Raven Housing Trust welcomes endangered swifts to Knighton Road

Raven Housing Trust is continuing its work to provide sustainable and eco-friendly homes by installing swift nesting boxes on 10 of their Knighton Road properties in Earlswood.

Swifts were added to the UK Red List of endangered birds in 2021, and Raven Housing Trust, working with Swift Protection Association Reigate (SPARE) are contributing to their conservation by providing much-needed nesting sites for the birds, which are already being used by migrating swifts travelling from Africa to the UK to raise their chicks.

Due to the open eaves construction of the homes, Knighton Road has been a favoured place for swifts to nest for more than 30 years. Often, these eaves are closed off during modernisation works, so Raven Housing took the decision to install ten double nesting boxes, housing 20 pairs of swifts, to enable them to return to their chosen nesting site year after year.

Raven Housing Trust are leading the way in sustainability and have shown their dedication to the environment with their Net Zero Carbon programme. They have already completed two net zero retrofit projects and are consulting with residents on rewilding many of their green areas, introducing flowers and fauna which will encourage wildlife to prosper, as well as providing habitats such as these swift boxes.

Kasia Szczypa from SPARE has been visiting the site and monitoring the boxes. “We want to say well done to the team at Raven for doing this, especially installing the boxes in time for the swifts’ migration in May, and we hope it leads the way for other developers and housing providers to do the same. As well as providing much-needed homes for the swifts, it is also a lovely addition to the site for the residents, who are now being treated to seeing swifts using the new nesting boxes.”

Barry Jenkinson, Net Zero Carbon (NZC) Programme Manager at Raven Housing Trust, said: “We’re thrilled to have installed these swift boxes at Knighton Road as part of our work to deliver sustainability measures both in new and retrofitted homes. As part of the NZC programme we are carrying out biodiversity studies in the areas where we work to ensure that everything we do is sympathetic to the wildlife in these areas. We hope that these boxes will provide safe places for the swifts to raise their young each year and hopefully their numbers will start to climb.”

Image caption:
Swift boxes at Knighton Road.

For more information:
Sarah Thomas, Group Account Director at See Media
0121 827 6625 or sarah.thomas@see-media.co.uk