Building the places
people want
Our research shows that people want to live in places with character, identity, and long-term value, yet these communities are found almost entirely on the second-hand market. The Regional Building Foundation is creating a new ecosystem for Place Building, coordinating builders, landowners, funders, materials suppliers, and professionals to deliver the walkable, locally distinctive, and resilient communities people want to call home.
New Research
Sign up to our newsletter to gain early access to our latest research:
Reimagining Place Building: Advancing Sustainable, Inclusive, and Locally Anchored Developments in the UK
Pre-Membership Benefits
Use the link opposite to navigate to our Pre-Membership Benefits registration page.
Our £250 pre‑membership registration fee will provide you with early access to the Regional Building Foundation and to the initial programme development and roll‑out.
This reduced rate recognises the developing nature of RBF’s offer and the active role participants will play in shaping and testing our work.
When full membership launches, the £250 pre‑membership fee will be applied as a straight discount against your first year’s membership fee.
What is Place Building?
Place Building is about creating harmonious and enduring places rather than simply delivering housing numbers. It means creating walkable neighbourhoods with homes, workspaces, landscape, local identity and long-term stewardship integrated together.
Successful places are diverse, resilient and locally distinctive. They support community life, healthier lifestyles and stronger local economies. The Regional Building Foundation exists to help make this approach more scalable and achievable in practice.
Academic research confirms the benefits of Place Building over house building for several reasons:
- Long-term sustainability:
better social, economic and environmental outcomes over the long term. - Improved health outcomes:
walkable neighbourhoods improve physical and mental health demonstrably. - Economic value:
stronger local and regional economies and lasting local GVA growth. - Social cohesion:
locally distinctive design and mixed-use layouts foster belonging, interaction, and community pride. - Environmental benefits:
regional building materials and lower miles driven reduce CO2 and pollution. - Overall public preference:
with specific criteria people seek when finding a desirable place to live.
Despite this, the current marketplace is dominated by house building (around 70%), which fails to meet these broader societal needs and is not what people want.
Our Four Core Pillars
As the Regional Building Foundation launches its full programme and membership offer, work will concentrate on the four core pillars of our Place Building System. These pillars create a practical ecosystem to support better building, strengthen regional economies and help regional developers grow through coordinated Place Building.
1.Networking
Regional Forums
Growing the Place Building ecosystem
The Regional Forums bring together local stakeholders to grow a national movement and accelerate implementation of the Place Building System.
2.Educating
Knowledge Hub
Sharing the knowledge to build better places
The Knowledge Hub provides proven learning through a Place Building curriculum for regional developers, landowners and professionals.
3. Enabling
Design Workshops
Helping deliver better projects and places
Helping regional developers plan, fund and deliver sustainable places, from small sites to larger developments.
A scalable and dedicated model to support regional developers and landowners to unlock sites, navigate complexity and deliver beautiful, viable places.
4. Innovating
Demonstration Projects
Creating new ways to design and build places
Innovating construction, materials and design to deliver high-performance homes that reflect local identity.
Taking lessons from projects such as Poundbury and Nansledan, we will provide tools to speed up and reduce housing delivery costs whilst enhancing quality and design.
Research & Publications
The Regional Building Foundation and our partners publish and champion research papers that relate to our key objectives and areas of interest. Click on the link below to browse through or download these publications.
