone have a contact at Sage Homes? I am told that they have a number of properties in Sawbridgeworth and Bishop's Stortford, and we would be keen to work with them to put up boxes in these areas

Best wishes

Graham Knight

Sawbridgeworth Swifts

Facebook - Sawbridgeworth Swifts

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