Gibraltar held up as example to follow in Lords swift debate

Gibraltar’s decision to require nesting sites for swifts in all property developments was highlighted as an example to follow during a House of Lords debate this week. 

Peers were debating an amendment to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill calling on the UK Government to introduce regulations requiring developers to provide one “swift brick” per dwelling in any development higher than 5m. 

Swift bricks are purpose-built nesting cavities installed in buildings, typically at height, to replace the natural crevices that swifts and other cavity-nesting birds have traditionally relied on.  

The birds, which migrate thousands of miles from sub-Saharan Africa each spring, are increasingly unable to find suitable nesting sites due to modern construction methods and improved insulation standards. 

In the UK, numbers of swifts have fallen by over 60% between 1995 and 2022, placing them on the red list of birds of conservation concern.  

The decline is primarily due to the loss of suitable nesting sites and buildings, but earlier efforts to address this have met resistance from developers over costs and practicalities. 

Lord Randall of Uxbridge, who proposed the amendment, said campaigners met last year with the then Environment Secretary, Steve Reed, who told them the UK Government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs [Defra] had long been in favour of such a move but “sometimes other departments get in the way”. 

Mr Reed is now the Housing Secretary. 

“This is therefore a great opportunity because we now have a convert to swift bricks in the ideal position to sanction this particular thing, so I am hoping that it can be done,” Lord Randall said.  

“It has been done successfully elsewhere, such as in Gibraltar.” 

The reference was brief but notable.  

For campaigners including many peers, Gibraltar’s policy provides a working model that demonstrates how simple, low-cost interventions can support biodiversity without disrupting construction processes or adding significant expense. 

“These poor swifts have been declining in numbers,” Lord Randall said.  

“There may be a variety of reasons, such as a lack of insects and so forth, but one reason that has been identified is the success of insulation in houses.” 

“Cavity insulation means that the nesting areas that would normally be under eaves or wherever are not there.” 

“Imagine these poor swifts: they have flown all the way from the Congo, they are looking forward to going into the building that generations of swifts have been going to and they find that it is effectively blocked up.” 

“The simple thing we are asking for is that the swift brick is placed in building regulations.” 

The cost of a swift brick is estimated at £20 to £35, and they can also benefit species such as house sparrows and starlings.  

While the UK has repeatedly debated the issue - through levelling-up legislation, planning guidance, and individual council policies - Gibraltar has already acted to introduce a policy that some in Westminster still consider burdensome or impractical. 

In Gibraltar, where swifts are protected in law, installing such bricks is a condition normally set by the Development and Planning Commission in granting permission for new buildings and any refurbishment of existing roofs. 

Dr John Cortes, the Minister for the Environment, said it was important to note that architects, developers and contractors in Gibraltar were totally supportive and engaged with this requirement and obliged willingly. 

The swift nest sites are taken up by both common swifts and pallid swifts, the two urban species commonly seen in Gibraltar. 

The fact that Gibraltar was raised in this debate in the House of Lords is no accident. 

Dr Cortes has long campaigned on this issue, even before becoming Minister for the Environment, and has for years worked alongside UK campaigners to highlight the steps taken in Gibraltar, where all the indications are that the decline in the swift population has been halted and the numbers are growing again. 

Jut last April, alongside former Minister of State for Environment and the Overseas Territories and now environmental campaigner, Lord Zac Goldsmith, Dr Cortes briefed a gathering of peers, MPs and campaigners in the House of Lords on the subject of swift nesting sites in developments. 

The amendment debated in the Lords this week was, ultimately, not successful, with the UK Government adopting a cautious response. 

Baroness Hayman of Ullock, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary at Defra, recognised the sharp decline in swift populations and expressed her personal support for swift bricks.  

However, she said changes to building regulations were not the appropriate route and pointed instead to planning policy, voluntary measures and industry-led schemes such as the “Homes for Nature” commitment. 

Lord Randall remained unconvinced by the reliance on voluntary action and warned that the issue would return in future stages of the legislation.  

“In the same way as the swifts return every year, albeit in smaller numbers, this too will return on report, albeit with greater numbers and more vehemence,” he said. 

The amendment was withdrawn.