About Cala
Cala Homes
Cala Homes, part of the Cala Group, is a major UK housebuilder and leading provider of desirable new homes across the South East of England, the Midlands and Scotland.
Founded in 1875 as the City of Aberdeen Land Association, Cala has a long history in successful land management before beginning house building in the 1970s.
Today Cala is a subsidiary of Legal & General Capital, the early-stage investment arm of Legal & General Group, Legal & General has been involved in housing for nearly 20 years and has a multi-tenure housing strategy, which Cala is now part of.
Each year we deliver around 3,000 homes, over a fifth of which are affordable, and through our developments we contribute tens of millions of pounds to infrastructure.
We are passionate about creating vibrant and sustainable communities. We build aspirational homes with sensitivity and consideration, ensuring our developments become part of the communities in which they are built.
Find out more below.
Sustainability strategy
Playing our part to protect the planet has been a focus for some time, and in 2020 we launched our Sustainability Strategy to define our commitment to both building new communities and running our business in a responsible and sustainable way.
Our strategy has been carefully planned to address the main sources of carbon emissions first, such as removing gas from our homes.
We are committed to reducing our environmental impact and are actively working towards our targets to achieve net-zero operational greenhouse gas emissions across our business by 2030. Aligned with this, we will ensure that all new Cala homes are operationally net-zero enabled ahead of 2030.
We have also set a wider target of achieving net-zero total greenhouse gas emissions across the business by 2045. In addition to our operational emissions, this includes the embodied carbon of our construction, and the ongoing life-cycle emissions of our homes.
Our roadmap to net-zero includes exciting research and testing of various innovations and technology, to ensure we make the right choices for the planet and our customers. We’re also working closely with utility providers to inform discussions around the decarbonisation of the grid and to ensure the required infrastructure is in place.
We want to enable our customers to live sustainably in communities that support biodiversity too and our teams are developing a strategy to improve the net gain on our sites from 2023.
Cala in the community
People have always been at the heart of what we do at Cala and we run a proactive programme of support for the communities in which we build.
Our school outreach programme includes presentations on site safety, educational visits to our sites, and informing young people on the career opportunities in housebuilding.
Since 2017, our Community Bursary has delivered over £400,000 in funding to local projects. We’ve also delivered a number of educational sessions for local schools and supported local events.
Most recently, we’ve launched our Showhome of Support initiative which will help to promote local talent, artisans and independent businesses by showcasing their products in our showhomes.
Our new Community Pledge initiative launches soon and will bring together a host of bespoke measures on every Cala development, over and above our planning obligations. It’s our strongest commitment to communities to date. Everything will be done in collaboration with the communities that we seek to support, to make sure we address genuine local needs.
Windmills Opportunity Playgroup received £2,000 from our South Home Counties region which paid for outdoor play equipment.
Soham Town Youth Football Club receives £1,000 cash boost from Cala Homes North Home Counties’ for pitch improvements and to replace outdated equipment.
The Sporting Aces offers sport and social activities to adults, children and young people with a range of physical, learning and communications difficulties, and was awarded £1,000 by Cala Homes West.
Quality and design
Cala is synonymous with exceptional design and build standards. Quality is at the heart of everything we do and you will see this across our developments.
Our design ethos is shaped by the desire to create homes and communities that reflect and enhance their setting and meet the needs of modern lifestyles.
Cala’s in-house teams and external designers work closely with local planners and communities to create architectural solutions that ensure the aesthetics of our homes and the materials used are sympathetic to the local environment and leave a lasting legacy to be proud of.
Each of our developments follows a carefully considered brief reflecting the influence of the local environment, market research and community consultation.
Considerate construction
We appreciate that the construction of new homes can affect those living and working in the immediate area, so we aim to keep disruption to a minimum.
Carefully planned construction and traffic management plans are created with our health & safety teams prior to building work commencing. We communicate with local residents to inform them of the nature and duration of any forthcoming work, which is likely to impact people locally.
We take our responsibility for protecting wildlife and watercourses very seriously. Every site has a tailored approach and we work with independent ecologists to assess our sites prior to planning, to ensure we do all we can to preserve and enhance the biodiversity on our sites.
Economic footprint
Housebuilding plays an important role in the UK economy. From job creation and investment in local services to addressing our current chronic housing shortage, the new homes industry is a key contributor to economic growth.
According to the Home Builders Federation, every £1 spent on housing puts £3 back into the economy.
Private sector housing makes a substantial investment in local infrastructure, education and community facilities. Agreed with local authorities as part of the planning process, the industry contributes millions every year; much needed investment that otherwise would not be available.
Every year, as an industry, we fund new schools, health centres, sport facilities, and improvements in roads and public transport. Hectares of public land is also reclaimed through the creation of green open spaces, play areas and the opening up of disused land.
Affordable housing
In 2021 Cala handed over 597 new affordable homes, 20.1% of new home completions.
During 2021 we entered into contracts to deliver 1,110 new affordable homes, these homes incorporate a range of tenures for rent and affordable home ownership, meeting a wide range of needs across the areas in which we operate.
Our design ethos extends to our affordable homes as we continually look at innovative ways to make them even more affordable without compromising on space or specification. We also understand the importance of building a wide range of homes that enhance and add value to local communities, bringing residents together. Keeping a focus on understanding the communities we are working with, we seek to work with Housing Associations and Registered Providers who have a presence in the area and a good knowledge of the local community.
