Why new homes in Falmouth and Saltash come with swift bricks

A pair of dark eyes blinking out from a small oval gap in a brick wall. For most people, that is about as close as they will ever get to a swift, a bird that spends almost its entire life in the air and only lands to nest. In Cornwall, more of those gaps are being built into new homes on purpose.

A decade of swift bricks in Cornish walls

Since 2016, Barratt and David Wilson, working together as Barratt David Wilson, have supported the installation of more than 7,000 swift nesting bricks in their homes, a decade-long partnership with the RSPB, the national conservation charity. The bricks form part of the external walls of new homes, giving the birds a built-in space to nest that ordinary brickwork no longer provides.

10,000 bricks by the end of 2027

The housebuilder has now set itself an ambitious new target: 10,000 swift bricks installed by the end of 2027. The next bricks are going into Barratt’s Pen Bethan development in Falmouth and Barratt David Wilson’s Treledan development in Saltash, creating dedicated nesting spaces for the birds at both sites.

A red-listed bird running out of room

Swifts migrate to the UK every year to raise their young, and rely on gaps in buildings to nest, since they have nowhere else to go. Their numbers have fallen by two thirds since 1995, and the species has now been added to the UK’s red list of conservation concern. Part of the cause is modern building methods, which can leave fewer opportunities for the birds to nest than older properties, while many older buildings with existing nest sites have been demolished over the years. It is a quiet shift in Cornwall’s wildlife that most people only notice once the birds are gone.

A brick in every new home

The push for 10,000 bricks ties into a wider industry-wide change. Under the new Homes for Nature initiative, developed by the Future Homes Hub and signed by all of the country’s largest housebuilders, a swift brick will soon be installed in every new home built.

Richard Lawson, Sales Director at Barratt David Wilson Bristol, said: “We’re proud to have supported the installation of 7,000 swift bricks since 2016 and remain committed to installing swift bricks in homes across Cornwall.”

“Creating and supporting thriving communities is at the heart of everything we do here at Barratt David Wilson Bristol, and that includes our wildlife neighbours and communities too. Swifts are an iconic part of the British summer, but their numbers have unfortunately fallen dramatically in recent decades.”

“By incorporating more swift bricks into Cornwall homes, we hope to play a practical role in supporting their recovery while creating places where both people and nature can thrive.”