DESIGN GUIDE FOR CARE HOMES

HOUSING AND CARE PROVIDER (NATIONAL)

Anchor, England’s largest not-for-profit provider of housing and care for people in later life, asked The Green Partnership to help them explore how they could take a more nature positive approach across their portfolio of care facilities and housing. With more than 54,000 homes across 1,700 locations, Anchor has a significant opportunity to improve outcomes for biodiversity while also enhancing the wellbeing of residents.

Anchor wanted to bring biodiversity into the heart of their business in a way that was practical and achievable. Their operations are large and complex, involving multiple service areas, a wide network of contractors, and many different funding and reporting requirements. The challenge was to find an approach that could work consistently across the organisation while still reflecting the diversity of their sites and the communities they serve.

We worked with Anchor through a series of workshops with colleagues from across the organisation. These sessions helped us understand how decisions are made, how budgets are managed, and how progress is tracked. They also provided a space to discuss what would be most effective for biodiversity and what changes would be welcomed by residents and staff.

Resident voices were central to the process. We designed and delivered a national survey programme to capture their views on nature in and around Anchor’s homes. The results were striking, with more than 95 per cent of residents telling us that nature is important to them and 65 per cent describing it as essential to their quality of life.

We also engaged directly with Anchor’s network of over 150 landscape and tree management contractors. Their insights were invaluable in shaping how biodiversity improvements could be delivered and maintained without placing additional strain on existing contracts or increasing service charges.

The result of this collaborative process was the Anchor Biodiversity Design Guide for Existing Properties. The guide provides a clear and practical framework that sets out design and engagement principles, a suite of biodiversity options suited to Anchor’s settings, and straightforward guidance on implementation, monitoring and stewardship. It links biodiversity improvements to resident wellbeing, organisational reporting requirements, and opportunities to access green finance, ensuring that nature positive action supports Anchor’s wider goals.

By co-designing the approach with residents, colleagues and contractors, Anchor now has the tools to embed biodiversity consistently across its homes and care facilities. The Biodiversity Foundations project has created a pathway for delivering measurable benefits for people, places and wildlife, building a stronger connection between Anchor’s sustainability commitments and the day to day experience of their residents.